Blank sheet music
Empty staves to write music on: choose how many staves fill the page and how far apart the lines sit, then print at true size on Letter or A4.
Grade 3–Grade 12 · every refresh draws a new set · answer key included
1 problems · US Letter — 1 sheet, page breaks marked in the preview
What this worksheet is for
Manuscript paper is one of those things that costs almost nothing to print and is never in the house when somebody needs it. Five lines to a stave, as many staves as fit, and nothing else: no clef, no time signature, no bar lines, because whoever is writing on it will put those where they belong. What is worth setting is the size — a stave at 2 mm between lines is what printed music uses, and a beginner writing note heads by hand needs it noticeably larger.
Who it suits
Anyone learning or writing music, from a Grade 3 pupil copying a melody to an adult sketching an arrangement. Wide staves for children and for anyone whose handwriting is large; tight staves when a long piece has to fit on one page.
How to use the settings
Decide how many staves you want on the page first — ten is comfortable for handwritten music, twelve to sixteen suits copying an existing piece, and six or eight gives a beginner room to draw note heads that are not the size of a pinhead. Then set the space between lines: 2 mm is the engraved standard, 3 mm is generous, and anything below 1.75 mm is hard to write on by hand however neat you are.
What goes wrong
The one to watch is choosing many staves and wide line spacing at once, which leaves no gap between systems for the tails of notes and for dynamics underneath. If the page looks crowded in the preview it will be worse once anything is written on it, so drop a stave or two rather than shrinking the lines.
Questions
- How many staves are on a normal sheet of manuscript paper?
- Ten or twelve on a portrait page is typical for handwriting, with published manuscript pads ranging from eight to eighteen. More staves means smaller notes.
- Why is there no clef printed?
- Because the clef depends on the instrument, and a printed treble clef makes the page useless for anyone writing for the left hand or for bass. Drawing the clef is the first thing you do on a blank stave anyway.
- Can I get a grand stave with the two staves bracketed?
- Not yet. Piano staves joined in pairs with a brace are the obvious next version of this page and are on the list.