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Printable music staff paper

Blank manuscript paper for writing music: five-line staves spread evenly down the page and closed at both ends. Choose how many staves fit on a page and download a PDF.

  • 12, 10 or 8 staves
  • Letter or A4 PDF
  • Standard staff sizes
Staves per page
Colour
Paper

Print at 100 % (“Actual size”) so the spacing stays true.

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How to print music staff paper

  1. 01

    Pick the staves and colour

    12, 10 or 8 staves per page, in black, grey or blue.

  2. 02

    Choose your paper

    US Letter or A4, whichever is in your printer.

  3. 03

    Download and print

    A vector PDF of staff paper; print as many copies as you need at 100 %.

Which layout to pick

  • 12 staves with a 7.4 mm staff is close to the size of most printed music and blank manuscript books (engravers call it rastral size 2).
  • 10 staves with a 9.2 mm staff (rastral size 0) are easier to read and leave more room between staves for ledger lines, lyrics and chord names.
  • 8 large staves (12 mm) suit children and beginners, who write bigger note heads.
  • No clef or time signature is printed, so the same page works for treble, bass or alto clef, or for piano with two staves joined.
  • Print at 100 % (“Actual size”) so the staves come out at their true size; “Fit to page” shrinks them.

Questions people ask

How many staves are on a page of manuscript paper?

Usually 12 on a US Letter or A4 page. Fewer staves mean bigger staves, or more room between them, which suits beginners and music with lyrics.

What is a rastral size?

Engravers number staff sizes from 0, the largest at 9.2 mm from top line to bottom line, to 8, the smallest. Elaine Gould's “Behind Bars” lists them. The 12-stave page here uses size 2 (7.4 mm).

Can I use this for guitar tab?

Not as it is: guitar tab has six lines, one per string, and these are five-line staves for standard notation.

Can I print it double-sided?

Yes. The first staff starts at the top margin and the last ends at the bottom margin, with the same margins left and right, so the back lines up with the front.

Next stepNeed paper for notes?Print college, wide or 8 mm lined paper with or without a margin.