Clefs and octave lines

Clefs and octave lines provide crucial information about the pitch and register of notes.

Clefs define which staff line or space corresponds to which scale degree, and also help to communicate the register of the notes on the staff. Octave lines allow notes to be written within the staff when they would otherwise require many ledger lines due to their register.

In Dorico, clefs and octave lines are grouped together because they both affect the meaning of note positions on the staff. In this way, octave lines could be considered to be temporary clef changes.