Musical signs are symbols used in musical notation to indicate pitch, rhythm, and tempo. The two most common musical signs are clefs and rests. Clefs are symbols placed at the beginning of a staff that indicate the pitch of the notes written on the staff. Common clefs include the treble clef, bass clef, and alto clef. Rests are symbols that indicate a period of silence in a piece of music. Common rests include whole rests, half rests, quarter rests, and eighth rests.