diff --git a/src/ColorStaves.js b/src/ColorStaves.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..de4af6422
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ColorStaves.js
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+// Color staff lines and their children so it's easy to see which components belong to which staff
+
+export default class ColorStaves {
+    setColor() {
+        let staves = Array.from(document.getElementsByClassName("staff"));
+        for (var i = 0; i < staves.length; i++) {
+            let staffColor = ColorStaves.Colors[i % ColorStaves.Colors.length];
+            let children = Array.from($("#" + staves[i].id).children());
+            children.forEach(child => {
+                if (child.tagName === "path") {
+                    child.setAttribute("stroke", staffColor);
+                } else {
+                    child.setAttribute("fill", staffColor);
+                }
+                child.setAttribute("class", child.getAttribute("class") + " highlighted");
+            });
+        }
+    }
+    unsetColor() {
+        let highlighted = Array.from(document.getElementsByClassName("highlighted"));
+        highlighted.forEach(elem => {
+            if (elem.tagName === "path") {
+                elem.setAttribute("stroke", "#000000");
+            } else {
+                elem.removeAttribute("fill");
+            }
+        });
+        $(".highlighted").removeClass("highlighted");
+    }
+}
+
+// Color palette from Figure 2 (Colors optimized for color-blind
+// individuals) from "Points of view: Color blindness" by Bang Wong
+// published in Nature Methods volume 8 on 27 May 2011
+// https://www.nature.com/articles/nmeth.1618?WT.ec_id=NMETH-201106
+ColorStaves.Colors = [
+    "rgb(0,0,0)",
+    "rgb(230, 159, 0)",
+    "rgb(86, 180, 233)",
+    "rgb(0, 158, 115)",
+    "rgb(240, 228, 66)",
+    "rgb(0, 114, 178)",
+    "rgb(213, 94, 0)",
+    "rgb(204, 121, 167)"
+];
diff --git a/src/Controls.js b/src/Controls.js
index e9403a994..52b401968 100644
--- a/src/Controls.js
+++ b/src/Controls.js
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
-export default function Controls (zoomHandler) {
+import ColorStaves from "./ColorStaves.js";
 
+export default function Controls (zoomHandler) {
+    var color = new ColorStaves();
     setZoomControls();
     setOpacityControls();
     setBackgroundOpacityControls();
+    setSylControls();
+    setHighlightControls();
 
     function setZoomControls() {
         $("#reset-zoom").click( function() {
@@ -45,14 +49,9 @@ export default function Controls (zoomHandler) {
         });
     }
 
-    function shouldHideText() {
-        return (!$("#displayText").is(":checked"));
-    }
-
-    function setSylControls(view) {
-        $("#displayText").click( function () {
-            view.refreshPage();
-        });
+    function setSylControls() {
+        updateSylVisibility();
+        $("#displayText").click(updateSylVisibility);
     }
 
     function setOpacityFromSlider() {
@@ -61,11 +60,34 @@ export default function Controls (zoomHandler) {
         meiSel.style("opacity", opacitySliderValue / 100.0);
     };
 
+    function setHighlightControls(view) {
+        updateHighlight();
+        $("#highlightStaves").click(updateHighlight);
+    }
+
+    function updateSylVisibility() {
+        if ($("#displayText").is(":checked")) {
+            $(".syl").css("visibility", "visible");
+        } else {
+            $(".syl").css("visibility", "hidden");
+        }
+    }
+
+    function updateHighlight() {
+        if ($("#highlightStaves").is(":checked")) {
+            color.setColor();
+        } else {
+            color.unsetColor();
+        }
+    }
+    
     Controls.prototype.constructor = Controls;
     Controls.prototype.setZoomControls = setZoomControls;
     Controls.prototype.setOpacityControls = setOpacityControls;
     Controls.prototype.setBackgroundOpacityControls = setBackgroundOpacityControls;
-    Controls.prototype.shouldHideText = shouldHideText;
     Controls.prototype.setSylControls = setSylControls;
     Controls.prototype.setOpacityFromSlider = setOpacityFromSlider;
+    Controls.prototype.setHighlightControls = setHighlightControls;
+    Controls.prototype.updateHighlight = updateHighlight;
+    Controls.prototype.updateSylVisibility = updateSylVisibility;
 }
diff --git a/src/NeonView.js b/src/NeonView.js
index 2d6a51e66..c9c42520f 100644
--- a/src/NeonView.js
+++ b/src/NeonView.js
@@ -21,8 +21,9 @@ export default function NeonView (params) {
         zoomHandler = new ZoomHandler();
         infoBox = new InfoBox(neon);
         controls = new Controls(zoomHandler);
-        controls.setSylControls(this);
         loadView();
+        controls.setSylControls();
+        controls.setHighlightControls();
     });
 
     function loadView () {
@@ -33,7 +34,6 @@ export default function NeonView (params) {
         var svg = neon.getSVG();
         $("#mei_output").html(svg);
         d3.select("#mei_output").select("svg").attr("id", "svg_container");
-        setSvgText();
 
         var height = parseInt(d3.select("#svg_container").attr("height"));
         var width = parseInt(d3.select("#svg_container").attr("width"));
@@ -48,24 +48,17 @@ export default function NeonView (params) {
             .attr("width", viewWidth)
             .attr("height", viewHeight)
             .attr("viewBox", "0 0 " + width + " " + height);
+        controls.updateHighlight();
+        controls.updateSylVisibility();
         resetListeners();
     }
 
     function refreshPage () {
         $("mei_output").html(neon.getSVG());
-        setSvgText();
         resetListeners();
         resetTransformations();
     }
 
-    function setSvgText () {
-        if (controls.shouldHideText()) {
-            d3.select("#mei_output").selectAll(".syl").style("visibility", "hidden");
-        } else {
-            d3.select("#mei_output").selectAll(".syl").style("visibility", "visible");
-        }
-    }
-
     function resetListeners () {
         d3.select("body")
             .on("keydown", () => {
diff --git a/views/editor.pug b/views/editor.pug
index 92b365a34..737dbb838 100644
--- a/views/editor.pug
+++ b/views/editor.pug
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ html
           a.panel-block
             label.checkbox Display Text: 
               input.checkbox#displayText(type="checkbox")
+            label.checkbox Highlight Staves:
+              input.checkbox#highlightStaves(type="checkbox")
         #neume_info
           article.message(style={visibility: "hidden"})
             .message-header