Using clefs |
Octaves numbering [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] As previously explained, a clef is used as
a reference mark to write notes on the staff. Until now, we
always used the treble clef to locate the notes: The number to the right of each note name
shows the number of the octave. Because there is only 7 different note names,
octaves are numbered to differentiate amongst octaves.
Remember that an octave is an interval between two notes
having the same name and thus comprising 6 other notes
between them. The 8 notes here above cover the extent of
an octave. This octave bears number 3. The next octave starts
with the C located in the third line space and bears number
4. You can easily write the notes of octave 4 in treble clef
(the last C already belongs to octave 5):
Using the bass clef [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] The bass clef lets you write lower notes covering octaves 1
and 2. Here is the bass clef and the notes of octaves 1 and 2: With the bass clef and the treble clef, you can already write
notes in a 4 octaves range. You may also use additional lines
(called ledger lines) to write even lower or higher notes on the
staff. Notice that the note order remains always the same,
whatever clef is being used. Open and listen to the Ex022 file. It will give you
an idea of the sound extension covered by these 4 octaves: By observing the staves above, we see that a note placed on a
line bears a different name according to the clef at the
beginning of the staff. A note placed on the third line is a B
note in treble clef and an D note in bass clef. This
unfortunately makes the training of note reading a little more
difficult, because one needs to be able to read easily the notes
in both systems. The instrument range [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] The range of an instrument is the extent of notes it can play.
The instruments use the clef which is closest to their range, so
that the notes are found as much as possible inside the staff.
The scores of a bass guitar or a double bass will be written with
the bass clef, because the range of these instruments is mainly
low. The higher pitch instruments (flute, trumpet
) will be
written with the treble clef, which is better adapted to their
range. The keyboard instruments (piano, organ, synthesizer,
harpsichord
) cover a rather vast extent and are written on
two staves, with the bass and treble clefs. The two staves are
connected with a brace indicating that they must be read by the
same instrument. Here is an example: Open the Ex041 file. It represents the same score as
the previous example, but it is written using 2 staves: Generally, notes written in the lower staff will be played by
the left hand and notes written in the higher staff by the right
hand. It is the most natural, because notes are increasingly high
pitched by moving to the right of the keyboard. Other clefs [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] When you add a note on a staff line, its
name depends on the clef preceding it. We already learned two
clefs. As there are 7 different names of notes, it is
possible to read the notes on a staff in 7 different ways and
there are thus 7 different clefs. Fortunately, the 5 other
clefs are used only for specific instruments. By learning the
musical keyboard, you will never need them. Here is a summary
of the clefs, each with the position of the C 3 note: All these notes bear the same name and
represent the same sound pitch. The first is the treble clef. It determines
the position of the G note on the second line. It is
sometimes called G clef second line, to avoid confusing it
with the last clef which has the same symbol but which is
placed on the first line. The second clef is bass clef. The F note is
placed on the fourth line of the staff, between the 2 dots of
the symbol. It is also called F clef fourth line. The next clef is the F clef third line. It
is very rare. The F note is placed on the third line, between
the two dots. The four next clefs are the C clefs. For
each one, the C note is placed on the central line of the
clef symbol, between the two curves. These clefs are
respectively called C clef first line, C clef second line, C
clef third line and C clef fourth line, referring to the line
of the staff where the C note is placed. The last key is the G clef first line. It
is very rare. The G note is located on the first line.
Regarding the note names, it is the same as the F clef fourth
line. The only difference is that the notes are placed two
octaves higher. For the 7 other clefs, the note names are
each time different for each line of the staff. Be aware that
in music academies, the advanced students must learn to
easily read notes in the 7 clefs! As notes are always named in the same order
and can be written only on a line or in a space between
lines, you can deduce the names and pitches of all notes of
all clefs starting from this example. On the basis of the C 3
note, here is for example the names and positions of notes
written with the C clef third line: Some percussion instruments do not need to
specify the pitch of notes. It is for example the case for
the drums. Each part of the drum kit can be struck to
produce a sound, but this sound always remains the same. In
such a case, the use of a clef on the staff is not useful. In
practice, no clef is drawn or a special symbol is drawn, like
this: The use of staff lines is quite free for
the writing of percussion instruments. There are several
different systems. Most of the time, you find at the
beginning of the score an explanation of the convention used,
such as for example: Notice that different symbols may be used
for the note heads, like here a cross representing the
cymbal. The number of staff lines may also vary. For a single
instrument (orchestra snare drum, bass drum, triangle
),
you will often see a one line staff, representing the
rhythmic values to play:
Writing conventions [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] The clef being used must be written at each
beginning of a new staff and for all instruments (except
possibly the percussion). In the middle of a staff, the clef
may change. In this case the new clef is drawn if possible
right before a bar line, that is to say right in front of the
first note which is affected by the clef. In both cases, it
is drawn a little smaller than its normal size. Here is an
example: When a clef change occurs at the beginning
of a staff, it is usual to draw the new clef right at the end
of the previous staff, so that the performer is not surprised
when jumping to the next staff: