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Staff/clefs
Pitch is written on a group of five lines (with four spaces between)
called a staff.
staff:
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The higher a note is placed
on the staff, the higher the pitch is. If you consider the pitches
necessary to notate for various instruments/voices, you realize
that five lines and four spaces would be inadequate for the
wide
range of pitches. Clefs are
used to deal with this problem. When the treble
clef is used, the notes represented on the staff are
relatively high pitches; when the bass
clef is used, relatively low pitches are represented
by the lines and spaces. Music written for instruments such
as the
flute or violin is typically in the treble clef, while music for
the tuba or string bass is in the bass clef. The treble clef
is sometimes called a "G" clef because its lower spiral wraps
around the note G. The bass clef is sometimes called an "F"
clef because the two dots are located on either side of the
note F.
treble
(G) clef
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bass
(F) clef
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In addition to the treble (G)
and bass (F) clefs, the C clef
is regularly used in music today. The C clef denotes a given line
as the location of middle C
(the C located closest to the middle of a piano keyboard). Historically,
the C clef was located on any line of the staff. Following are the
five C clefs along with their names:
soprano
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mezzo-
soprano
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alto
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tenor
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baritone
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Today, the most commonly found
locations for the C clef are the third line as middle C--called
the alto clef:
or the fourth line as middle
C--called the tenor clef:
The alto clef is used primarily for the viola, for
which it is the normal clef. The viola is a string instrument that
has a pitch range between that of a violin (treble clef) and a cello
(bass clef). The tenor clef is used occasionally for the cello,
bassoon, and trombone (the normal clef for all of which is the bass
clef) when their notes are in a higher register than normal. Use
of an appropriate clef allows most of the music to be notated on
the staff, eliminating the awkward use of numerous lines added above
or below the staff to extend its range ("ledger lines").
The C clefs are important to know if you plan to study
or perform early music, to work with orchestral instruments, or
to continue the study of music theory.
In the following example, middle
C is notated in four different clefs:
middle
C in treble, alto, tenor and bass clefs
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Following are the names of the lines and spaces in
each of the four clefs:
treble
clef
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z
alto
clef |
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tenor
clef |
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bass
clef |
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Reading from the bottom to the
top, some students find the following memory aids helpful:
Treble
clef lines: Every Good
Boy Does
Fine

Treble clef
spaces: F A C E

Bass clef lines: Good
Boys Do
Fine Always

Bass clef spaces: All Cows
Eat Grass

IMPORTANT SKILL TO MASTER
It is important that you can quickly identify the
names of the pitches in each clef. Mastery of
this skill will facilitate the comprehension of the
remainder of this course and should not be underestimated.
The Note Name Drill will help you become fluent with
this skill.
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The grand staff (or
great staff) combines both the treble and bass clefs. In a
grand staff, the two staffs are joined by a vertical line and by
a bracket or brace. In all, the grand staff has 11 lines--five for
the treble clef, five for the bass clef, and an imaginary line that
is located between them which is middle
C.
grand
staff

grand
staff lines and spaces

  
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