Clef
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other senses of this word, see clef (disambiguation).
A clef (also, in former times, cleff) is a musical notation symbol that assigns note letter names to lines and spaces on a musical staff. The term derives from the French word for key--not in the sense of key signature, but in the sense of key to the puzzle. The idea is that if you know the clef letter, you can interpret a note on any line or space between two lines simply by counting up or down to it alphabetically. If, for example, we assign the note G above middle C to the second line from the bottom of a staff, then we can easily determine that the first space from the bottom on this staff represents an F, that the first line represents an E, and so on.
Three clef letters remain in modern music notation: G, F, and C. These clef letters were once written plainly, but over time became more ornate until they eventually came to resemble alphabetical letters only vestigially. The term clef is used equivocally to refer both to clef letters themselves and to particular placements of clef letters: We speak of both the C clef in general and of its placement on the middle line of a staff which we call the alto clef. Clef letters always refer to particular G's, F 's, and C 's, either the G above middle C, the F below middle C, and middle C itself, respectively, or--depending on the instrument for which the music is written--a note an octave above or below these.
The following image shows various clef placements found in music notation at one time or another:
Although only the first four clefs and the neutral clef are commonly used today (and the third, the alto clef, for only one instrument), as many as eight clefs were used in older music. In the Renaissance alternative clefs obviated the need for the wide range of transposing intruments we have now.
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[edit] The G clef
The G clef looks like a spiral in the approximate form of a capital letter G, overlaid on a stretched letter S. It assigns the note G to a line on the staff, determined by the center of the curl of the "G" symbol. It is normally placed on the staff with the spiral originating from the 2nd line; this usage of the G clef is so common that the name treble clef is often used as a synonym, but the G clef can be placed on other lines: in the baroque period, for example, the G clef was sometimes placed on the 1st line of the staff for music with a high range, known today as the French clef.
[edit] The treble clef
The treble clef assigns the G above middle C to the 2nd line from the bottom of the staff.
Most woodwind instruments read treble clef (even low-pitched transposing instruments), as well as high brass, violins, and tuned percussion. Violas and cellos occasionally use the treble clef to avoid excessive ledger lines in extended high passages. On the piano, the right hand usually is written in treble clef, while the left hand is written in bass clef. In vocal music, both Soprano and Contralto parts now use the treble clef, whereas in former centuries they would have each used their own clef.
[edit] The French clef
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a special clef was used for violin music, particularly that published in France. For this reason it is known as the French violin clef or French clef although it was even more commonly used for flute music. The French clef looks similar to the treble clef, and both are G clefs. But unlike the treble clef, the French clef assigns the G note above middle C to the bottom line of the staff rather than the second line from the bottom. This clef implies the highest tessitura of all. It is sometimes used in E♭ clarinet or E♭ trumpet music.
[edit] The F clef
Two symbols, both a stylized letter F, are used to represent the F clef, although the one pictured below is more commonly used. The two dots of the F clef surround the line that represents the note F. The most common use of the F clef is the bass clef, which places F on the 4th line of the staff; the name "F clef" is frequently used to mean the bass clef. However, the F clef has historically been used on other lines of the musical staff, most notably on the middle line, when it is known as the baritone clef (one can also use as baritone clef the entirely equivalent 5th line C clef). This usage is nowadays very rare, however.
- The 5th line F clef, or subbass clef, used for example in scores by Heinrich Schütz, implies the same note names as the 2nd line G clef but is used two octaves down from the 2nd line G clef; in other words, the names of the notes are the same for both clefs but their pitches are 2 octaves apart. When the tessitura implications of clefs are followed strictly, the 5th line F clef is the lowest clef (i.e. the clef implying the lowest tessitura).
- The 3rd line, 4th line and 5th line G clefs are never used because they are not needed: they are entirely equivalent to, respectively, the 1st line, 2nd line and 3rd line C clefs.
- The 2nd line and 1st line F clefs are never used since they are entirely equivalent to the 4th line and 3rd line C clefs respectively.
[edit] The bass clef
The bass clef uses the F clef to assign the note F immediately below middle C to the 4th line of the staff (the second line from the top). Most lower-pitched instruments, such as the lower brass, lower strings, and bassoon, read bass clef; also choral music for bass and baritone parts are usually also written in the bass clef. On the piano, the left hand is usually written in bass clef, while the right hand is usually written in treble clef.
Mnemonics are commonly used to remember the five notes corresponding to the five lines of the bass clef, such as:
- Gold Buttons Dress Fine Actors
- Good Boys Do Fine Always
- Good Burritos Don't Fall Apart
- Gee Barbie Don't Fall Again
- Great Big Dreams For America
- Green Buses Drive Fast Always
- Grizzly Bears Don't Fly Away
- Great Big Dog From America
- Great Big Dogs Fight Alligators
- Gorillas Buy Doughnuts From Asda
- Glad Bags Don't Fall Apart
- Good Boys Deserve Fudge Always
- Good Boys Deserve Ferraris Always
- Good Basses Don't Fight Altos
Mnemonics are commonly used to remember the four notes corresponding to the four spaces of the bass clef, such as:
- All Cars Expect Grease
- Aids Can Eat Gonads
- All Cows Eat Grass
- All Cars Eat Gas
- Awesome Cabbage Earns Gold
- Aristotle Calls Earth Γη (Ge)
- Alley Cats Eat Garbage
[edit] The subbass clef and the baritone clef
The baritone clef sets the F below middle C on the 3rd line of the stave, while the rarely encountered subbass clef sets it on the 5th line of the stave.
[edit] The C clefs
The most common C clef symbol is the one shown, resembling two backwards letter 'C's, one above the other. The line that falls between the 'C's is assigned the note middle C. There are two common clefs that use the C clef symbol: the alto clef, which assigns C to the middle line of the staff, and the tenor clef, which assigns C to the 4th line of the staff (the second line from the top). The C clef is sometimes also used to indicate the mezzo-soprano clef, which assigns C to the 2nd line from the bottom of the staff. The C clef on the bottom line is named the soprano clef, which is occasionally seen in music for violin and clarinet in A.
- The 5th line C clef, or baritone clef, is often written as the 3rd line F clef; both ways are exactly equivalent.
- The C clef can be used in manuscript as shorthand. Between the two staffs of a double-staff piano score, it signifies a treble clef on the upper staff (in which the first ledger line below the staff is the so called middle C) and a bass clef on the lower staff (in which the first ledger line above the staff is that same middle C).
[edit] The alto clef
The alto clef assigns the note middle C to the middle line of the staff. The alto clef is currently used by only one modern instrument: the viola--and for this reason is sometimes called the viola clef. It was formerly used by the trombone--Russian composers persisted in this practice well into the twentieth century, and is found in music written for the tenor viola da gamba. It was also used in some older vocal music. An acceptable hand-written version of the alto clef (and tenor clef as well) somewhat resembles the letter "K".
[edit] The tenor clef
The tenor clef assigns middle C to the 4th line of the staff. Bassoons, cellos, euphoniums, double basses, and trombones, which all use the bass clef in their lower and middle ranges, also use the tenor clef in their upper ranges. In their extreme high ranges, most of these instruments, especially the cello, use the treble clef as well. The trombone in jazz is never given the tenor clef to read, however. Jazz trombone parts go directly from the bass clef to the treble clef. In the nineteenth century cello music in a range that would now normally be written with the tenor clef was instead commonly written with the treble clef, an octave higher than concert pitch.
[edit] The mezzo-soprano clef
The mezzo-soprano clef assigns the note middle C to the 2nd line of the staff. Although this clef is rare, it has sometimes been used in mezzo-soprano parts so as to minimize ledger lines.
[edit] The baritone clef (C clef)
The baritone clef uses the C clef to assign the note middle C to the very top line of the staff. It is identical to the F clef baritone clef that sets the F below middle C on the 3rd line of the staff. This clef is not used in everyday music and is only found when the composer wishes to keep ledger lines in the baritone part to a minimum.
[edit] The soprano clef
The soprano clef assigns the note middle C to the bottom line of the staff. Its use is rare.
[edit] Neutral clef
The neutral clef is not a clef in the same sense that the F, C and G clefs are. It is simply a convention that indicates that the lines and spaces of the staff are each assigned to a percussion instrument with no precise pitch. With the exception of some common drum-kit and marching percussion layouts, a legend or indications above the staff are necessary to indicate what is to be played. Percussion instruments with identifiable pitches do not use the neutral clef, and timpani (notated in bass clef) and mallet percussion (noted in treble clef or on a grand staff) are usually notated on different staves than unpitched percussion.
Staves with a neutral clef do not always have five lines. Commonly, percussion staves only have one line, although other configurations can be used.
The neutral clef is sometimes used when non percussion instruments play non-pitched extended techniques, such as hitting the body of a violin or cello.
[edit] Octave clefs
Sometimes a small 8 is attached to a clef to show that an instrument reads an octave above or below concert pitch. This is a non-standard practice in modern music notation.
[edit] Clefs in vocal music
In vocal or choral sheet music, polyphony is often displayed with each voice on its own staff. Until about 100 years ago, the 1st line C clef (soprano clef) was commonly used for the soprano voice. In the same context the alto voice would be written in 3rd line C clef (alto clef), the tenor voice in 4th line C clef (tenor clef) and the bass voice in 4th line F clef (bass clef).
In more modern publications, 4 part harmony on parallel staffs is usually written more simply as:
- S(oprano) = treble clef (2nd line G clef)
- A(lto) = treble clef
- T(enor) = treble clef with an "8" below or a double treble clef
- B(ass) = bass clef (4th F clef)
The above 4 lines of music are sometimes contracted into 2 staffs, to save space, particularly in simpler pieces of music. In this case the soprano and alto voices occupy the upper staff, using the treble clef, and the tenor and bass voices occupy the lower staff, using the bass clef.
[edit] Historical note
These clefs developed at the same time as the staff, in the 10th century. Gregorian chant used moveable "Do"- and "Fa"-clefs on its early four-line staff. As chant notation used only relative pitch, they represented only the respective tones. These clefs became, respectively, the C- and F-clefs in modern music after absolute pitch was notated.
[edit] Further uses
One more use of the clefs is training in sight reading: the ability to read in any clef is useful for being able to transpose on sight (see sight transposition), although in that case the tessitura implied by the given clef must be ignored. It is then only necessary to use 7 clefs, so that any written note can take any of the 7 different names (A, B, C, D, E, F, G). Students in French and Belgian conservatories and music schools, amongst others, are thoroughly drilled in this kind of exercise and solfeggios meant for use in those institutions are about the only scores where one will find nowadays a 1st line or 2nd line C clef or a 3rd line F clef. For some unclear reason, the 3rd line F clef (the baritone clef) is preferred in the French and Belgian pedagogical tradition to the equivalent 5th line C clef. This may have something to do with the fact that very early medieval scores had only 4 line staffs, hence possibly the avoidance in some particularly traditionalist circles to write a clef on the 5th line, though this is arguably more likely due to the visual impact of the fact that the 3rd line F clef is contained entirely within the staff whilst half of the 5th line C clef protrudes above it.
The treble clef is surprisingly similar to the ampersand symbol, although both have completely different origins and meanings. It is an occasional mistake to get the two mixed up for novice musicians or, more commonly, sloppy writers.
