Clef
A
clef (also, in former times,
cleff) is a
symbol used in
musical notation that assigns the
pitch of
notes to lines and spaces on the
musical staff. The word itself is based on the
French word for
key. A clef can be thought of as assigning a certain note to a specific line on the staff; adjacent spaces are assigned the notes that follow logically.
There are three commonly used types of clef symbols: the
G clef, the
F clef, and the
C clef. All of these clef symbols intentionally resemble the
cursive forms of their respective
letters. They have letter names because they assign the note with that name to a particular line on the staff.
The use of a particular clef specifies a certain
tessitura:
* the F clef assigns its line to the F below
middle C* the C clef assigns its line to middle C
* the G clef assigns its line to the G above middle C
In this way, the positioning of different clefs on different lines may either imply the same tessitura (the
5th line C clef vs. the
3rd line F clef — i.e. the baritone clef) or seemingly imply the same notes (see below for the
5th line F clef vs. the
2nd line G clef).
However the musical range can be further modified by using the
"8" or
"15" symbols. An "8" immediately above or below a G or F clef symbol indicates that the tessitura should be an
octave higher or lower. A "15" may be used to indicate a two-octave shift on the top of the clef, but this is rarely used.
For example,
guitar music and vocal
tenor parts are understood to sound an octave lower than written, and this is often indicated with an "8" below the treble clef. The small piccolo flute plays an octave above the normal flute, and occasionally its music is written in G clef with an "8" above it (see
transposing instrument). Some publishers of such parts may omit the "8"; usage in these cases is not uniform.
The tessitura implied by a clef can also be modified throughout the music with the
8va (variants:
8,
8a,
8vb) or
15ma notations.
In some cases the tessitura implication of the clef is ignored, e.g. when the use of a clef is simply a drill meant as a preparation for the skill of sight
transposition.
The following image shows most of the clefs found in modern musical notation:
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Music_clefs.png |
Although only four are common today, as many as eight have been used previously. The reason is to avoid the use of
ledger lines.
The
G clef is composed of 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.
The treble clef
The
treble clef is the most widely-used clef, followed by the
bass clef. It uses the G clef symbol to assign the note 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, tuned
percussion, and other instruments of acute tone;
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. The word treble is also used of people, especially in the
Anglican and English Catholic traditions, to refer to a boy who sings as a
soprano, in contrast to the term
boy soprano used elsewhere.
The origin of the application of the term treble, a doublet of "triple" or "threefold" (from
Latin triplus, "triple"; cf. "double" from
duplus), to the highest voice or part comes from early
plainsong. The chief
melody was given to the
tenor, the second part to the
alto (
discantus, or
contralto), and where a third part (triplum) was added, it was assigned to the highest voice, the soprano or treble.
Several mnemonics are commonly used to remember the five notes corresponding to the five lines of the treble clef, including:
*
Every
Good
Boy
Deserves
Favour (also the title of a
Moody Blues album and a
play by
Tom Stoppard)
*
Every
Good
Boy
Deserves
Fruit (or
Fudge) (also the title of an
album by
Mudhoney)
*
Every
Good
Boy
Does
Fine
*
Empty
Garbage
Before
Dad
Flips
*
Every
Green
Bus
Drives
Fast
*
Elephant
Goes
Bananas
Down (the)
FreewayThe acronym
FACE is used to remember the notes corresponding to the four spaces in between the lines.
The French clef
|
French clef, showing middle C. |
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. Being a G clef rather than a C clef, it sets the position of the G above middle C - in this case, on the bottom (i.e.
1st) line of the five line
stave. This clef implies the highest
tessitura of all. It is sometimes used in E♭
clarinet or E♭
trumpet music.
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.
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
Mnemonics are commonly used to remember the four notes corresponding to the four spaces of the bass cleff, such as:
*
All
Cars
Expect
Grease
The subbass clef and the baritone clef
The
baritone clef sets the F below middle C on the
3rd line of the staff, while the rarely encountered
subbass clef sets it on the
5th line of the staff.
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).
The alto clef
The
alto clef uses the C clef to assign the note middle C to the middle line of the staff. The alto clef is used by
violas, tenor
viola da gambas, and occasionally by
trombones. It is also used in some older
vocal music. Sometimes the alto clef is written in a manner that is similar to a "K".
The tenor clef
The
tenor clef uses the C clef to assign the note middle C to the
4th line of the staff. It is used in some older vocal music.
Bassoons,
cellos,
double basses and
trombones, which normally read the bass clef, use the tenor clef to avoid excessive
ledger lines in extended high passages.
The mezzo-soprano clef
The
mezzo-soprano clef uses the C clef to assign the note
middle C to the
2nd line of the staff. Although the clef is rarely used, it is sometimes used in
mezzo-soprano parts to create minimal use of ledger lines.
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.
The soprano clef
The
soprano clef uses the C clef to assign the note
middle C to the bottom line of the staff. The clef is used, rarely, for
soprano parts of a piece of music.
The
percussion 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 percussion 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 percussion clef do not allways have five lines. Commonly, percussion staves only have one line, though other configurations are also used.
Percussion clef is sometimes used when non percussion instruments play non-pitched extended techniques, such as hitting the body of a violin or cello.
Even with the freedom to move C, G and even F clefs around on the five line
staff, some occasions may exist when the musical line is still too high or too low to fit neatly onto the five line staff. A useful device that overcomes this problem is one that moves the musical line up or down an
octave. The music is read as though at one
octave but sounds either an
octave higher or an octave lower than it is written. To make a clef an octave lower a small 8 is added beneath it, likewise, to make a clef an octave higher a small 8 is added above it.
 |
Vocal music can be contracted into two staves, using the treble and bass clefs |
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.
 |
Gregorian chant clefs: C, F |
These clefs developed at the same time as the
staff, in the 10th century.
Gregorian chant used moveable C- and F-clefs on its early four-line staff.
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 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.
