Musical notation is written on a collection of horizontal
lines (and the spaces between those lines) called a staff. There are five lines and four spaces on a
single staff. Each line and space can be
used to represent a letter of the musical alphabet. Theoretically, there is an infinite number of
lines and spaces in music. However, we
use a five lined staff to achieve the ultimate compromise: a staff that fits
well on a piece of sheet music and represents the main pitches within an
instrument’s range. Pitches that extend
beyond the range of the staff are expressed using ledger lines. These are additional lines that are drawn in
to depict the distance that the pitch extends beyond the given staff.
The specific five lines and four
spaces being listed on a particular staff are identified by a special label
which is placed at the front of the staff.
This label is called a clef, and there are several different types of
clefs. Each clef symbol highlights one
of the five lines as being a specific pitch.
Once this line is labeled, the other lines and spaces can be filled
in. The various pitch ranges of
different clefs allow us to select the five lines that best reflect the pitch
range of the instrument that we are composing for.
There are three main clef symbols
used to create the various clefs. One is
the G-clef symbol. The bottom portion of
this symbol labels the pitch G4 by circling the line that represents this
pitch. G4 is the G that is located
directly above middle C.
Another is the
C-clef symbol. The center portion of
this symbol creates a bracket that labels the line which represents the pitch
middle C.
The third is the F-clef
symbol. This symbol contains two dots
that occupy the space above and below the line that represents the pitch F3. F3 is the F that is directly below middle
C.
These three clef symbols can be
placed in various positions on the five lines of the musical staff to create a
variety of musical clefs. There are nine
pitched based musical clefs that result from the varied positioning of these
three symbols. They are: French violin,
treble, soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass and sub bass
clef.
Out of these, the four most common
clefs are treble, alto, tenor and bass clef.
Some
musical notation will place an italicized 8 at the bottom of a treble or bass
clef. This symbol is used to shift the
range of the normal treble or bass clef to a different register. When an 8
is attached to a treble clef, it stands for the musical term “all’ ottava” or “at
the octave.” This means that the staff
is representing the pitches of a standard treble clef that has been shifted one
octave higher. When an 8 is attached to a bass clef, it stands
for the musical term “ottava bassa” or “at the octave below.” This means that the staff is representing the
pitches of a standard bass clef that has been shifted one octave lower.
There
is one additional clef that exists in music.
The percussion family of instruments includes several instruments that
are non-pitched in nature. These instruments
can only play rhythmic values, and cannot replicate measured musical variations
in pitch. For this reason, some musical
notation choose to use a percussion clef when composing for these types of
instruments. This clef consists of two
parallel vertical lines that extend from the second to the third line of the
staff. These two lines cross over, and
are perpendicular to the third line of the staff. The purpose of this clef is to express the
fact that no musical pitches have been assigned to the given staff. Different lines and spaces may still be used
to distinguish between multiple non-pitched percussion instrumental parts that
are being written on the same staff, but this is in no way a reflection of
pitch.
This Learning Music With Ray video discusses the topic of the musical
staff and clefs. In this video I discuss
the composition and purpose of a musical staff.
I also discuss the use of musical clefs to identify the specific pitches
represented by a given clef. I
illustrate and explain the three basic types of pitched clef symbols and the
various musical clefs that they are used to create. Finally, I discuss the concept of non-pitched
percussion instruments, and the use of the percussion clef when creating
musical notation for these types of instruments.