The Musical Staff and Clefs

            

            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.