Key Terms:
Staff
Middle C
Treble Clef (G clef)
Bass Clef (F clef)
Grand Staff
As we were discussing last time, pitch is one of the six basic principles of a language. We have also discussed the basics of pitch as well from it's purpose to how it is heard and even broken it down into the 12 pitches on a keyboard. However, just so we can wrap this discussion up we need to go ahead and head from the basics that every musician knows and talk about the basic skill that every musician should know but do not. This is the staff and reading the clefs.
Blank staff lines from this site |
In order to make sure that the following is extremely clear, we must find one point that defines each clef equally. For this, we are going to use "middle C" or the C that is in the middle of the piano. It is usually marked by the logo in the middle of the piano's cover but there are digital keyboards that note where it is. Something else I should bring up now is the statement of octave indicators (or Scientific Pitch Notation). This is how we figure out if a note is higher or lower without saying "this note is higher than" and so on. In the case of the previously stated "Middle C", it is identified as C4. The way I remember that middle C is C4 is thinking "Music starts at C and music is explosive!" (corny, but it works if you need something to use to learn). The way the indicators are meant to work as from C to B. So for example B3 is the B below middle C. For another example, let us look at D5. It is the D an octave above middle C. So instead of being the D directly above middle C, it is a note and an octave up.
This is a treble clef on a staff Source: It's A Visual Medium |
This is a bass clef on a staff Source: Mr. Scheiber's Music Room |
The other clef is the Bass Clef also known as the F clef. As with the previous, the reason for the second name is because the dots are placed around the note F. Also as before if you go down, you have E and D or up leads to G and A. Now, the thing to realize is this F is an F3, or the F below middle C.
This is a grand staff and note equivalents Source: Click here |
The final portion of this post will be about the grand staff and it's uses. The Grand Staff is the combination of the bass and treble clefs. It is used for piano, piano styled instruments and harp reading primarily but is used to condense scores down into an easier to read format. The reasoning is to create a larger range of pitches than any one can accomplish by themselves. It reads as if one large staff. The meet in the middle at middle C. Along with the additional space, there is an additional an bracket at the beginning to link them together. In the case of organ music, there would be three or possibly four staves but as I stated before this is primarily two. Next time we will start heading onto the next topic of discussion!
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