LESSON 4: F Clef

In lesson 3 we learned how to identify what lines and spaces in the staff get what letters in the musical alphabet by introducing the G Clef.  But the G Clef is not the only clef in music.  In this clef we'll talk about the F Clef.  Luckily, all the Clefs work the same way, they just identify different notes.  While the G clef identified the G, the F clef identifies the F.

The F Clef (see above) works just like the G clef, but identifies what line the F is on.  The two large dots on the right side of the F clef will sit on either side of the F line of the staff.  The large dot on the left side of the clef will sit on the F line.

In the above image you'll see that the two dots on the right sit on either side of line 4 of the staff and the large dot on the left sits on line 4.  In this example, line 4 would get the name "F".  When the F Clef places the F on line 4, we can call it the Bass Clef.

Once we know that the F is on line 4, we can figure out every other line and space of the staff by using our musical alphabet.  When we go up in the staff we go forward in the alphabet.  When we go down in the staff we go backwards in the alphabet.  So the space immediately above F (space 4) would be labeled G because G comes right after F in the musical alphabet.  The space immediately below F (space 3) would be labeled E because E comes immediately before F in the musical alphabet.

If you follow this process for every line and space in the staff, you should label your staff as follows:

LESSON 3: G Clef

In our first lesson we learned that music written on a staff.  The staff is made up of 5 lines and 4 spaces, and is broken in to smaller sections called measures by using bar lines.  We also learned that each line and space in the staff has a name and that a note can be identified by what line or space it sits on. 

In our second lesson we learned that the names of notes, lines, and spaces, will be letter names based on the musical alphabet.  The musical alphabet consists of the letters A - G of the English alphabet and loops indefinitely.

In this lesson we'll learn what lines and spaces get what letter names by learning about the G Clef.

A CLEF is a musical symbol that allows us to know which lines and spaces get what letter names.  Without a clef, we cannot assign letter names to the staff.  The G CLEF (see above) is one of the most popular clefs that you're likely to see on a piece of music.  The G CLEF gets it's name because it tells us what line of the staff we're going to give the letter G of our musical alphabet.

Clef's are always placed on the staff at the very beginning of a piece of music.  The G CLEF, when placed on a staff would look like this:

If you look carefully at the picture above you'll see that the G Clef has a large circle near the bottom that wraps around line 2 of the staff.  Whatever line that large circle falls on, we will call G.  In this case the G will be on line 2 of our staff.  When the G is on line 2, we call the G Clef a "TREBLE CLEF"

Once we have found the G is on line 2 of the staff, all we need to do to figure out every other line and space is simply use our musical alphabet.  As we go UP in the staff, we go forward in the alphabet.  As we go DOWN in the staff we go backwards in the alphabet.  So the space right ABOVE G will be A, because A comes right AFTER G in the musical alphabet.  And the space right BELOW G will be F, because F comes right BEFORE G in the musical alphabet.

In our next lesson, we'll learn that the G (Treble) Clef is not the only clef in music.  Lesson 4 introduces the BASS CLEF.

LESSON 2 - Musical Alphabet

In our last lesson we learned to identify the staff, number the lines and spaces of a "staff", and break the staff into smaller segments called "measures" using "bar lines".  I mentioned that we'd later learn to identify the name of a note based on which line or space it sits on.  In this lesson we're going to learn the basic musical alphabet so that we can start putting notes on the staff and labeling them.

Alphabet:

Every note in music is given a name based on the musical alphabet.  The musical alphabet is the same as the first SEVEN letters of the English alphabet.  

Since there are more than 7 different notes in music (the piano, for example, can play 88 different notes) we have to reuse these letters many times.  If we start the alphabet at A and count all the way to G the very NEXT letter in the musical alphabet will be A and we begin all over again.  If you were looking at the keys of the piano this alphabet cycle would look like this:

Now that we understand how a staff works and we know our musical alphabet we're almost ready to identify what lines and spaces get what letter names.  BUT, before we do that we'll need to move to LESSON 3 and learn about the "G Clef".

LESSON 1 - Musical Symbols

I've never met an adult who was sorry they spent time in their youth learning to play an instrument or sing.  I have met MANY adults that are sorry they didn't.  The good news is, it's never too late.  Music can seem very foreign if you're not familiar with it, but it's really quite simple to learn regardless of age.  I'm glad you've decided you've decided to learn a new musical skill, or improve what abilities you may already have.

One of the most intimidating things about music is all of the weird symbols that musicians use.  In this first lesson we're going to identify and describe a few of those musical symbols to you.  You'll find pictures along with the descriptions to help you.

STAFF:

The musical "staff" (as seen above) is the canvas on which the musician reads or writes music.  The musical staff almost ALWAYS consists of 5 lines and four spaces (between each line).  Each line and space is numbered from bottom to top.  The bottom line is line 1, the top line is line 5.  Directly above the bottom line is space 1 and directly below the top line is space four.  Numbering the staff should look like this:

In later lessons you'll learn to identify the name of a note based on what line or space it is written on.

MEASURES:

In a piece of music the staff is broken down in to smaller parts known as measures like these:

In the above example you will see that the staff has been divided into each section by the use of vertical lines.  There are three measures in this example.

BAR LINES:

The lines that divide a staff into measures also have a name.  They're called "bar lines".

Notice that there is a special bar line at the end with two lines instead of one.  This is called a "double bar line" and is used to indicate "the end" of a piece, or section of music.