Basic Music Theory: How to Read, Write, and Understand Written Music

Basic Music Theory

For now, just remember a clef points to and names one line of the staff.

I’ll show you all the gory details when we go over each clef in its own

chapter.

The Clefs

Some clefs are used more frequently than others. We’ll get the odd ones

out of the way first so you can forget them more quickly. You’ll rarely (if

ever) need them, unless you’re a viola player.

C Clefs

The C clef isn’t used much any more, except by viola players and

occasionally trombone and bassoon players.

It’s pretty easy to imagine the symbol looks like the letter C, which is

what it used to be. It’s also obvious which line is being indicated. That

big arrow pointer in the middle is what tells you which line or space is

C.

The C clef is different than other clefs and can be confusing at first

because it’s a moveable clef. Depending on which line the clef

indicates, the name of the clef is different. Confused? Don’t worry

about it. You don’t really need to know much about these clefs, but you

should be able to generally identify them and know what they do. In

case you already forgot, they’re C clefs.

I couldn’t resist, so here are the names of the different C clefs. Feel

free to forget them immediately. Except maybe you should remember

that the alto clef is used by viola players.

Example 6.2 The four types of C Clefs.

Soprano

Clef

Alto

Clef

Te n o r

Clef

Vocal Tenor

Clef