What is the treble clef

In music there are several signs and symbols that are part of formal language and that, although they may seem confusing at first, are necessary to interpret music correctly, in such a way that it is important to learn to recognize them, know how they are used and how they should be drawn in writing musical.

In this lesson from a TEACHER you will learn more about the types of musical keys; specifically about what is the treble clef and how to draw it on the staff.

The main function of musical keysis to indicate the height of the notes to be able to read them on the staff. The treble clef in particular is the most frequently used in music. Other musical keys used today are: the bass clef and the C clef, both of which use different symbols to identify them.

The treble clef is the name used to identify the clef that appears as a stylized version of the letter "G" (which in alphabetical musical notation represents the note Sol). This symbol is placed at the beginning of the staff to know how to start reading a song or musical work.

In relation to the clef, you can know one of the notes and thus recognize the rest of the notes in the other lines and spaces of the staff. Here we discover you what is the treble clef for.

Other names for the treble clef

In the Baroque, the treble clef was known as "Italian key" and the treble clef in English is currently called "G clef" (since G is the letter used to name the G note) or "treble clef" (which means treble clef).

In the musical pentagramlines and spaces are numbered from bottom to top. To draw the treble clef you must take as a reference point the second line of the staff, which is where the note g that gives the name to this clef is written.

This key is appropriate for represent high-pitched sounds (high notes) and it appears in the music of instruments with medium and high-pitched sounds. Some instruments that use this key are: the picador, the transverse flute, the recorder, the trumpet, the violin, the guitar, the lyre. In instruments that use two different keys such as the piano and the harp, due to their wide tessitura (the range of notes that can be played from lowest to highest), the treble clef is used for the notes sharp.

These are the steps to draw the treble clef symbol:

1. Note that the first thing to draw the treble clef is to start from the second line of the staff.
2. You must make a shape similar to an "O" without closing it and continue upwards as if it were a snail.
3. Then you should continue making an upward cursive "L", making the curve to the left. Don't be afraid to step off the pentagram, it is in fact what you should do.
4. When you go back down, you must finish below the "O" that you have made, crossing it in the middle and finish it making a small rise up and on the left side, as if it were a cane or the handle of a umbrella. Again, this last part falls off the staff below.

As you can know, in music there is a wide variety of sounds, some medium, others very high and others very low. The use of a musical key depends mainly on 2 things:

• The tessitura of the instrument for reading.
• The comfort to be able to read the musical notes.

According to the tessitura of the instrument

The ability to reach these sounds is the tessitura of an instrument, so this is one of the reasons to know which musical key is the appropriate one. Instruments such as the double bass, tuba, and bassoon produce very low notes, so it is necessary to use the F clef and not the treble clef. Another example is the viola, which has a lower register than the violin, so instead of the treble clef, use the key of C.

For reading comfort

Since the staff is only 5 lines, when the notes begin to come out of them and we begin to use the so-called "lines additional ”(lines that are drawn outside the staff, both above and below) can become very tedious and impractical for reading, so we resort to changing the key even for the same instrument, to facilitate it and avoid the excessive use of lines additional. This happens for example with the cello, which can play low notes but also middle notes. When the cello moves from the low register to the middle register it can first use the F clef and as the middle register approaches, switch to the C clef.

I hope you have learned about the treble clef and now have time to practice drawing it. We have included some printable exercises with their solutions so that you can practice the spelling of the treble clef.