How to read in the key of C

If you have decided to start your way in learning music, perhaps you have already come across a couple of concepts that you must learn in order to read and write music. Surely you have already realized that music is a language in itself and that it requires knowing its elements in order to understand it in greater depth.

In this article by a PROFESSOR you will know how to read in key of c, the system used by some instruments, as well as the treble clef and the bass clef. We will start with the basics and review other concepts so that everything is very clear.

The key of C is the one that is used less frequently, being the viola and alto trombone the two best known instruments to use it. The first step to reading in the key of C is to locate the line of the staff that indicates the key, which in most cases is the third line of the staff, right in the middle. This means that the note C is on this line. This note will serve as a reference to name the notes in order.

Much less frequently the clef of C is used on another line. If this is the case, it has different names:

• Frontline: Soprano
• Second line: Mezzo Soprano
• Third line: Alto (the most common)
• Fourth line: Tenor
• Fifth line: Baritone

What example for this occasion we will read the notes of the C major scale. When the clef of C is on the third line, the notes of the C Major scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and C sharp or octave) are written like this:

• C: on the third line of the staff.
• re: in the third space of the staff.
• E: on the fourth line of the staff.
• fa: in the fourth space of the staff.
• sol: on the fifth line of the staff (the last line).
• a: in the fifth space of the staff (just above the last line).
• yes: in the first additional line of the staff.
• C sharp (octave): in the first additional space of the staff (just above the first additional line).

You must remember that the notes can go both up to higher, and down to lower, so to read the notes notes in descending order, all you have to do is name the notes backwards: Do (octave), si, la, sol, fa, mi, re, do.

The notes on the staff They have no limit so theoretically you can continue writing them without end, what delimits the notes depends on the instrument for the which we are writing or reading, since in this case we depend on its tessitura (how high or low are the notes that can produce).

As we have mentioned above, the do key is one of the least used keysHowever, it is important for certain instruments such as the viola and the alto trombone.

Sometimes the key change is chosen when the instrument must play notes that change very drastically in register, since in such In this way we can avoid the excessive use of additional lines, which can be uncomfortable and impractical for the reading.

The musical keys are used in musical writing at the beginning of the pentagrama and indicate a reference note that will allow us to locate the one with the notes. Each musical key has its own symbol and they point us to a specific line as a starting point. The musical clefs that we conventionally use today are the treble clef, the bass clef and the C clef, which we will learn this time around.

How to read notes on the staff

The notes on the staff we can write them both in the 5 lines and in the spaces. When writing, remember to write accurately to avoid confusion. Staff lines and spaces are counted from bottom to top.

Sometimes the musical notes can be higher and / or lower than the 5 lines of the staff, in which case we resort to what we call “Additional lines”, that are written both above and below the first and last lines, being used only when they are required.

Very well! You now know how to read in the key of C and have increased your general knowledge of music notation. If you are curious to learn more or if you want to review the information, we have more articles for you about the other keys used in music. Also if you want to practice with the reading notes in the key of C you can do the printable exercises with their solutions.