What is the KEY to Fa

Music is an art that we enjoy practically every day, however, sometimes we do not realize that it is actually also a language in itself. As such, it has its own grammar rules and even its own writing.

In this lesson from a TEACHER you will learn more about the types of musical keys. Specifically about what is the bass clef and how to draw it on the staff, so that you can get a little closer to understanding musical writing.

Index

1. The bass clef: definition for children
2. Bass clef types
3. How to draw the bass clef
4. When are other musical keys used?

The musical keysThey are intended to indicate us how to read the notes depending on where they are on the staff. The name of the musical key indicates the main reference note and thus we know how to read the rest in relation to it. For example in this case, bass clef indicates us where is the note "Fa" on the staff.

There are different musical keys and they are used depending on the instrument and the work. The other musical keys currently used are the

exist 2 types of bass clef, depending on the line on the staff on which it is placed:

• Bass clef in fourth.
• Bass clef in third.

Bass clef in fourth

It is placed on the fourth line of the staff. It is the one that is used most frequently, usually by low register instruments (that produce low notes) such as the double bass, the electric bass, the cello, the tuba, the bassoon and the trombone. Also in the case of instruments with a wide range that use two musical keys at the same time as the piano and the harp, they use the key of F for the low notes.

Bass clef in third

As its name implies, it uses the third line of the staff. It is used very infrequently.

The symbol used for the bass clef has a appearance similar to an ear, comes from a version stylized letter "F" since in alphabetical musical notation, it is this letter that represents the note Fa. This symbol, as in all musical clefs, is placed at the beginning of the staff.

Remember that it is important to know the number of lines and spaces on the staff and that they are counted from the bottom up.

These are the steps to draw the bass clef:

1. Remember to draw it at the beginning of the staff. You should refer to the fourth or third line, depending on which bass clef you want to draw. (The bass clef in fourth indicates the fourth line and the bass clef in third indicates the third line.)
2. Start by placing a small dot on the indicated line and then draw an arched line to the right, like an ear.
3. Draw two points just on the right side, leaving the reference line in the middle again.

Bass clef in English

In the English language the bass clef is called “Bass Clef” since the word “Bass” means bass and this key is used precisely for instrument with low notes (low).

Music is fueled by variety and wide ranges of sounds that go from the lowest to the most treble, so it is natural to adapt according to the recording situation (the spectrum of the height of the notes). The use of a musical clef depends on 2 factors in principle:

• The tessitura of the instrument.
• Reading comfort

According to the tessitura of the instrument

Each different instrument has the ability to produce notes of different heights (low, medium and high), therefore we use an appropriate musical key according to these notes. This provides the musician with an agile reading.

For reading comfort

Even when reading for the same instrument, sometimes the register varies so much that reading can be difficult with a single musical key. Since the staff only has 5 lines, when the height of the notes are extreme we must use the called “additional lines” (the lines that are drawn outside the staff above and below). This can be impractical for the performer, so in this case we resort to changing the musical key when changing the register.

We hope you have learned a lot about the bass 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 bass clef.

If you want to read more articles similar to What is the bass clef, we recommend that you enter our category of Musical language.