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Music vocabulary · Notation and Reading Music

Clef

Meaning in music, with examples

/klef/nounCore term

In music, clef means: The symbol at the start of a staff that fixes the pitch of the lines and spaces. The most common are the treble (G) clef and the bass (F) clef.

In Turkish: anahtar, nota anahtarı

How it is used

Used in notation and reading lessons. Music is written 'in treble clef' or 'in bass clef'; viola players read alto clef, and cello and bassoon parts sometimes switch to tenor clef. Pianists read treble and bass clef at the same time.

Example sentences

  1. Guitar music is written in treble clef, one octave higher than it sounds.

  2. If you switch from guitar to bass, you will need to learn the bass clef.

Common collocations

  • treble clef
  • bass clef
  • alto clef
  • read bass clef
  • clef change
  • staffThe set of five horizontal lines and four spaces on which notes are written. A note's position on the staff shows its pitch.
  • key signatureThe group of sharps or flats written at the start of every staff, just after the clef, that shows the key of the piece and which notes are always raised or lowered.
  • sheet musicMusic written or printed in notation on paper or a screen, so that musicians can read and play it.
  • noteA single musical sound with a particular pitch and length, or the written symbol that shows it. In English, notes are named with the letters A to G.
  • octaveThe interval between one note and the next note with the same name, higher or lower. The higher note vibrates exactly twice as fast as the lower one.

More terms: Notation and Reading Music

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