Why the bass clef exists in music. Take the piano, why can’t the left hand on all pieces just be in the treble clef like the right?
In: 86
you wanna read a million ledger lines? me neither
you wanna read a million ledger lines? me neither
The same reason they called those notes sharps/flats
Why not just call em a b c d e f g h I
Etc
The same reason they called those notes sharps/flats
Why not just call em a b c d e f g h I
Etc
I play the cello and the reason I think the bass clef exists is that some instruments cannot reach such high notes, and it would be easier to write in a lower octet. For the piano, it would be low on the staff if you only used the treble clef.
I play the cello and the reason I think the bass clef exists is that some instruments cannot reach such high notes, and it would be easier to write in a lower octet. For the piano, it would be low on the staff if you only used the treble clef.
It’s because the bass notes are lower, and would lie outside the treble clef. It would be akin to saying “why not just put the bass guitar notes on a six string guitar”, same answer, they simply wouldn’t fit and it’s clearer, easier and more simple to read and play if you have them separately.
It’s because the bass notes are lower, and would lie outside the treble clef. It would be akin to saying “why not just put the bass guitar notes on a six string guitar”, same answer, they simply wouldn’t fit and it’s clearer, easier and more simple to read and play if you have them separately.
Clefs don’t actually tell you just which note. Notes repeat every octave, right? So each octave has a C and a D and so on. So you might think you can just play a treble clef middle C an octave lower on the left hand and that’d solve the problem. But what you’re actually doing isn’t playing what’s written, you’re mentally transposing it an octave down. Middle C is C4 (the C in the fourth octave) in scientific pitch notation, and if you played it one octave lower you’d be playing C3 (the C in the third octave). On the treble clef that pitch would be four ledger lines beneath the staff. And that’s because the clef doesn’t just tell you which note in any octave, they actually tell you specifically which note in which octave.
Each clef has its own specific range of pitches that it’s best for. Treble clef is best for stuff between middle C and about two octaves up from there. Any higher and you’re reading a ton of ledger lines. Not fun, right?
The opposite is also true: go lower than the middle C and you’re going to be reading ledger lines for days. On the piano, most melodies are written from the middle C and higher, and left hand accompaniment is generally lower than middle C. So left hand is usually written in the bass clef, which is much more suited for that range. If the instrument were different, or the piece of music in a different range of octaves, the composer would usually opt to write using a different clef – for example, cello uses tenor clef because it best represents the most commonly played pitches of the instrument using the least amount of ledger lines.
Here’s a page that I found that visually explains how different clefs work! https://www.dacapoalcoda.com/relation-between-clefs
Clefs don’t actually tell you just which note. Notes repeat every octave, right? So each octave has a C and a D and so on. So you might think you can just play a treble clef middle C an octave lower on the left hand and that’d solve the problem. But what you’re actually doing isn’t playing what’s written, you’re mentally transposing it an octave down. Middle C is C4 (the C in the fourth octave) in scientific pitch notation, and if you played it one octave lower you’d be playing C3 (the C in the third octave). On the treble clef that pitch would be four ledger lines beneath the staff. And that’s because the clef doesn’t just tell you which note in any octave, they actually tell you specifically which note in which octave.
Each clef has its own specific range of pitches that it’s best for. Treble clef is best for stuff between middle C and about two octaves up from there. Any higher and you’re reading a ton of ledger lines. Not fun, right?
The opposite is also true: go lower than the middle C and you’re going to be reading ledger lines for days. On the piano, most melodies are written from the middle C and higher, and left hand accompaniment is generally lower than middle C. So left hand is usually written in the bass clef, which is much more suited for that range. If the instrument were different, or the piece of music in a different range of octaves, the composer would usually opt to write using a different clef – for example, cello uses tenor clef because it best represents the most commonly played pitches of the instrument using the least amount of ledger lines.
Here’s a page that I found that visually explains how different clefs work! https://www.dacapoalcoda.com/relation-between-clefs
Latest Answers