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Lesson 3: More about the Treble Clef
By Debbie Ridpath Ohi - 06/04/2007 - 10:51 AM EDT
In
my last column, I introduced the treble clef.
As
I mentioned last time, the treble clef is also referred to as the
G clef because of the fact that the curly bit in the treble clef
wraps around the "G line":
Thus
you already know that the second line from the bottom in the treble
clef is named G. Suppose we place a note on this line. If you sang
or played this note, it would sound as concert pitch G:
As
I'm sure you remember from the
first lesson, the note on the above staff is a quarter note.
When figuring out a pitch of a particular note, ignore the "tail"
of the note and just look at the circular note itself. In this case,
the note is on G.
Each
space AND line on a staff are associated with a particular pitch.
Names
of the spaces in the treble clef
There
are four spaces in the treble clef, and these notes spell out the
word "FACE":
Names
of the lines in the treble clef
There
are five lines in the treble clef, and these notes spell out the
word "EGBDF". Okay, so maybe this isn't a real word. To help music
students remember the names of the lines, teachers have come up
with a number of different sayings, such as "Every Good
Boy Deserves Fudge". PC-conscious types steer
away from this saying for fear of being pummelled by rabid feminists
("Why is it that just BOYS deserve fudge, huh? What do the GIRLS
get, tell me that?") and angry dieters.
Feel
free to make up your own acronym. In fact, please do let me know if you come up with anything
interesting, and I'll post it in my next column. If it's appropriate
for family viewing, that is. :-)
Learning
the names of the notes
Unfortunately
there's a bit of drudgework involved here...you've got to be able
to know the names of the lines and spaces in the treble clef. You
could just memorize the rules above, but this would mean a hasty
muttering each time you try reading a note. If you do this enough,
however, you should (in theory) start recognizing what notes are
which without having to rely on the rules each time:
A better
way (but involving more effort on your part, sadly) is to find a
way to ingrain the rules into your brain so they become second-nature.
Without a private tutor to give you reams of exercises with immediate
feedback, your best bet is probably to use flash cards.
How
to make treble clef flashcards
I've
provided the images for your flashcards at the end of this column.
Print out the images on a piece of paper, and then use a pair of
scissors to cut them up so that each one is on a separate piece
of paper.
1.
Buy a pack of blank white index cards (3.5 x 5").
2.
Glue the music-notation section of each image on one side of each
card. On the other side of the card, glue the corresponding letter
(or write it with ink that won't show through the other side).
3.
Shuffle the cards.
4.
Go through the entire deck of cards, with the note portion facing
toward you. Name the note, then turn the card over to see if you're
right. At first you'll probably have to remember the rules ("FACE",
"Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge") to identify each note.
5.
This will be frustrating at first, and likely very slow-going. Don't
Give Up! The more you practice, the more automated the process
will get.
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