Music theory question

[Amara]

I want to do some songwriting, so I picked up a ukulele to experiment with chord progressions without getting guitar cooties on me, and because four is a much more reasonable number of strings for an instrument. So I picked up a ukulele method book, and I don't quite understand the notation. There's a funny squiggle at the left end of the staff, which pokes out above and below it, in the spot where the bass clef should be. Does anyone know what it might be?

Also, do ukulele people write their musical notation upside down? The first exercise appears to start with playing a low E, but the text identifies it as middle C. If I turn the staff upside down, that's actually correct, and the squiggle sort of curls around what would be the F then, which is where a clef is supposed to be centred. But why would it be upside down?

 

[RoadRanger]

Nothing that a little flea powder won't fix .

 

[NoiseNinja]

Ukulele players often prefer to play while performing headstand, which should explain why the notations are upside down.
For extended rehearsal sessions or live performances they even invented a special gadget to place their feet in, so they don't have to concentrate on holding their balance and strain their neck muscles too much:

This is a more advanced and expensive rack to obtain the same:

Fun fact:

Lou Barlow, bass player of Dinosaur Jr., actually started as ukulele player, and is known for stripping away the last two strings on his guitars too.
I guess he put the habit of hanging upside down when playing aside to be able to move more freely around on stage as is custom in rock music.

 

[BrewsterRooster]

That "squiggly clef" may appear in a couple different positions relative to the staff lines, but in any case the note at its center point is C4 - or middle C, if you prefer a piano reference. All the other notes lay relative to the position of C4.

When it appears centered on the third staff line, it's referred to as either alto or C clef. When it appears raised (as in post number 2) so that it centers on the second staff line from the top, it's called tenor clef. The clef marking itself is referred to as "C clef" because it is designed to show the position of C, much the same way that bass clef is also referred to as "F clef" because the dots flank the F line, or "G clef" for a treble clef symbol where the innermost curly-cue wraps around the G line.

People may ask what the point of having all these different clef notations is, and they're just to help prevent having to draw too many ledger lines when scoring for a specific instrument or voice - same reason bass (both upright and electric) is scored on the bass clef an octave higher than its fundamental pitches. If most low-register basslines were scored "literally," there would be so many ledger lines drawn below the staff that the score would just look like a hot mess. So clef conventions exist to keep written scores as clean as possible.

Unless the squiggle you refer to is actually a treble clef, which is the only one I can think of that actually sticks out both above and below the staff lines as you implied.

 

[Febs]

Unless the squiggle you refer to is actually a treble clef, which is the only one I can think of that actually sticks out both above and below the staff lines as you implied.

He's talking about treble clef. This is the giveaway:

The first exercise appears to start with playing a low E, but the text identifies it as middle C.

 

[BrewsterRooster]

How right you are! That didn't click with me the first time around...

 

[friendlybass]

Ahh the ol' treble clef shenanigan. Dont worry OP, it happens to me every time I read. They sneak that into a bass part and Im playing then my brain goes *** is that! Must be a rest for a bar while we get our poopie together

 

[BassChuck]

I remember my first beer.