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*** Playing when the music is in the Treble Clef ***

R

REDLAWMAN

Jun 14, 2010
257
1
59
Cornwall, England, UK
#1
Could anyone please explain what we bassists do when the score is written in the Treble Clef?

I can read the Bass Clef, but I've just got the sheet music for 'Galveston' and it's in the TC.

I appreciate, I think, that 'our' E; F; G is 'their' C; D; E, etc. but what do we do when faced with this situation?

I assume most music is written in the Treble Clef?

Those infamous '6 notes' at the start of Galveston, in the TC they're: A; B; A; F; E; D.

Thanks everyone.
 
#2
Transcribe it to bass cleff?

I'm not sure if you're confused if you should just play what it says, or if you should pretend the cleff is actually for bass. If that's the case, then you play what it says in treble cleff. If you're playing in a higher register, then it makes sense to use treble cleff. You don't want to have your bass cleff like five miles below where the actual notes are on the paper.
 
#3
to read treble clef as bass clef, you have to imagine dropping everything one staff line down. In treble clef, the G is the second staff line from the bottom, in Bass, it is the bottom staff line. You can sort of squint and mentally remove the bottom line to do this - imagine the treble clef bottom staff line "E", isn't there, if you follow me.

But if you are going to be serious about reading, you should learn to read both clefs well.
 
#4
... I might be missing something here, but wouldn't an A be an A, and so on down the line?? ... the bass and treble clef simply reflect the change to make it easier to read without all the ledger lines ... is that what you are asking?? ... as mentioned, to transcribe to bass clef, simply draw the staff and move the treble clef note 'down' two full steps (or to the next lower line or space)
 
#6
Intervals. While the notes are different, the intervals of the written notes are the same. Do if instead of your reading process being that you think "D D C D A Ab G C D F D" you think "D, repeat, down a whole step, back to original, up a fifth, down a half step, another half step, etc." you'll find reading a lot easier.

Clearly showing the MUSICAL relationship between notes is one huge reason to learn to read. It's not just a code for what notes to play, but it tells you how they relate.

John
 
#7
REDLAWMAN said:
Could anyone please explain what we bassists do when the score is written in the Treble Clef?

I can read the Bass Clef, but I've just got the sheet music for 'Galveston' and it's in the TC.

I appreciate, I think, that 'our' E; F; G is 'their' C; D; E, etc. but what do we do when faced with this situation?

I assume most music is written in the Treble Clef?

Those infamous '6 notes' at the start of Galveston, in the TC they're: A; B; A; F; E; D.

Thanks everyone.
Click to expand...


I think your best bet is to learn the treble clef as a separate clef and not relate the lines and spaces to bass clef, this will help you especially if you plan to play keyboard or guitar. Transcribing is a good way to familiarize yourself with the new clef and also you will be better prepared to handle yourself in a situation where the charts are not in bass clef. There is a vast amount of music written in bass clef, as well as other clefs, too.
 
#9
I'm getting a little confused now because of my inexperience, so please bare with me guys.

Looking at the start of the Galveston score, there's the Treble Clef and then notes that on the treble clef are: A; B; A; F; E; D.

If the music were written in the Bass Clef, these notes would be: C; D; C; A; G; F.

Do I need to mentally convert the former into the latter and play the latter?
 
#13
The C on treble clef is the third space, the C on bass clef is the second space, right? OK, so the D on either clef is the line right above, and the E is the space above. So, other than starting point, they're exactly the same.

Now if the melody line in treble clef is A B A F E D, and you want to play the melody on bass, you STILL want to play the same notes, A B A F E D. Changing to C D C A G F is wrong for two reasons. First, all you did was change keys. Second the interval from a to F in the original is NOT the same as the interval from your C to A in the second. Again, you gotta look at the intervals, not just note names. Did you check the key signature of the sheet music?

And, as snarf says, if you're working on a bass part, the melody is not generally what you'd play. It's the ultimate guide to what's going to work, but you need to know the chords that the melody is over.

John
 
#14
NoteNames1.jpg
 
#16
My best suggestion is juts to learn how to read treble. If you're already proficient at reading bass, it will not take long at all. I'm a trumpet player, and in my fist semester of college I learned how to read bass clef and transpose up or down one whole step in my head, and do both at once. No big deal really, just work at it a bit.
 
#17
Usually you can read the notes verbatim, per the chart posted by elgecko.

But there is an important possible exception: Are you looking at a chart explicitly written for a saxophone or some other transposed instrument?

If this is the case, then the treble clef you are seeing is NOT the same as a piano or guitar treble clef.

Pianos, guitars, basses*, and others are concert pitch instruments: playing the note notated as "C" produces the pitch "C"
Many instruments, however, are not concert pitch. The Eb Alto Sax sounds a 3rd lower than it looks on paper.
That means a middle C on piano and a middle C on Alto Sax are off by 3 notes.
Music notated for such instruments is transposed accordingly.

so be sure what instrument the chart was intended for!

Fun facts:
*technically, the bass is also a transposed instrument, sounding an octave lower than written
-but since it's a full octave, the note names remain the same.

The trebel clef symbol = a stylized letter "G" that curls around the line for G
Bass clef = stylized "F", the dots indicate the line for F
 
#19
elgecko said:
NoteNames1.jpg
Click to expand...

^ This. Great chart... 'tis a keeper. :)

The treble and bass clefs are offset by two lines and spaces. A note written on the treble clef is written two lines or two spaces lower on the bass clef, and vice versa: a note written on the bass clef is written two lines or two spaces higher on the treble clef. I play guitar also, and I simply learned to think in "twos".
 
#20
I played single reeds (Treble clef, Bb and Eb) for years before I took up bass. I was a great sight reader on clarinet and sax, then I switched to bass - way more fun. I played bass by ear and chord charts for a while, then decided to go to college to learn jazz. I got in, then was put in the big band. It was then I realized (duh) that I could not read bass clef! I managed to make it through the two rehearsals we had that week by keeping one eye on the chords and the other on the notes, and following the rhythms enough to sound like I knew what I was doing. Major sweating on my part.. Massive faking followed, while I forced myself to learn to read bass clef. :-)
 

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