Understanding the bass clef

[dreamadream99]

The order for sharps is FCGDAEB; or BEADGCF for flats.

I corrected it for you.

 

[Febs]

For people discussing memory aids for the keys...there are literally 12 major keys to learn. Just start reading music, and you will stop needing any of the memory aids.

There are 15, actually:

1) No sharps/flats: C Major
2) 1 sharp: G Major
3) 2 sharps: D Major
4) 3 sharps: A Major
5) 4 sharps: E Major
6) 5 sharps: B Major
7) 6 sharps: F# Major
8) 7 sharps: C# Major
9) 1 flat: F Major
10) 2 flats: Bb Major
11) 3 flats: Eb Major
12) 4 flats: Ab Major
13) 5 flats: Db Major
14) 6 flats: Gb Major
15) 7 flats: Cb Major

 

[Kragnorak]

The order the sharps or flats are shown will be FCGDAEB for sharps or EGBDF for flats. I always teach this to kids as Fat Cats Go Dancing At Eds Bar for order of sharps and Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge for flats (there are many iterations of this pneumatic device) If it's giving you sharps a basic rule is the key is if you see sharps the next note up from the last sharp is the key, if you get flats the 2nd to last flat shown is the key. That should at least get you started.

Careful with those memory aids! Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge is for the lines on the treble clef! I don't have a suggested mnemonic for flats, but it would have to start with BEADGCF.

 

[Kragnorak]

i am not the most enlightened when i comes to music theory but if the song is in A major why not just have AM after the bass clef instead of 3 #?
just cut to the chase.

The best way to grok this is to find a piece of written music that has sharps or flats. If there is an 'accidental' (note outside key signature), it will only be written once per measure. Like, a melody will have an F# on beat 1, and every other note on that line will be written without a #, unless it is corrected by a natural sign. This is because:

Rule 1: The key signature is the default for not just the first measure, but for every measure until there is a delineated change in key.

Rule 2: Any # or b or natural sign on a given line carries over until the next barline, at which point it is assumed that the default takes back over.

 

[Kragnorak]

There was an interesting talk I saw by Victor Wooten. He was talking about how you really only need to know a small amount of information.

I like the idea of 'smartening up to simple'. My #1 rule of music theory is simple: "Any tone may be played at the same time as any other tone." Exceptions come later as a player/composer decides what they like and dislike...

 

[James Collins]

There are 15, actually:

1) No sharps/flats: C Major
2) 1 sharp: G Major
3) 2 sharps: D Major
4) 3 sharps: A Major
5) 4 sharps: E Major
6) 5 sharps: B Major
7) 6 sharps: F# Major
8) 7 sharps: C# Major
9) 1 flat: F Major
10) 2 flats: Bb Major
11) 3 flats: Eb Major
12) 4 flats: Ab Major
13) 5 flats: Db Major
14) 6 flats: Gb Major
15) 7 flats: Cb Major

Good catch, thanks.

 

[Josh Kneisel]

Careful with those memory aids! Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge is for the lines on the treble clef! I don't have a suggested mnemonic for flats, but it would have to start with BEADGCF.

I just misspoke I meant Bend Every Ageing Dads Golf Clubs First

 

[James Collins]

I always just thought it was easier to remember that the next note for flats is a fourth and for sharps a fifth. It is also the order of strings on a bass in standard tuning.

 

[gkella]

All Cows Eat Grass for the spaces.

 

[David A. Davis]

There are 15, actually:

1) No sharps/flats: C Major
2) 1 sharp: G Major
3) 2 sharps: D Major
4) 3 sharps: A Major
5) 4 sharps: E Major
6) 5 sharps: B Major
7) 6 sharps: F# Major
8) 7 sharps: C# Major
9) 1 flat: F Major
10) 2 flats: Bb Major
11) 3 flats: Eb Major
12) 4 flats: Ab Major
13) 5 flats: Db Major
14) 6 flats: Gb Major
15) 7 flats: Cb Major

Don't forget the minor keys also. And then there's double sharps and double flats, but that's later on.