This video is for those who are new
to the bass clef and those who are
looking for a refresher of notes on the bass clef stave
Whatever reason you're here, you've probably seen the 5 lines on which musical notes sit
This is called the stave. Until the a clef is placed at the very beginning of the stave, we do not know what to call the notes placed on the stave.
For example, this note is C if I use this unusual looking clef.
But, it is a B if I use the Treble Clef
Therefore, the use of a clef is absolutely essential, so make sure you always add one at the start of a stave and each subsequent line.
We're concentrating on the bass clef, so let's pop one at the start of our stave.
It's also known as the F clef as, once upon a time, it did look like the letter F. But it is helpful to know
that the two dots in the clef, sit either side of the F line.
Any notes on this line, which I've highlighted red, will be an F.
But more of this later.
Now you've put a clef at the start of the stave, we're ready to learn the note names!
The first thing to recognise is that notes can either sit in a space,
that's the space between two lines, like the lines I've highlighted here.
Or, notes are attached to a line, like this.
Let's look at the notes in the spaces first.
In the first space at the bottom is A, the next space up is C, then an E and the final space is a G.
A common phrase that musicians use to help them remember this order is:
All Cows Eat Grass.
The notes on the lines, starting from the bottom, are: G, B, D, F and A
I've heard lots of phrases to help musicians remember this order
But I quite like 'Great Britain Doesn't Fight America'.
Or, if you prefer a non-political statement, how about 'Green Buses Drive Fast Always'
It doesn't matter what phrase you use, as long as you remember the order of the notes: G, B, D, F, A.
Let's put all of these notes onto just one stave.
You may be aware that, in music, we only use the notes A, B, C, D, E, F & G. This is sometimes known as the musical alphabet.
When we get to G, we go back to the beginning of the alphabet - A.
Therefore, here's a G and as we've reached the end of the musical alphabet
the note after it, is an A.
The same occurs over here. From the G to an A
So, if added this note...
As it sits after the A, we take the next note in the musical alphabet,
which is B.
The pattern obviously goes backwards as well. If I added this note...
As it is before the G, we take the previous note of the musical alphabet,
So it's an F!
Before we go any further, just be aware that on this stave, I've only shown the note names below
what are known as Crotchets, or Quarter Notes.
You're probably aware that notes come in all different shapes like these.
It doesn't matter what the note looks like, the important thing to note is where the notehead is sitting,
that's the black blob on a crotchet or a quarter note.
So we already know that the first note is an A, as the notehead is sitting in the bottom space of the stave.
The next note, will also be an A as its notehead is sitting in the same space.
The next note will also be an A, and so will this one.
The important thing to remember is no matter what type of note sits in that space, it will always be an A, when using Bass Clef.
Before we look at the Bass Clef notes above & below those on screen, I'm just going
to move all of these notes to the top of the screen.
You can pause this video at any time, you can use this stave of notes to help you check any of the notes we've looked at so far.
So, firstly, let's move the notes on the lines.
Remember, Great Britain Doesn't Fight America.
And then, notes in the spaces: All Cows Eat Grass.
And finally, the F and the B, which we looked at a few moments ago.
Music doesn't just stop at the top B of the stave, the pattern keeps on rising.
But as we've run out of lines on the stave, we add what are called 'ledger lines'
These are small little lines, that help musicians interpret notes above and below the stave.
This is a C, it's actually a very important C. It's proper name is 'Middle C'.
I don't want you to worry about that now, but it will help you in other music work if you remember that this is Middle C.
You can see that there is a line that cuts through it. This is a ledger line.
The ledger line acts like an additional line above the stave, but rather than drawing the full line
we just use it for the notes that need them.
We can use the same ledger line for the note D.
See how the notehead sits above the ledger line, whereas for the C, the ledger line cuts through the middle.
We can keep going...
Here is an E. We've had to add another ledger line so that the highest ledger line cuts through the notehead.
Any guesses to what this note would be?
It's sitting above the ledger line we just added for the E, so it's the next note after E in the musical alphabet.
so it's an F!
Now there's no limit on how many ledger lines you can use
but anymore than, let's say 4 or 5, and it can make the music a little bit tricky to read.
Let's add these notes to our list at the top of the screen.
We can also use ledger lines below the stave.
We already know that this is an F
So, this note below it, is an E.
Notice the ledger line that has been added to stop the
note appearing as if it's just floating below the stave.
A note below this is D.
Notice how the notehead sits below the ledger line.
And finally, a C would need an additional ledger line.
So, before we finish, let's add these last few notes to our list at the top of the screen.
And a quick reminder of how to find the first few notes on the bass clef.
Firstly, remember that the notes in the spaces, and there are only four of them
so just your four word phrase...
All Cows Eat Grass.
Whereas for notes on the lines, a 5 letter phrase,
such as Great Britain Doesn't Fight America.
Once you've remembered these two handy tips, you'll be able to work out the other notes in no time.
I hope that this video has been useful to you. Good luck with reading notes on the bass clef and thanks for watching!