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Hear this out loudPauseReading Alto Clef The mnemonic device “Fat Alley Cats Eat Garbage” (F, A, C, E, G) may help you remember this order of letter names. As seen in Example 5, the center of the alto clef is indented around the C line (the middle line). For this reason it is sometimes called a “C clef.”

Hear this out loudPauseThe Notation of Notes, Clefs, and Ledger Lines chapter introduced four clefs: treble, bass, alto, and tenor. A clef indicates which pitches are assigned to the lines and spaces on a staff.

Hear this out loudPauseWhat is Middle C? Middle C is the 4th C note from the left hand side of a standard 88-key piano (the 5th C from the right hand side) and is commonly tuned to 256 Hz. It is referred to as C4 in scientific pitch notation, is note number 60 in the MIDI protocol and is located on the 1st fret of the 2nd string on a guitar.

Hear this out loudPauseWhat is a musical stave? In Western music, the stave is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces that represent a different musical pitch. Music symbols and notes are placed on the stave based on their pitch and/or function.

Hear this out loudPauseThe simplest reason to use it is to avoid needing to use ledger lines. Although used primarily in vocal music of the Classical era and earlier, C Clefs are still seen in Orchestral Music today for certain instruments. The Alto and Tenor C Clefs are the only ones that are required for the Advanced Rudiments exam.

Common Time Hear this out loudPauseThe "C" after the clef in place of the time signature stands for "Common Time," and it is shorthand for 4/4 time. If you see a "C" with a vertical line through it, that stands for "Cut Time," and it is shorthand for 2/2 time.

• Treble clef. The treble clef (also called the G clef) indicates that the note G above middle C falls on the second line of the staff.
• Bass clef. The bass clef (also called the F clef) indicates that the note F below middle C falls on the fourth line of the staff.
• Grand staff.
• Alto clef.
• Tenor clef.
• Octave clefs.
• Clef change.

Hear this out loudPauseThe C clef is an important clef in orchestral music. It's used for certain instruments including the viola, cello, bassoon, and more. It was also commonly used in older vocal scores. It isn't any harder than learning F or G clef; the process of learning to read a new clef is always exactly the same.

Hear this out loudPauseMiddle C (the fourth C key from left on a standard 88-key piano keyboard) is designated C4 in scientific pitch notation, and c′ in Helmholtz pitch notation; it is note number 60 in MIDI notation.

Hear this out loudPauseMiddle C is important because it is the center of the musical universe for kids. Kids need this center, this reference point to navigate the difficulties of sheet music.

Hear this out loudPauseA stave is the crosspiece between the legs of a chair or a wooden slat forming the side of a barrel. In music, it's the five lines you write notes on. Stave comes from the word staff, as in a walking stick. You're most likely to encounter the word stave if you're learning woodworking.

Hear this out loudPauseA stave is a narrow length of wood with a slightly bevelled edge to form the sides of barrels, tanks, tubs, vats and pipelines, originally handmade by coopers. They have been used in the construction of large holding tanks and penstocks at hydro power developments.