F clef
- noun
- /ɛf klɛf/
- Specialized
:
clave de fa
- He quickly identified the F clef at the beginning of the musical staff and adjusted his fingering accordingly.
Examples
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The F clef is primarily used for writing music for lower-pitched instruments like the cello and bassoon.
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Learning to read the F clef is essential for bass singers.
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The F clef is essential for bass musicians.
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Can you read the F clef in sheet music?
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Learning to read the F clef is essential for bass singers.
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The F clef is primarily used for writing music for lower-pitched instruments like the cello and bassoon.
-
He quickly identified the F clef at the beginning of the musical staff and adjusted his fingering accordingly.
Synonyms
1
5.6
A sign on written music that marks the note F below middle C for low instruments and voices
How Low
Surface Forms
Morphology
The term is transparently compositional: 'clef' is a symbol indicating pitch and 'F' specifies which pitch/line is being marked, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it is the clef that marks F. This naming pattern (letter + clef) is standard cross-linguistically in music notation, making the meaning derivable without idiomatic knowledge.
Etymology
F clef is named for the letter F because the sign sits on the fourth line of the musical staff and marks the note F below middle C. So when you see this sign, you know that line is 'F', which is why the clef is used for low voices and instruments.