The bass clef, or key that many musicians call F (Fa), covers a low scale, so it is used in notes designed for instruments with low tuning, as well as for writing parts of low voices. Among the most common musical instruments for which this key is applicable, one can name a bass guitar, cello, double bass, as well as in the Fa key, the left-hand part is recorded for playing the piano.
It is very important to know the arrangement of musical notes in the line headed by the bass clef. The arrangement of notes in this case originates from the Fa note in a small octave (from which comes the name of the key), which is located on the second step of the
musical staff from above. It is also worth noting that precisely because the main “orientation” of a given key is a small octave, they assign another name to it, which sounds like a “small key”.
In notes designed for piano, the bass clef is always combined with the treble clef, which allows you to recreate a holistic and full-bodied melody. The small key is usually located on the bottom line, therefore, the part headed by him is performed by the pianist's left hand. However, in some cases this key can be found in the part for the right hand, for example, in the work “Sonata No. 14” by L. V. Beethoven.
In works written for choral and vocal performance, the bass clef is also very often used. First of all, it is worth mentioning the parties of such voices as bass and baritone. Less often, for simplicity of presentation, parts of viola voices are recorded in a small way. Most often, this situation occurs in scores for choirs, but if we are talking about a separate part for voice-viola, then the characteristic alto key is used.
It is important to consider the instrument for which certain notes are written. The bass clef can be lowered by an octave if the part is intended for double bass, in all other cases all notes are played in accordance with their standard arrangement in this key.
However, there are some varieties of the bass clef, such as the baritone clef and the bass profund. Such signs are extremely rare in musical literacy, but, nevertheless, their location on the stave should be remembered, so as not to confuse them with the standard key Fa.
The small or bass clef is second after the treble clef in its prevalence in various notes. Sometimes he even “skips” in the notes for instruments such as viola and violin, and is simply indispensable in any score. The bass key was used by musicians and composers who lived and worked in the distant years, and it was thanks to this sign that all sonatas and rondos, chorales and vocalises, preludes and fugues became so full-bodied and multifaceted.
In the end, it would be worth saying that there is nothing complicated in writing a bass clef - it is a kind of comma, the basis of which is “attached” to the fourth line of the musical staff. Also, two points that will surround this same fourth step must be assigned to the key.