Music Clef

What is a music clef? It is a sign placed at the beginning of the staff. It determines which pitch goes where in sheet music. The most common clefs are the treble clef and the bass clef. Less common music clefs include the alto clef, the tenor clef, the vocal tenor clef and the neutral clef. For more information on what the musical staff is made up of and how to read notes on them, visit the Musical Staff page.

Treble Clef

The treble clef (also called G clef) looks like this:

If you see a treble clef at the beginning of the sheet music, it means that you'll find E on the first line (i.e. on the bottom line). Middle C (the C you can find in the middle of the piano or keyboard) is on the first ledger line (the first extra line added below the bottom line). The rest of the notes come in the usual order (E, F, G, A, B, C, D) and they repeat after each octave.

Bass Clef

This is what a bass clef (also called F clef) looks like:

If there is a bass clef at the beginning of the staff, you'll know that there is going to be a G on the first line, A on the first space and so on. Middle C is on the first ledger line after the fifth line on the top.

Alto Clef

The alto clef (also called C clef) looks like this:

The center of the alto clef is on the middle line. And on this middle line you'll find Middle C. If the center of this clef is on another line, it will have a different name based on which line it is centered on. See tenor clef. The alto clef is used by the viola.

Tenor Clef

This is what the tenor clef looks like:

In this case, the center of the clef is on the fourth line, therefore you'll find Middle C on the fourth line too. Many instruments use this music clef.

Vocal Tenor Clef

The vocal tenor clef looks like this:

You take a treble clef and write a small number 8 at the bottom. In this music clef, Middle C is going to be on the third space. It's used for the tenor voice in choirs.

Neutral Clef

This is what the neutral clef looks like:

It's used for instruments that don't use pitches, especially percussion instruments. The neutral clef doesn't show you any pitches only the rhythm. You can use it with a two-line staff or with a full five-line staff if needed. To tell you which percussion instrument belongs to which line, they use the abbreviated name of the instrument, for example "b.d" for bass drum.

Other Clefs

• If you place the C clef on the bottom line, you call it soprano clef.
• If you place the C clef on the second line, you call it mezzo-soprano clef.
• If you place the C clef on the fifth (top) line, you call it baritone clef.

The reason why there are so many music clefs is that there are several pitches (just look at a piano) and you have to include all of those in the sheet music. If there weren't so many clefs, it would be a difficult job to write down and read music.

Key signatures are also placed differently with each music clef but the pattern of sharps and flats remains the same.



More Music Theory 

Circle of 5ths

What is the circle of 5ths exactly?

The circle of 5ths (or circle of 4ths when you read the diagram in reverse direction) is a theory/concept/system that musicians use to interpret the relationships of tones with each other and be able to talk about and write music (and sheet music) more easily. It's worth learning them because it makes it much easier to read music and learn or write new pieces.

If you look at the diagram below, it might seem really confusing but don't worry, we'll clear it up in a minute. However, it will be necessary for you to be able to read sheet music on a beginner level to understand this diagram. If you don't, you can learn it fast & easy on the How To Read Music Notes page.

What do we use the circle of fifths for?

The circle of 5ths tells you how the twelve tones on the chromatic scale (i.e. A, A♭, B, B♭, C, D, D♭, E, E♭, F, G, G♭) relate to each other. It also shows you the key signatures, the numbers and positions of flat and sharp symbols in them, and the major and minor keys that belong to them. Musicians use this concept/system to interpret the relationships of tones with each other and be able to talk about and write music (and sheet music) more easily.

Explanation:
The red letters show you the names of the different major keys. The green letters inside the circle show you the minor keys. Under the red C there is a little symbol "♮". This symbol means that this key is natural, that is there are no sharp or flat notes in it. From the numbers and symbols in this grey area, you'll find out how many sharps or flats there are in a certain key.

At the bottom of the diagram you'll see some notes separated by a slash. It means that they are so called "enharmonic" key signatures. They are exactly the same but have two names. If you look at a keyboard, for example, you'll see that G♭ and F# is exactly the same. By the way, it's also important to remember where these sharp and flat symbols are in sheet music. They don't just put them on top of each other unfortunately :) To learn them, find out more about key signatures.

If you find it difficult to remember the circle of 5ths, memorize the saying "Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle" (the first letter of each word stands for a sharp).

If you'd like to learn music theory really thoroughly, I recommend the Getting It Down Cold Music Theory Course. This course is the best one if you'd like to become a better musician and/or songwriter in a very short time!

More about Music Theory 

Chords That Sound Good Together

The science of chords that sound good together is part of chord theory. It's simple and interesting. And it's essential that you as a songwriter have an understanding of it. So here is the deal:

(If you're not familiar with chords and how to make them, visit the Keyboard Chords page first.)

The most important thing to know about chords is that whatever sounds good is good. Even if theory claims the opposite, you should still use your gut instinct and musical intuition to decide. Rules of chord harmony only give you a guideline but you can break out of them any time you want.

First of all, a tiny bit of theory:

Musicians often refer to chords with Arabic or Roman numerals (e.g. "5" or "V"). (On the Nashville Number System page there is a chart to help you find out which scales, notes and chords belong to which number.) Major scales are shown with capital letters and minor ones with small letters.

In major scales, you'll find the following notes:

• First chord (or root / tonic chord) - major - chord number in the scale: I
• Second chord - minor - chord number in the scale: ii
• Third chord - minor - chord number in the scale: iii
• Fourth chord - major - chord number in the scale: IV
• Fifth chord - major - chord number in the scale: V
• Sixth chord - minor - chord number in the scale: vi
• Seventh chord - diminished (root, and two minor thirds) - chord number in the scale: viio

For example, in the key of C:

C - D - E - F - G - A - B can be described as I - ii - iii - IV - V - vi - viio

In minor scales, you'll find these notes:

• First chord (or root / tonic chord) - minor - chord number in the scale: i
• Second chord - diminished - chord number in the scale: iio
• Third chord - major - chord number in the scale: III
• Fourth chord - minor - chord number in the scale: iv
• Fifth chord - major - chord number in the scale: V
• Sixth chord - major - chord number in the scale: VI
• Seventh chord - major (root, and two minor thirds) - chord number in the scale: VII

Chords That Sound Good Together

The rules for chords that sound good together is quite simple:

There are strong and weak chords. Or to be precise, stronger and weaker chords. The strongest chords are the I, IV and Vchords. The other ones are weaker. This is a really simple rule to remember if you want to use chords that sound good together.

So in your chord progressions, you should have a balance of strong and weak chords. And the sadder song you'd like to write, the more weak chords you'd include.

It's also advisable to make the root chord (the "I" chord) the center of the song and emphasize it, especially in the Choruses. Listeners are used to this pattern and if you use some weak chords too, they won't find it predictable.

These are the most important rules to follow (or to be taken as guidelines) when writing a chord progression:

✓ The strongest chord progression one can think of is when there is a first chord and it's either followed by another chord four notes above it or five notes below it. The reason for this is that if you do this, the chords will have one note in common, which will make it sound fulfilling to the ear. For example, if you have a chord progression in the key of C major, the chord four notes above the first chord (C major) will be G major. C major and G major have one note (G) in common. Of course, it sounds boring if your whole song consists of these 4 and 5-note jumps, so you should mix these strong chords with weaker ones.

✓ Because Choruses are always more intense, you should use more strong chords in them, and more weak ones in your Verses.

✓ To make your chord progressions sound more pleasing and balanced, you should have a clear pattern of chord changes. For example, you shouldn't write a chord progression which repeats only after each 16th bar. Listeners like a little predictability, so it's best to repeat your chord pattern after every second or fourth bar. Simple is better when it comes to chord progressions.


So these are the most important rules about chords that sound good together.
If you're looking for some inspiration or you're not sure of your chord progression writing abilities, there is a great application for iPhone and iPad, called ProChords. The creators of this application analyzed thousands of hit songs. When you enter a chord, ProChords will suggest a list of possible chords that sound great after that chord. You can then save and export your progressions to GarageBand, for example.To find out more about chords that sound good together and in what ways you can use them, I recommend the Getting It Down Cold Music Theory Course. This is the best course I've found to quickly learn all the music theory necessary to be a great songwriter and/or musician.

More Music Theory

Chord Substitutions

What are chord substitutions?

When you choose a key for your song, you'll have a group of chords that you can use in that key. And all these chords will have a number. The numbers will remain the same in all keys, only the chords that belong to them will change.

For example, in the key of C it will look like this (the capital letters mean it's a major chord, the little "o" means it's diminished):

C - I (major chord)
D - ii (minor chord)
E - iii (minor chord)
F - IV (major chord)
G - V (major chord)
A - vi (minor chord)
B - viio (diminished chord)

(In minor scales it will be i, iio, III, iv, V, VI, VII. For more information on chords and numbers that belong to them visit the "Chords That Sound Good Together" page).

If you don't know what chords are or what notes the different chords are made up of, don't worry, you can learn thousands of chords in minutes - literally!

Chord Substitutions

If you have a chord progression, for example I IV V I, you can use some other chords to substitute some of them and make your music more interesting and expressive. Here is how chord substitutions work:

• The ii chord (second chord, which is minor) is a kind of traveling chord. It usually comes before the V or I chord (which are very strong). It's role is very similar to the IV chord so we can say that the ii chord is the substitute of the IV chord.

• The iii chord is quite a stable sounding chord. It's usually a temporary rest in the song. It sounds more stable than the a ii or IV chord. It's not as stable as the I chord but almost. So you can use it as a substitute for the I chord except when you really need a strong closing chord.

• The vi chord is also quite a stable chord. Similarly to the iii chord, it sounds like a temporary rest in the song. Therefore you can use the vi chord as a substitute for the I chord except when you need a strong chord that makes you feel like the musical phrase is complete.

These are the most common and important chords in popular music. But other chords also have substitutes, so here is a list that will show you the system of chord substitutions:

Basic Chords
▪ I - IV - V - the basic, strongest chords
▪ iii - vi - they substitute the I chord
▪ ii - it substitutes the IV chord


Seventh Chords
▪ Imaj7 - IVmaj7 - they give a color to music
▪ iii7 - vi7 - they have a full sound and substitute the I chord
▪ ii7 - it has a full sound and substitutes the IV chord


Second (or Ninth) Chords
▪ I2 - IV2 - they have a bright sound and substitute the I or IV chord
▪ vi2 - it has a dark sound and substitutes the vi chord
▪ ii2 - it also has a dark sound and substitutes the ii chord


Suspended Chords
▪ Vsus - it creates tension in music and substitutes the V chord (or you can even you it together with the V chord)

Chord Inversions
You can use them as chord substitutes, to make you music more interesting. There are two types:

• First inversion: the middle note of the chord (the third) is played as the bass note (the lowest note).

• Second inversion: the highest note of the chord (the fifth) is played as the bass note (the lowest note).


If you'd like to learn more about chords, I recommend the Getting It Down Cold Music Theory Course.

More about Writing Music 

Chords That Sound Good Together 

Learn Thousands of Chords in Minutes! 

Music Theory