Concepts of music – Pitch – Bass clef notes
Students will learn how to read these on the staff and write short, simple compositions in the bass clef.
Pitch refers to highness and lowness of sound. There are seven letters (pitch names) in the musical alphabet.
Outcomes
- 4.5 notates compositions using traditional and or non-traditional notation.
- 4.9 demonstrates musical literacy through the use of notation, terminology and the reading and interpreting of scores used in the music selected for study.
Duration
4 - 5 lessons.
Focus
Learning notes of the bass clef and composing in C Major.
Content
Music is a language that involves reading notation. Using traditional notation, students will use critical thinking skills to interpret and compose music written for instruments such as the keyboard (right hand) and melodic percussion such as the xylophone or glockenspiel.
Music written in the bass clef refers to notes located to the left of middle C on the keyboard. Instruments that use the bass clef include cello, tuba, double bass, bassoon and bass guitar.
The following sites can be referred to for better understanding.
- 8 notes.com allows you to view the staff, clefs and ledger lines as separate slides. It includes the bass clef (which can be omitted from this lesson sequence).
- How to read music - Tim Hansen (05:23) is a short film that explains clefs and time signatures. Please note that this video uses American terminology for note values.
- numeracy.
- literacy.
Assessment
All activities require students to demonstrate their learning and are all assessment for learning activities.
Teaching and learning activities
There are only seven letters in the musical alphabet: a, b, c, d, e, f and g. There are more than seven different pitches used in many pieces and songs, so once we get to G, we go back to A and start the cycle again.
The five lines upon which music is written is called the staff.
Low E and middle C are written on a ledger line. This is a small line that extends the staff so that more notes can be included.
The pitch name of a note is determined by where the note head (round part of the note) sits; either on a line or in a space (between two lines). It does not matter which direction the stem goes or what the note value is.
- Have students watch introductory videos on the bass clef and write down three dot points of information. Some videos include:
- All about that Bass (Clef) (00:02:29) a parody of Meghan Trainor's song 'All about that bass', based on notes of the bass clef.
- Music Theory – Bass Clef (understanding and identifying notes) (00:06:23) understanding and identifying notes of the bass clef.
- Music Notes in Bass Clef a summary of bass clef notes including audio.
- In pairs or small groups establish four different dot points of information based on each individuals' points.
- As a class, come up with five to six different points of information regarding notes in the bass clef. Students can write these into their books.
- Divide the class in two. Team A and Team B.
- Somewhere on the board have treble clef notes drawn, with their pitch names underneath for reference.
- Draw eight different treble clef notes on the board. One at a time, each student from team A has to name the pitch of the note. Keep a tally of correct answers. If someone is incorrect, a person from team B may answer (and is eligible for that point). Team A continues to name notes until all eight are finished.
- Draw eight new notes and repeat the process with team B.
- Once team B's eight notes are complete, draw a new set of eight and begin where team A left off.
- Repeat this process until everyone on each team has had a chance to name a note.
- This activity can be extended by:
- removing the reference notes on the board
- changing the note values of the notes you draw.
Students will:
- complete the Pitch names – bass (PDF 4.42 MB) activity sheet. Other worksheets can be found online or included in the resource section.
Students will:
- complete the Note to keyboard – bass activity sheet (PDF 4.67 MB).
Students will:
- draw the following bass clef, time signature and bar lines on manuscript paper (staff) in their book, in pencil.
- notate the two-bar ostinato (above the staff) that they composed for the non-melodic percussion sequence. Alternatively, the teacher can write a two-bar rhythm on the board for the class to copy.
- copy their rhythm onto the staff, as notes of the C Major scale:
- the C Major scale is eight notes in alphabetical order from one C up to the next C.
- start and end on either low C or middle C. Notes can be used in any order or repeated.
- try and move in steps (pitches close together) rather than leaps (pitches far apart), as this will sound nicer.
- ensure that the rhythm of the pitches on the staff matches the rhythm written above (including the addition of any rests).
- the end result should look similar to below (with students' own rhythm and pitch).
Students will:
- understand note values and their groupings for composition
- learn how to read notation in the bass clef
- learn and utilise metalanguage
- bass clef – the sign at the beginning of each line of staff that indicates notes to be played from middle C and below (to the left)
- staff/manuscript – the five parallel lines upon which notes are written
- scale – series of 7 letter names in alphabetical order upon which pieces and songs are based.
Differentiation
Extension
Students could:
- compose four or six bar compositions
- create complex rhythms upon which to base their C Major piece
- play their composition on the keyboard or a melodic percussion instrument
- transcribe their composition into a music software program such as Finale or Sibelius.
Life skills
Outcomes
- LS 6 a student experiments in representing and recording musical sounds.
Students could:
- insert notes onto a pre-written two bar score with rhythm above
- complete the gap-fill exercise – bass based on notes of the bass clef.
Evaluate
Formative feedback – student participation in-class activities.
Students can assess their level of understanding by playing the following online game
- Name that note – Players have to name as many bass clef notes as they can within a time limit. Sign in to save results.
Summative feedback – this unit can conclude with an extended version of activity 5, for assessment.
Syllabus
Please note:
Syllabus outcomes and content descriptors from Music 7–10 Syllabus (2003) © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2017.