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# clef

«clef» in Mova's school dictionary: **A sign at the start of a line of written music that shows…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a clef, clefs)

### meaning for a pupil

A sign at the start of a line of written music that shows how high or low the notes are: the treble clef for higher notes and the bass clef for lower ones. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clef/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In music lessons the treble clef (curly, like a fancy G) is used for recorder, violin and right hand on the piano; the bass clef for low instruments and the left hand. Phrases: «treble clef», «bass clef», «G clef», «F clef».

### examples

- Draw a treble clef at the start of the stave. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clef/#x1)
- The bass clef is used for the cello and the tuba. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clef/#x2)
- Piano music has a treble clef on top and a bass clef underneath. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clef/#x3)
- The treble clef curls round the line for G. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clef/#x4)
- In the bass clef, the notes have different names on the same lines. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clef/#x5)

### note

Countable: clefs. Say «clef» like «cleff». In French «clef» means «key». «Bass» clef sounds like «base», not like the fish «bass».

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «clef» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clef/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.