The staff as here represented embraces the compass of every singing voice, and extends over a range of 31 notes, or four and a quarter octaves.
Voices are usually considered under three divisions for the male: bass, baritone and tenor; and four for the female sex, contralto, alto, mezzo-soprano, and soprano. The usual range of the bass is from E below the bass clef (phenomenal voices sometimes descending to lowest C) ascending two octaves to f ; baritone from G on first line of bass clef, two octaves to g; tenor, from C, two octaves to c'; con tralto, the deepest female voice, from 'F to c", or two and one-half octaves; alto, two oc taves, from F to f ; mezzo-soprano, from A to a'; and soprano from c (middle C) two octaves to c", which is also indicated as Following natural and mathematical laws the tones of the female voice are an octave higher than those of the male, therefore a soprano solo sung by a tenor is rendered an octave lower than the notes in which it is written.
Besides the treble and bass clefs, others are used by certain orchestral instruments. as the alto clef for the viola, marking the position of C on the third line, and the tenor clef used for the trombone and marking the position of C on the fourth line.
The different vocal and instrumental parts are commonly represented by two or more staves, united by a Brace, and called a Score.
The Absolute Pitch of Tones, that is the pitch independent of scale relationship, is des ignated by the letters naming the degrees of the staff ; as A, B, C, D, E, F, G. The position of these letters is fixed and unchangeable while the clef remains unchanged.
The difference of pitch between any two tones, as from A to B, from A to E, from C to G, etc., is called an Interval, and in the regular succession of the natural tones, there are two kinds of intervals, larger and smaller. The larger intervals are called Tones and the smaller semitones. In the major scale the semi-tones occur between the third and fourth notes and between the seventh and eighth notes, the other five notes of the scale representing each a tone. These two half-tones in the octave afford in finite variety in music. Were the eight natural
sounds in the octave equidistant one from another, there being no semi-tones, the keys would differ only in acuteness and not in qual ity, as now. Between any two tones of the staff having the interval of a step, another tone may be inserted, dividing the step into two half steps. These inserted tones are represented on the degrees of the staff by the aid of characters called Sharps and Flats. Thus, a tone inserted between C and D, is named C sharp, or D flat.
A Sharp #, placed on a degree, raises the pitch of a tone a half-step; a Flat, 6, placed on it, lowers the pitch of a tone a half-step be low that named by the letter. The power of a sharp or a flat may be canceled by a char acter called a Natural, O. A Double Sharp, X is used on a degree affected by a sharp, to represent a tone a half-step above the one af fected by the sharp; its power may be can celed by a sharp and natural, 414. A Double Flat, bI2, is used on a degree affected by a flat, to represent a tone a half-step below the one affected by a flat; it may be canceled by a flat and natural bti.
The Signature of a Staff is the part between the clef and the fraction ;.it is named from the number of sharps or flats which it contains, and indicates the key in which the composition is to be sung or performed. If there is no sig nature, the key is that of C or its relative minor A, and the notes correspond with the white keys of piano or organ. A sharp or flat in the signature applies not only to the degree on which it stands, but also to all others which represent the same pitch. - A sharp, a flat or a natural, placed outside the signature, is called an Accidental, as appearing accidentally in the measure, and applies only to the degree on which it stands. If not canceled, its influence extends no farther than the measure in which it appears, except when the last note of a measure is flat or sharp, and the first note of the following measure is the same letter; then, if it is syncopated, the influence of the accidental extends to that note.