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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Lesson 3: Do Clef and Fa Clef

You are probably wondering, “How can one know where the half steps and whole steps occur?” The answer is that the “clef” tells you. Clef means “key,” and it truly is the key to discovering the melody. There are two kinds of clefs: a “Do Clef” and a “Fa Clef.” The Do clef tells you where Do is. The Fa Clef tells you where Fa is.

As you can probably guess, the placement of the clef makes a tremendous difference to the way the piece sounds. In the following video demonstration, notice how different a little tune can sound when the clef is moved:

The following is another example which illustrates how the clef really is the key to how Gregorian chant sounds. When the clef is changed, see if you can hear how different the piece sounds. It is all because changing the clef changes the location of the half steps and whole steps:

Finding the clef always works, no matter what ancient MS one is studying. However, sometimes the clefs are not easy to spot. Can you find the clef in this MS? To help, I’ve also included the Vaticana version for reference:

Sometimes the Vaticana pieces move the clef “mid-piece” (i.e. in the middle of the song) to make sure all the notes can fit on the staff. This was also done in the Mediæval MSS, for example at “adesse regum”:

Notice that the custos made this transition seamless. The custos (“guide” or “sentinel”) appears at the end of every line of chant. It is not a note, but a visual cue for the first pitch on the next line:

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Quick Thoughts

    William Byrd • Simple “Agnus Dei” Canon
    Time flies! Back in July, I posted a PDF setting of a perfect canon by William Byrd (d. 1623) arranged as an AGNUS DEI for three voices. Last Sunday, we sang that arrangement with our volunteer choir. To hear a ‘live’ recording of it, click here (Mp3). In my humble opinion, this would be a perfect piece for a choir just beginning to experiment with polyphony.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Glory To God” • (For Choir + Congregation)
    I wish to thank everyone for the nice comments I received vis-à-vis my Glory To God setting for Choir & Congregation. A gentleman with a musical doctorate from Indiana University wrote: “Love this setting so much. And I will pray, as you asked, for your return to composition more fully. You are very very good.” A female choir director wrote: “I love your harmonizations, your musicality, and the wonderful interplay you have with dissonance and consonance in your music. So fun to listen to, and great for intellect, heart, and soul!” A young woman from California wrote: “Thank you for releasing your new Glory To God in honor of Saint Noel Chabanel. I'm enjoying reading through the various parts and listening to your recordings.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    William Byrd • “Mass for Five Voices”
    Our volunteer choir is learning the “Sanctus” from William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices. You can hear a short excerpt (recorded last Sunday) but please ignore the sound of babies crying: Mp3 recording. We still have work to do—but we’re on the right track. Once we have some of the tuning issues fixed, I desire to use it as an example proving volunteers can sing complicated polyphony. — One of our volunteer choirs also sang that SANCTUS on 24 September 2023, and you can listen to how that came out.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Urban VIII appointed four Jesuits to reform the hymns, so that they should no longer offend Renaissance ears. These four, in that faithful obedience to the Holy See which is the glory of their Society, with a patient care that one cannot help admiring, set to work to destroy every hymn in the office.”

— Fr. Adrian Fortescue (1916)

Recent Posts

  • Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Nuances of Nuances” (28 Sep 2023)
  • William Byrd • Simple “Agnus Dei” Canon
  • Active Participation or Not?
  • (Not Kidding) • Does Singing for Mass Fulfill One’s Obligation to Attend Mass?
  • A Brief Addendum

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