Bass clef
Which note sits on which line in the bass clef: the five lines are G2 · B2 · D3 · F3 · A3, the four spaces A2 · C3 · E3 · G3. With the ledger lines and where middle C falls.
The whole staff
A clef does exactly one thing: it puts one particular note on one particular line. The bass clef is also called the F clef, because its sign places F3 on the 4th line. Everything else follows by itself: lines and spaces are a ladder without gaps, and every step up is the next letter.
Line by line
| Position | Note |
|---|---|
| 5th line | A3 |
| 4th space | G3 |
| 4th line | F3 |
| 3rd space | E3 |
| 3rd line | D3 |
| 2nd space | C3 |
| 2nd line | B2 |
| 1st space | A2 |
| 1st line | G2 |
How to remember it
Lines from the bottom: G B D F A — »Good Boys Do Fine Always«. Spaces: A C E G — »All Cows Eat Grass«.
Above and below the staff
Anything higher or lower than the staff gets short ledger lines. They are not an exception but the same ladder, counted on.
Where middle C sits
In the bass clef middle C sits on the first ledger line above the staff. In the treble clef the same C sits on the first ledger line below — so the two staves of a piano score meet exactly there.
Who reads it
Left hand at the piano, cello, double bass, bass guitar, trombone, tuba, bassoon and the low voices.
The other clefs
Anotona does this for you
Photograph a page of sheet music or play the melody — Anotona finds the key, engraves the notes and transposes them into any other. Free.
See AnotonaEvery note on this page is computed, not typed in — following the rule that also makes F# major spell its seventh degree E#, not F.