It was a common practice for Quantz, Telemann and others to present a piece of music so that it could be played by either recorder or transverse flute players. By indicating the clef and key signature for each, a single piece of music works for both! This was a clever business device, as it allowed a single piece of music to be sold into two different markets. The clef and key signature on the left are used by recorder players, and the clef and key signature on the right are used by transverse flute players. In the piece below, the recorder player uses the so-called French violin clef with 2 flats, and the flute player uses the standard treble clef with 1 sharp. The French violin clef is little used today so it is likely that many recorder players are unfamiliar with it. The treble clef sign is also called a G-clef because the line that the curly-cue circles is where the G-note is (in fact, the treble clef sign is just a stylized G!). Notice that the French violin clef is just a treble clef sign centered around the bottom line, so the bottom line is a G.
It might seem a daunting task to learn the note names associated with this new clef until you realize that it is the same as bass clef! If you are familiar with the bass clef you are already familiar with the French violin clef, as the note names are the same. For example, consider the key signature on the left. The first flat sign is on the fourth line down, so it is a B♭. The second flat sign is on the second space down, so it is an E♭. If you are a recorder player, you can use this device to play any piece of flute music: add 3 flats to the key signature and read the notes as if the clef is a bass clef. It might seem like the change of key will be difficult, but a lot of flute music is in sharp keys, so adding 3 flats actually makes it into a recorder-friendly key.
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Formerly a successful software engineer and then Mathematics instructor, I am now retired and keep busy as an amateur musician of early music. Archives
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