Timpani Notes
A Band Director's Reference for Kettle Drums
Reading Bass Clef
Timpani are one of the only percussion instruments to read music in bass clef. Especially because the musicians will be making choices regarding placing pitches on different drums and tuning the drums themselves, it is very important that every young timpanist learn to read bass clef music.
The bottom bass clef space is the note A, which makes calculating notes quite easy from that point, especially given the limited playable range of the timpani. There are also any number of mnemonic devices for remembering the notes of the lines and spaces.
The classic mnemonics for the ascending spaces of the bass clef are "All Cows Eat Grass" or "All Cars Eat Gas" (A, C, E, G). For the lines, the most often used phrases are variations on "Good Boys Do Fine Always", although there are many alternatives, including "Good Burritos Don't Fall Apart" and "Grizzly Bears Don't Fear Anything". Encourage your students to come up with their own creative mnemonic device to help personalize their bass clef learning.
For additional practice, Click Here for a selection of bass clef note-reading worksheets.