Is there a reason that when getting bass clef and treble clef tattooed on their wrists most people have bass clef on the left wrist?

March 9, 2012 8:54 AM

I want to get a tattoo: treble clef on my left wrist and bass clef on my right. I've Googled examples of this and 99% of people with the tattoo have the bass clef on the left wrist and treble clef on the right. Is there a reason for this I should be aware of before getting the tattoo?

It seems natural for the treble clef to be on the left wrist because it's the top clef on the staff and we read from left to right. I want to consider all angles before I get the tattoo because I'll be bothered if I get it and there was a compelling reason for it to read the other way.

posted by anonymous to Society & Culture (36 answers total)

Piano. The bass clef part is traditionally played with the left hand, treble with the right.
posted by telegraph at 8:54 AM on March 9, 2012 [38 favorites]

Came in to write what telegraph did. Notes usually written on the treble clef are on the right end of a piano keyboard.
posted by dismas at 8:56 AM on March 9, 2012

Are you more concerned with you reading your tattoo, or with other people reading it? Because if someone is facing you looking at you, your right wrist will be on their left.
posted by box at 8:57 AM on March 9, 2012

The upper register on the piano is on the right of the keyboard, and the lower on the left, corresponding to the staves as they are read on the page, with middle C dead center. As everyone else said, obviously.
posted by Elizabeth the Thirteenth at 8:59 AM on March 9, 2012

FWIW, my friend has exactly this tattoo, with the treble on her right and the bass on her left, but she's never had anyone question her reasoning in person.
posted by dumdidumdum at 8:59 AM on March 9, 2012

It's your body and your tattoos - telegraph is right about the technical reasoning for it -- but it's up to you and what you like. :)
posted by Danithegirl at 9:02 AM on March 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

I would definitely wonder about your choice of wrist clefs if I saw this with bass on the right. Do you play piano upside-down?
posted by Aquaman at 9:03 AM on March 9, 2012

It seems natural for the treble clef to be on the left wrist because it's the top clef on the staff and we read from left to right.

I'm not following your reasoning for why top = left. Top is different from left, and bottom is different from right. The typical piano part has both hands playing at the same time, in which case the pianist would be simultaneously "reading" the top and bottom clefs.

I want to consider all angles before I get the tattoo because I'll be bothered if I get it and there was a compelling reason for it to read the other way.

The first comment gives a very compelling reason. I would expect that one day you would be bothered if you didn't get the bass on the left and treble on the right.
posted by John Cohen at 9:04 AM on March 9, 2012

Yeah, everybody who learned about music by playing piano or keyboard (i.e., a whopping great number of people in the Western world) would think you've done your tattoo wrong, for the reasons detailed above. Maybe that's okay with you, but it's still going to happen.

Some of them will comment on it to you. Others, a far larger number, will comment on it to one another but not to you. Again, maybe that's okay with you. It's your body.
posted by gauche at 9:08 AM on March 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

I play the piano and the clarinet. The left hand is the bass clef for piano, true, but it's the top hand (and therefore responsible for the higher notes) on the clarinet. So unless you play one specific instrument, this doesn't matter at all.
posted by something something at 9:10 AM on March 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Sometimes even the best pianists must cross their wrists in the course of playing, so you can do it whichever way you like.
posted by kengraham at 9:33 AM on March 9, 2012

Yeah anyone who looked at your tattoos and said "That's backwards, dummy!" should mind their own business. Get it how you want it.
posted by TheRedArmy at 10:15 AM on March 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

I play an instrument (not the piano) and I don't think I would notice that they didn't line up with a piano.
posted by cabingirl at 10:21 AM on March 9, 2012

Forget the reasons others have for doing this. What are your reasons for wanting to get this tattoo? Are you interested in music? Are you a musician? A composer? A dabbler? What do you play?

Personally, I would consider this in one of two ways (but I will reiterate that my reasons don't matter, since it's not my tattoo):

- Clef corresponds with hand used to make those notes. Piano is the only instrument I've played that fits this mold, so that would put bass on the left and treble on the right.

- Set up so that I can somehow create the full staff with my body, so bass clef at right wrist with lines extending towards elbow and treble clef on left forearm with lines extending towards wrist. This is awkward and strange, yet possibly cool.
posted by cardioid at 10:21 AM on March 9, 2012

I play the piano and the clarinet, like something something, and I still don't see it. Clarinet music is almost never written in the bass clef. No, not even contrabass clarinet music the vast majority of the time. So both hands are always playing in the treble clef and it doesn't make any particular sense to put the bass clef on the right hand.

Now, the alto clef--that's a different story! Why do you never see tattoos of the alto clef, anyway?

But do what you want, anonymous. If you want to switch it up, more power to you. Jesus Christ, in a world where people get tattoos of Charlie Sheen, anyone who'd criticize your wrist-to-clef assignments has way too much time on their hands.
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:23 AM on March 9, 2012

Yeah anyone who looked at your tattoos and said "That's backwards, dummy!" should mind their own business.

But the fact remains that people will point it out and ask about it. It might happen on a regular basis. Maybe people should ignore it, but they aren't going to. Any visible tattoo, especially one that has to do with a very popular interest (music), is going to attract attention and comments. I don't see the OP asking whether people should or shouldn't comment on tattoos. The OP is asking if there's any reason not to get them that way. Answer: yes, one reason is to avoid having to field people's comments about how they're backwards. It's up to the OP whether that's enough of a reason not to do it.
posted by John Cohen at 10:37 AM on March 9, 2012

I guess you have never played the piano. I don't much (although I took lessons as a kid), but even thinking about putting the treble clef on the left hand and the bass clef on the right hand is really wigging me out. Honestly. It's just totally clear that the treble clef on the right hand and the bass clef on the left is the correct way.

But do what you like, of course.

Why do you want to do this, though? It seems strange that you would feel strongly enough about music to want to get clefs tattooed on your body, but weren't able to immediately see the association with the keyboard instruments.

(On preview, The World Famous said it better.)
posted by leahwrenn at 11:01 AM on March 9, 2012

From a composer's perspective, bass clef on the left is more reasonable because I always start from the lowest note and scan upward when I'm reading. It gives you the most information the fastest about the harmony you're reading. Its not just a piano thing; it's a lower-clef-is-the-foundation thing.
posted by invitapriore at 11:14 AM on March 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

Yeah, everybody who learned about music by playing piano or keyboard (i.e., a whopping great number of people in the Western world) would think you've done your tattoo wrong

I learned music like this, and it wouldn't occur to me to criticize -- or even comment on -- someone else's tattoo choice.

Get them the way you want, and use it as an a-hole indicator.
posted by coolguymichael at 11:30 AM on March 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Honestly, I've been playing the piano for thirty years and I didn't get why the bass clef had to go on the left hand until I read the first response to this question. I'm not a huge idiot or anything, either. So I disagree with the premise that "virtually everyone" will notice this and think you're wrong.
posted by something something at 11:55 AM on March 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

tattoos on your wrists are going to be noticed. people will ask you about them. (i have tattoos on my forearms and am constantly asked about them and their meaning). and as The World Famous said, anyone who knows music/piano well will know you didn't know what you were doing if you transpose the positions on your wrist. i mean, it's kind of like when ppl who get foreign characters tattooed on themselves that don't mean what they think they mean, right?
posted by violetk at 12:14 PM on March 9, 2012

*I* play clarinet and bass clarinet and NOT piano and wish arrangers and orchestrators wouldn't write bass clarinet parts in bass clef, ever. It wastes their time and annoys the clarinetist, who always reads treble clef more proficiently, at least on clarinet.

Where was I? Bass on the left. It's an oversimplification to say the left hand's always playing the bass clef notes, but if you hear anyone talk about someone's "left hand technique" on piano, they're always talking about their bass line work.
posted by randomkeystrike at 12:39 PM on March 9, 2012

Man, I strongly feel that you shouldn't give a shit about which wrist you choose for which clef. Or, I did until I saw all the people here who are volunteering that they would absolutely correct your "mistake" if they saw it. Maybe you should just get a butterfly or an ankh or something less contentious than clefs, so you can sleep more soundly at night knowing you haven't embarrassed yourself or made anyone uncomfortable. With what you choose to put on your body. As an adult.
posted by TheRedArmy at 1:06 PM on March 9, 2012

Take my heavily-tattooed word for it: you don't want an asshole indicator.
posted by box at 1:18 PM on March 9, 2012

There are two valid opinions*: either the positioning doesn't matter, or it matters because of the hands you play a piano with. Since you don't know which opinion will be held by the people you meet, you are best off putting the bass on the left and the treble on the right, which is "correct" for people with either opinion.

However: I think you should think about the larger implications of getting these tattoos, if you are not a piano player. Consider: if you put the comedy and tragedy masks on your wrists, it really wouldn't matter which hand went where, but it would very much matter if someone asked "oh, are you an actor?" and you said "no, I just like going to the theater."

*unless you are a contrapianarian
posted by davejay at 1:28 PM on March 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

Any criticism will be silenced when you offer to show them where your C-clef is.
posted by munchingzombie at 2:09 PM on March 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

until I saw all the people here who are volunteering that they would absolutely correct your "mistake" if they saw it.

Nobody here has said they would do that.

Many people have said they would definitely think to themselves that something was amiss, or that they're sure somebody ELSE would undoubtedly speak up at some point in time, but unless I missed something on my three reads through this thread, you are have a gut-level reaction to something you have invented entirely in your own mind.
posted by Aquaman at 2:34 PM on March 9, 2012

ugh, "having"
posted by Aquaman at 2:35 PM on March 9, 2012

As a clarification - I didn't see OP mention a "piano", but it seems most musicians responding are assuming it. As usual, it's a total pianist party in here.
posted by jabberjaw at 4:19 PM on March 9, 2012 [3 favorites]

Do it whichever way you want. If someone asks you why you got your tattoo on the "wrong" hands, look them dead in the eye and tell them it's because you learned how to play the piano in the mirror.
posted by no regrets, coyote at 8:42 PM on March 9, 2012

Say you play cello. Treble is on the left and bass on the right.
posted by Sebmojo at 10:24 PM on March 9, 2012

I play trombone. I have to deal with bass clef, tenor clef, occasionally alto clef and treble clef (both concert pitch and transposed). I don't think my arms are long enough for all the tattoos.
posted by NeonSurge at 1:44 AM on March 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

Are you the player, or are you the piano?
posted by dirtdirt at 4:18 AM on March 10, 2012

Hey, this was my first tattoo! They got in the way and they've since been covered.
In addition to the piano thing everyone has said, guitar and bass moves low notes to high notes from the left to the right side of the body.
posted by gally99 at 6:10 AM on March 10, 2012

Bass goes on the left. Coordinate systems almost always ascend to the right.
posted by w0mbat at 8:57 AM on March 10, 2012

Just as a note, many vocalists often use piano-like sheet music (if not actual piano sheet music). As someone who sang as a soloist, in a band, and in choirs I completely agreed with the OP's placement theory until I read the first response. It seems to me if you are EVER going to play the piano it would be really weird to have the clefs inverted, but if you aren't it doesn't matter at all. No matter what you get tattooed on yourself people will comment and think things (positive and negative) about it.
posted by lodie6 at 9:39 AM on March 10, 2012