I'm aware of notes crossing clefs, but I've never seen it being used like this before. For the record, the song is in 4/4.
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2Which clefs does this passage use? I can see a very incomplete treble clef at the end of the passage for the lower staff, implying that the lower staff uses the bass clef, but all I can do is hope that the upper staff uses the treble clef. Also, what key signature does this passage use?– DekkadeciOct 15 '20 at 7:39
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@Dekkadeci Fortunately :-), the clefs don't matter so far as the rhythm goes, so long as you recognize the implicit rests.– Carl WitthoftOct 15 '20 at 13:25
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It would be clearer if you included the time signature in the image. But @TimH's answer about tresillo seems right on.– Michael CurtisOct 15 '20 at 13:57
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There's two things going on here that may be a bit confusing.
- There are cross-stave notes, like you already noted.
- The rhythm is a so called 'tresillo' rhythm, that's often used in latin-american music. Here the rhythm is structured as 3+3+2 in eighth notes. The note groupings and accents reflect this rhythm. That's why it can seem a bit awkward to read when you approach it as a 4/4 rhythm, but using the groupings like this is actually the clearest way to notate this.
It can take a while to get into this kind of 'groove' but after a while it's very pleasant and dance like to play. It's also interesting to note that on all accents there is a left hand chord.
One thing to add to Tim's excellent answer: Notice the first three eighth-notes in the measure are written in a way that implies two hands should be used (one in each staff). The remainder of the measure, the final 5 eighth-notes, are a bit ambiguous, and quite possibly spaced too far apart to be playable with one hand, but are certainly a single phrase. There's an implicit set of rests for the lower hand which are not written into the lower staff. AFAIK that's common notational style for piano scores.
answered Oct 15 '20 at 13:32
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1I would say that the notes on the bottom staff should be played with the left hand in this case - the jumps are definitely too much to comfortably play this all on the right hand (unless the tempo is very slow, which I doubt). So you could say there are missing implied rests on both staves if you want to be strict about it. Oct 15 '20 at 20:54
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@DarrelHoffman good point. I don't play piano, so my "estimate" of hand-reach is probably wrong. Oct 16 '20 at 10:55
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I think it's the rhythm, not the hand reach, the key to understand idea behind the notation: left hand plays the accented notes. Oct 16 '20 at 22:43