Clefs

Alto clef is used by viola.

To make it a bit easier I think of them by their other names, the G, F and C clefs. Each one indicates which note it is named after which I find makes it a bit faster to orient myself.

In addition to treble and bass, alto and tenor are probably the second and third most used clefs. As @d.healey wrote, the alto clef is used by the viola. The tenor clef is used by some instruments when they play in a higher range (e.g. cello, bassoon, etc.) to avoid excessive ledger lines.

Vocal tenor clef (treble with the little 8 under it) is very common in vocal music.

I tend to use the alto clef for horns because it keeps all the notes on the stave. I got this tip from a Bruce Broughton interview I saw. Of course this is just for me, you wouldn't present it to a horn player that way.

schrodinger1612 said:

Can an orchestral score for example not be laid on basic T&B?

Click to expand...

When sketching and composing, I only use concert Treble & Bass clefs (no transposed clefs). This means for Viola, I switch it to Bass clef. When it comes time for export, I switch the Viola back to Alto clef, consider putting the Trombone in Tenor or Treble clef, and then engage transposition for saxes and such. There's room for error in this approach, but it works for me, as I can't read Alto or transposed clefs in real time (it's much easier for me to break it down to T&B).

BrendanBurns said:

I can't read Alto or transposed clefs in real time

Click to expand...

I would recommend learning, so that when you are with the musician and you need to fix something you can.

Do you find this easy to read (it’s the center of the piano staff, with the C in the middle)?


If the alto / C clef would look like this, all notation reading piano players would be able to read C clef instantly, since we look at F, A, C in the middle, E and G (reading from the lowest line > upwards).

Vik said:

Do you find this easy to read (it’s the center of the piano staff, with the C in the middle)?

If the alto / C clef would look like this, all notation reading piano players would be able to read C clef instantly, since we look at F, A, C in the middle, E and G (reading from the lowest line > upwards).

Click to expand...

The reason I posted this, btw, was that if you manage to look at something written in C clef with the above image in mind, it's easier to think of C clef as what it actually is, since the 5 pitches on the 5 lines above are the same pitches as you find in C clef.

In another thread I suggested that DAWs with notation (and score apps) should offer an alternative staff style for the C clef, looking pretty much like the image above but without the G (treble) clef and the F (bass) clef – that would be helpful for those who need to become fluent in C clef. This would be easier to read with the look above (four lines only, except for the ledger line in the middle which needs to occur whenever there's a note ( C ) there.

But even with the traditional 5 lines, sight reading viola clef will speed up once one manages to not look at it as viola ( C ) clef, but as an image showing an excerpt of what happens between the bass and treble clef in the piano clef.