Music Fundamentals A Balanced Approach

APPENDIX 3 C CLEFS (ALTO AND TENOR)

Beginning in the Middle Ages, C clefs, in addition to F and G clefs, were used. Today, music continues to be
written using C clefs in order to avoid the excessive use of ledger lines and octave signs. The most common
Cclefs are the alto and tenor clefs, which are used by instruments such as the viola (alto clef) and, for higher
passages, the cello (tenor clef). Notice that middle C is the third line in the alto clef, and the fourth line in the
tenor clef.

Exercise 1

Write the letter name of the following notes in the alto clef. (Keep track of Middle C.)

427

Middle C Line

F G A B C D E F G

AltoClef

Middle C Line

D E F G A B C D E

TenorClef

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16