Estimated reading time 3 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Do you have a child or a student who struggles to read alto clef? Are you confused about how it works? Why is the alto staff so elusive for most musicians? Because instruments rarely use it. In fact, only one instrument reads from it regularly. Even the closely related tenor clef is used by more instruments (sort of). Keep reading to learn how to color code the elusive alto clef.
This article uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
How to Color Code the Elusive Alto Clef: What Is It?
Generally, a clef gives a reference point for the notes on a staff. The three most common are:
(Mobile users: for best results reading the music, rotate your screen 90o to the right.)
Most players and singers read notes from either the treble or bass staff:
- Instruments that play high notes (e.g., violins, flutes, and trumpets) get notated on the treble staff.
- While instruments that play lower notes (e.g., cellos, bassoons, or trombones) get the bass staff.
- 99% of instruments read from one of these two staffs.
Piano has such a wide range of notes that it uses both the treble and bass staffs and joins them together with middle C.
Alto clef is a stylized C that points to the middle C between the treble and bass staffs:
- You can have a C clef point to any line of the staff, but only the alto and tenor clefs even come close to being commonly used.
- Viola is the only instrument that regularly reads from the alto clef.
- The viola’s role in string ensembles is to play the notes between the higher violin part (treble) and lower cello part (bass).
If the viola were to use the treble staff or the bass staff, the violist would have to read too many ledger lines, so it needed its own clef.
How to Color Code the Elusive Alto Clef: How Does the Color Coding Work?
I have provided a color coded example of viola music below. The tune is based upon Mozart’s variations on the tune Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (the version published in 1878).
The notes are colored:
- C is Orange
- D is Gray
- E is red
- F is Pink
- G is Green
- A is Purple
- B is Blue
Color coding will help any student but is especially important for special needs students. For information on music notation software that’ll color code the music for you:
In addition, color coding is a scientifically proven teaching aid. For more information on the research behind color coded music:
Video: How Effective is Color Coded Music?
How to Color Code the Elusive Alto Clef: How Does the Tenor Staff Work?
The tenor clef is also a C clef:
- It is only used by bassoon, tenor trombone, and cello, and only when playing notes in their upper range.
- In other words, the bulk of the time these instruments read the notes on the bass staff, and only read tenor clef when playing high notes.
- Notice that the tenor clef example has all the same notes as the Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star based tune above.
- However, all the notes are now one line higher on the staff.
- Why? Because tenor clef points to the second line from the top, so that this line is now middle C.
Final Thoughts on “How to Color Code the Elusive Alto Clef”
To recap:
- Only one instrument, the viola, reads from the alto clef.
- This is because of its role in string ensembles.
- Color coding is a scientifically proven method to help kids to learn to read music, creating a bridge to reading an un-adapted score.
Related Posts:
- Color Coded Quarter Note Clapping
- Playing the Piano with Color Coded Notes
- How to Graduate from Color Coded Music Notes: Part I
© 2024 Geoffrey Keith
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