- Hi.
How good are you at reading
notes in the alto clef?
Well you might be really good at this
especially if you are a viola player
because viola players spend
their lives in the alto clef.
There are a few other people
who might spend a bit of
their lives in the alto clef
like you might be a trombonist
playing the first trombone
part of an orchestral piece,
that might just be
written in the alto clef.
But a lot of people never have
to deal with the alto clef.
However, you might be a composer
wanting to write for the viola.
You might be a pianist
accompanying a viola player.
So lots of people might actually
want to have half an idea
about what's going on in the alto clef
that is in fact sometimes
known as the viola clef.
And if you're doing any music theory,
particularly if you're doing theory exams,
there comes a point when
you're kind of expected
to be able to at least name
some notes in the alto clef.
So let's have a quick look through this
and see how you get on
with a handful of notes.
It's sometimes called a C clef
because this middle line here is C,
right in the middle of the clef.
This is one way of drawing the clef.
There are other ways of drawing the clef,
but this is one way of doing it.
So this note here must be C
and the important thing is to make sure
you're dealing with the right C
because a lot of people
will look at that and think,
oh C, it must be this C up here
because it sort of looks
like that kind of C
if you were thinking treble clef.
But actually, this is middle C.
So this note right in the
middle of the clef is middle C.
Now you don't have to learn
ways of remembering this.
You know, you might've learnt
the spaces in the bass clef
by all cows eat grass,
or the spaces in the treble
clef as spelling the word face.
But you don't need to do that,
unless you're wanting to
be fluent in the alto clef.
You can just work it out.
If you know this one's C,
well you can calculate
your way up and down.
So let's see if you can
keep one step ahead of me
as to where I'm going next.
So have a look at the next note,
and work out what you think it is from C.
Well if this note is C,
D, E, this is F.
And it's obviously the F above middle C.
So that top space is this
F, just above middle C.
The other thing you can do,
which is a slight cheat,
but you can sort of think,
well, what would this note
be in the treble clef,
and then you can budge it up one.
So if you look at this,
this would be a B in the treble clef,
so if you moved it up one, it would be C.
The only danger of that
is that you'll end up
with C in the wrong octave.
So if you just remember you
can think in the treble clef,
budge up one, and then go down an octave.
It's another way of doing it.
So like this one looks like E
in the treble clef, doesn't it?
So if I take it up one, it'll be F.
But I've got to go down an octave
from where it would be in the treble clef,
if that makes sense.
So there's F.
So I can look at this one, and I can say,
well, that looks like
G-flat in the treble clef
so in the alto clef it must be A-flat.
Let's check this out, if C is here,
then this note is B, so this is A-flat.
But of course it's A-flat,
a third below middle C.
So you're beginning to see how to do this.
If I look at this, it looks
like F-sharp in the treble clef,
so that would make it
G-sharp, wouldn't it?
Let's check it out.
If this line is C,
C, E, G, so G-sharp, and it's the G-sharp
that's a fifth above middle C, isn't it?
This note here?
Well if this note's C,
well this must be one above it.
So it's D, isn't it?
And also if I'm thinking treble clef,
if that's C in the treble clef,
well going up one from there would be D,
going down an octave, brings
me to this D, doesn't it?
Okay so what's this note then?
Well, if we go down from C,
we're going to go C, A, F, E,
or I could think, well that
looks like D in the treble clef,
so if I go up from that
D in the treble clef,
I'd have E, but remember
to go down an octave
because this is actually the
E below middle C, isn't it?
And then if I look at this note,
here I am above the first ledger line,
so you could think, well,
C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C.
Or you could think, well that
would be B in the treble clef
so go up one it would be C,
come down an octave, and you get C,
which is obviously an
octave above middle C.
So, a way of dealing with
reading the alto clef.
You may never need the alto clef
between now and the end of your life.
But if you do, well, there's
a quick bit of practise
in how to do it.
And if you want to explore
the alto clef a bit more,
we cover that in some
of our theory videos.
So if you wanted to have a little look,
maybe at the grade four
theory level of our videos,
you'd find out a little
bit more about this
and have a bit more practise in it.
But well worth just getting
to know your way around
the alto clef, should you ever bump into
any music in the alto clef.
