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I am asking this question out of sheer curiosity. What are all the existing clefs? What is the clef's most used range?

xilpex
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2 Answers2

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When you ask about "existing" clefs... well, they all still exist. We may not be writing modern music that uses them, but it's fairly easy to find a 200 year old score that uses a now obsolete clef. So these are the ones I know of - the ranges are the actual range of the lines, as any staff can be extended by ledger lines

G clefs

G (treble) clef: places G4 on the second staff line. Range: E4-F5

G ottava clef: places G5 on the second staff line. Range: E5-F6. Originally written with '8' at the top of the clef - now that's assumed for piccolo.

G ottava bassa clef (also called tenor clef): places G3 on the second staff line. Range: E3-F4. Originally written with '8' at the bottom of the clef - now that's assumed for guitar

French violin clef: places G4 on the first staff line. Range: G4-A5

F clefs

F (bass) clef: places F3 on the fourth staff line. Range: G2-A3

F ottava bassa clef: places F2 on the fourth staff line. Range: G1-A2. Originally written with '8' at the bottom of the clef - now that's assumed for double bass

C clefs

Soprano clef: places C4 on the first staff line. Range: C4-D5

Mezzo-soprano clef: places C4 on the second staff line. Range: A3-B4

Alto clef: places C4 on the third staff line. Range: F3-G4

Tenor clef: places C4 on the fourth staff line. Range; D3-E4 (this is the more common tenor clef - the G clef version is now only used for guitar)

Baritone clef: places C4 on the fifth staff line. Range: B2-C4

Tom Serb
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  • Heck, the OP might as well design a clef with 11 ledger lines, of which some are whole tone, some are half tone, and some are quarter tone. – Carl Witthoft Mar 08 '19 at 13:59
  • Sure - or use a clefless system like Klavarscribo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klavarskribo) or Equiton (http://musicnotation.org/wiki/notation-systems/equiton-music-notation-by-rodney-fawcett/). Or even a staffless system like Parsons code (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsons_code) – Tom Serb Mar 08 '19 at 14:18
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There are many clefs that you can use. There are clefs that are commonly used, like treble clef and bass clef, and others that are not so commonly used.

Here is a website for more detail on clefs and their ranges.

Clefs that you could use are:

  • Treble Clef (G Clef)

  • Bass Clef (F Clef)

  • Alto Clef

  • Tenor Clef

  • Neutral Clef (Percussion Clef)

  • Guitar TAB (Short for Tablature)

Of course, these clefs are only some of many others that you could use. Hope this helped.

AduyummY
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