ABSTRACT
Although you will rarely find alto and tenor clefs in choral music, they are used extensively in instrumental music. Alto clef is primarily used for viola parts, but can also be found in cello and trombone music, while the tenor clef is generally used for the upper range of the cello, double bass, bassoon, trombone, and bassoon. Both the alto clef and tenor clefs use the C clef. When positioned on the staff, the central point of the C clef defines middle C. For the alto clef, it is located on the middle line of the staff and for tenor clef, middle C is positioned on the second line from the top. See Ex. 13.1 . For an easy reference point you may find it helpful to remember that the upper three lines of alto clef form a C Major triad, while the lower three lines form an F Major triad.
