Tenor Clef

What is it?

Tenor

The tenor clef is used for upper ranges of instruments such as the bassoon, cello, double bass and trombone. It can also sometimes be called the C clef. The tenor clef is very similar to the Alto clef, however the tenor clef is placed on the fourth line on the stave whereas the alto clef is placed on the third line.

These are the notes on the tenor clef.

Example

This example is from "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and is written with the correct notes on the tenor clef. It sounds different because it is for instruments playing middle and bass notes such as the bassoon and double bass. The music looks very similar to the alto clef music, but it sounds different. This is because we are in the Tenor clef. The first note is a F because there is a alto clef and the note is on the second line up on the stave. We also know that the third note is a E because we are still in the alto clef and it is on the fourth line up which means it is a CE

Can you fill in the gaps below?

How good is it?

The tenor clef isn't used that much anymore, however its use was more common a long time ago. If you are using higher pitches for instruments such as the trombone and cello, you would use the tenor clef but if you were using lower pitches, you would use the bass clef. However, the tenor clef is outdated and not used very often so it is rarely used.

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