Clef change

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Clef

This chapter explains the different clefs you can use with Melody and Harmony.

Musical theory reminder :

A clef defines, on a staff, the relationship between staff lines and note pitch.
The Treble clef (G clef), Bass clef (F clef) , and C clef <>, shows the staff line for the notes G, F and C respectively.
Remember :

The inner loop of the treble clef crosses the line for G.

The two dots of the bass clef show the F line

The middle of the C clef shows the C line.

Sharp, flat or natural symbols after the clef constitute the key signature.
The time signature for example

,indicates the number of beats in a bar, and the duration or value (in fractions of a whole note) of each of these beats.

Location

In Harmony-Melody, a clef is always located at the beginning of a bar.
You can set a clef change at any bar of the staff.
For example, a staff can begin with a treble clef, and then switch to a bass clef a few bars later.

Editing

A dedicated tool palette ("Window>Clef & signature tools") is available. It contains the clef change tool, as well as tools for changing time and key signature.

Select the Clef change tool (treble clef icon) and click on a bar. The clef selection box opens.

The selection box has three tabs. Select the first one, marked "clef". In the upper part of the
window, you can see a preview of the clef you are defining.

At the bottom of this window, pop-up menus enable you to select :

• The transposition to apply to notes when a clef change is inserted in the score.
Notes following the clef change can be :

Not transposed : in this case, their screen location changes so that the note plays at the same pitch as before.

Transposed up : notes will play one octave higher (treble) than before

Transposed down : notes will play one octave lower (bass) than before

Graphically unchanged : they will stay at the same graphical location on the staff (but they won't play at the same pitch as before)

• On which staves the new clef will be applied. It can be the current staff only, all staves in the score, or only selected staves. Generally, a clef change is applied to the current staff only.
    • A clef can be shown or hidden (for readability, invisible clef changes should be avoided).
    • Its type can be Treble, Bass or C.
    • A clef can start on any line, from -5 to +5 from the standard line.
    • A clef can be set to have an octave offset from -2 octaves to +2 octaves (ottava alta or bassa), globally for the staff.

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