How To Draw an Alto Clef

Teachers of beginners know that clefs are hard to draw. The treble clefs aren’t that easy to draw,  but I think  that the alto clef is just as complicated to draw. Here is a a worksheet on how to draw an alto clef. Sometimes the alto clef is also called the C clef. Everyone who uses the alto clef needs to know how to draw one. And that means that young violist need to know how to draw the clef they use!

Why do we even have an Alto Clef?

Technically this clef is called the moveable C clef. The middle sideways v can be placed on any line on the staff and that line becomes middle C or C4. So this clef is also used for the tenor clef. It is just moved up to a different line on the staff. To read more about the moveable C clef check out this article. Middle C falls between the treble and bass clef. It is the note directly in the middle between those two clefs. An instrument that plays in this middle range ends up reading most of the notes on ledger lines. So the C clef moves the notes up on to the staff so that it is easier for the eyes to read and distinguish quickly. So the short answer of why have an alto clef: it eliminates ledger lines.