Clef - Further Uses

Further Uses

Clef combinations played a role in the modal system toward the end of the 16th century, and it has been suggested certain clef combinations in the polyphonic music of 16th-century vocal polyphony are reserved for authentic (odd-numbered) modes, and others for plagal (even-numbered) modes, but the precise implications have been the subject of much scholarly debate.

Music can be transposed at sight if a different clef is mentally substituted for the written one. For example, to play an A-clarinet part, a B♭-clarinet player may mentally substitute tenor clef for the written treble clef. Concert-pitch music in bass clef can be read on a E♭ instrument as if it were in treble clef. (Notes will not always sound in the correct octave). The written key signature must always be adjusted to the correct key for the instrument being played.