5.3.3 Clef

The clef indicates which lines of the staff correspond to which pitches.

The clef can be set with the \clef command

     { c''2 \clef alto g'2 }

Supported clef-names include

treble, violin, G, G2

G clef on 2nd line

alto, C

C clef on 3rd line

tenor

C clef on 4th line.

bass, F

F clef on 4th line

french

G clef on 1st line, so-called French violin clef

soprano

C clef on 1st line

mezzosoprano

C clef on 2nd line

baritone

C clef on 5th line

varbaritone

F clef on 3rd line

subbass

F clef on 5th line

percussion

percussion clef

tab

tablature clef

By adding _8 or ^8 to the clef name, the clef is transposed one octave down or up, respectively, and _15 and ^15 transposes by two octaves. The argument clefname must be enclosed in quotes when it contains underscores or digits. For example,

     \clef "G_8" c4

This command is equivalent to setting clefGlyph, clefPosition (which controls the Y position of the clef), centralCPosition and clefOctavation. A clef is printed when any of these properties are changed. The following example shows possibilities when setting properties manually.

     {
       \set Staff.clefGlyph = #"clefs-F"
       \set Staff.clefPosition = #2
       c'4
       \set Staff.clefGlyph = #"clefs-G"
       c'4
       \set Staff.clefGlyph = #"clefs-C"
       c'4
       \set Staff.clefOctavation = #7
       c'4
       \set Staff.clefOctavation = #0
       \set Staff.clefPosition = #0
       c'4
       \clef "bass"
       c'4
     }

See also

Program reference: Clef.

Other languages: English.
Using automatic language selection.