Editing Clef (section)

===={{anchor|alto_clef}} Alto clef====
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[[File:Alto clef with ref.svg|left|90px|Alto clef]]
[[File:C scale alto clef.png|thumb|C major scale, alto clef. {{audio|Diatonic scale on C.ogg|Play}}]]

A C-clef on the third line of the staff is called the alto or viola clef. It is currently used for [[viola]], [[viola d'amore]], [[alto trombone]], [[viola da gamba]], and [[mandola]]. It is also associated with the [[countertenor]] voice and sometimes called the countertenor clef.<ref>Moore 1876, 176; Dolmetsch Organisation 2011.</ref> A vestige of this survives in [[Sergei Prokofiev]]'s use of the clef for the [[cor anglais]] in his symphonies. It occasionally appears in keyboard music (for example, in [[Brahms]]'s [[Eleven Chorale Preludes|Organ Chorales]] and [[John Cage]]'s ''Dream'' for [[piano]]). It was originally used for [[alto]] parts in choral music to reduce the number of [[ledger line]]s needed, since much of the alto range is between treble and bass clef. Alto parts are now commonly written in treble clef instead.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ben |date=2020-01-30 |title=Alto Clef |url=https://www.musictheoryacademy.com/how-to-read-sheet-music/alto-clef/ |access-date=2024-03-22 |website=Music Theory Academy |language=en-US}}</ref>
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