Hey everyone!
plaese give me an advice how to get accustomed to play in tenor clef?
I find it very difficultx and annoying each time transposing notes from bass or treble clef

ok. i regularly play in bass, so my tip is more helpful transposing from bass to tenor.
When i look at the note, i just play the 5th, so if its a C in bass, its now a G (5th above). say its a f. its now a c.

hm.....
was it difficult to play in tenor at the begining? how long did you get accustomed to?
i will try this 5th principle. hope it'll work out

it doesnt take a long time to learn, you just have to remember to switch your brain to tenor. after a while you dont even need to tranpose, its just a great learning tool

i do not play cello but a friend once told me that you read bass but play it down a string.
I do not no if this works but try it and please tell me if it does.

Actually, it's up a string, and that's what works for me... most of the time. It doesn't help much on the higher notes, because you'd usually play the not in bass clef on the A string, but unless you have an E string or are unusually proficient at high positions on the D string (unlikely if you're just learning tenor), the trick won't help. In which case, you just have to remember the high notes. Good luck!

I think it's a bad idea to transpose. It becomes a hard habit to break. Take it one note at a time, starting with middle C. Try to associate note names with staff locations without reference to other clefs (such as the bass clef). Practice with the "Note Trainer" on this site.

Actually, learning to transpose can be a valuable skill.

But learning the staff is more important.

Both would be good. Still, I learned the "up a string trick" and used it forever, and eventually, it just clicked, and I didn't have to think about it anymore. I just learned where the notes were the long way.

Of course learning the staff in important, but just to learn the notes, you can use the transposition. after a while you just know what each note is

Actually, learning to transpose can be a valuable skill.

Um....transposing in general, yes, from key to key, but not in this specific case, if you really want to learn a clef.

Still, I learned the "up a string trick" and used it forever, and eventually, it just clicked, and I didn't have to think about it anymore. I just learned where the notes were the long way.

Well, as you said, this is the "long" way--and the less sound. Let's hope in your case the intermediary step (the transposing) doesn't creep back from time to time. For many or perhaps most, it will.

What do you mean by just "learning the clef?" The note names? The fingerings? Positions? A certain pitch? One cannot learn the clef without learning all these things. They are each meaningless without the others. Even if you know that it's a C, can you find it on the cello? What position are you in? What finger should you use? All aspects be learned.

How, then, do you learn it?


To be quite honest, it is nearly impossible for anyone to learn any music without mentally tieing things to something else, whether it be transposition, finger numbers, note names, position names, locations on the cello, or aural pitches. In fact, NOT tieing these things together would be an incomplete understanding of the clef.

NO ONE can claim that they didn't have to count the lines or use pneumonic devices while learning a staff, and most people had great difficulty upon first encountering the different positions, clefs, and such. You all know you did it too: perhaps counting from the F line, or using the "Good Boys Do Fine Always" acronym (or probably another), or thinking "1st finger" any time that note came up. All these methods are impractical for anything beyond the beginning level: there is no time for the first two methods, and the third will no longer be practical when it comes time to shift. All three methods fall short when it comes to intonation or theoretical understandings.

Yet we all learned this way, and similar methods are used on any instrument. These stages are necessary while learning a new instrument or a new clef, yet as time goes on, these things are mastered to a point where we don't even think about it, and we can instead think about bow placement and musical phrasing.

And so, I continue to stand for the side of "this is what I did, but do what works for you." These tricks are intermediary steps towards understanding and internalization to a point where it becomes almost subconsious. We've all needed help getting there.


All the methods suggested are only a part of the puzzle. "A string higher" is more of a technical aspect, relating to relevant fingers and positions for the given note. "A fifth higher" is a theoretical understanding, and appeals to those who understand intervallic relationships better than most of us. Note names are great for key relationships, and are handy while exploring other clefs, and also apply to the produced pitch (great for people with perfect pitch).

Each method is just that: a different method that can be used to achieve the same ends. None are wrong. None are the only right way. They are aids to "learning the clef." They are a little help so you can practice Tenor clef effectively and correctly.

So, take your pick, or use them all. A string up, a fifth up, or learning the note names are all great options.

Each method is just that: a different method...

In a perfect world every one who abuses the English language with this sort of idiotic "just that" tautology would be shot on sight.

To be quite honest...

Persons who go about proclaiming their own "honesty" are usually the most dishonest. Just be honest and shut up about it.

...it is nearly impossible for anyone to learn any music without mentally tieing things to something else

The idea is to tie it to (associate it with) as few extraneous things as possible so that you'll have to unlearn as little as possible. You do want to associate what you see with a letter name. You do want to associate what you see with cello positions (in this case). You do not want to associate what you see with other clefs.

Begin with middle C (because this what this clef points to) and and learn to recognize it at sight very well. Work out from there.

The minute I wrote that I knew you'd be !***!ed. And I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm simply trying to say that we don't see eye-to-eye on this issue. And I have a certain feeling that you will attack this post as well, probably in a "you're an idiot" kind of way, a "no duh we don't see eye-to-eye" comment, or perhaps more on semantics and grammar. I once again emphasize my attempts to not make anyone angry here (although clearly I have failed thus far). In the future, however, I ask that you attack the point in itself next time, instead of picking on word choice and the personalities of someone you have never met.


Your final attack on me does have its merits. I do want to say I can kind of see your point, both its truths and (what I think) are not quite right.

The idea is to tie it to (associate it with) as few extraneous things as possible so that you'll have to unlearn as little as possible.

I think this shows the main point of our disagreement. From my interpretation of what you said, one has to "unlearn" whatever method of choice to reach the eventual result: looking at the note and knowing it. The method is not a part of knowing it, it is a means of getting there.

By contrast, I believe that the understanding of these relationships are a part of understanding the clef. To know that the C one line above the bass clef is the same as the middle line of tenor clef is a good thing, and I don't think any of us can argue with that. My biggest point is that whatever method used will not have to be "unlearned," and will instead slip into the unconscious.

And out of curiousity of what other Cellists had to say, I looked it up on the Internet Cello Society boards: http://p078.ezboard.com/fcellofuncellistsbynightsemiprooramateur.showMessage?topicID=3068.topic
There was no metion of whether it was a skill that would be "unlearned," but they appear to have opinions that are essentially ours: "just learn it" versus "whatever works for you." I also found the comparison to learning a foreign language fascinating (perhaps just because I am working on becoming trilingual). I think the point does apply: all the methods used to remember vocabulary and verb conjugations slip into the subconscious.