Editing Clef (section)

==Placement on the staff==
Theoretically, any clef may be placed on any line. With five lines on the staff and three clefs, there are fifteen possibilities for clef placement. Six of these are redundant because they result in an identical assignment of the notes—for example, a G-clef on the third line yields the same note placement as a C-clef on the bottom line. Thus there are nine possible distinct clefs when limiting their placement to the lines. All have been used historically: the G-clef on the two bottom lines, the F-clef on the three top lines, and the C-clef on the four bottom lines. The C-clef on the topmost line has also been used, but is equivalent to the F-clef on the third line, giving a total of ten historically attested clefs placed on the lines. In addition, the C-clef has been used on the third ''space'', i.e. not on a line at all.

The ten clefs placed on lines (two are equivalent) have different names based on the [[tessitura]] for which they are best suited.
<!--image displayed wider than 400px for clarity-->
[[File:All clefs.svg|center|640px|The ten possible clefs placed on lines]]

In modern music, only four clefs are used regularly: [[#Treble clef|treble clef]], [[#bass clef|bass clef]], [[#alto clef|alto clef]], and [[#tenor clef|tenor clef]]. Of these, the treble and bass clefs are by far the most common. The tenor clef is used for the upper register of several instruments that usually use bass clef (including [[cello]], [[bassoon]], and [[trombone]]), while the alto is most prominently used by the [[viola]]. Music for instruments and voices that [[Transposing instrument|transpose]] at the octave is generally written at the transposed pitch, but is sometimes seen written at concert pitch using an [[#Octave clefs|octave clef]].

[[File:common clefs.svg|center|212px|Common clefs]]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!  | Clef
!  | Name
!  | Note
!  | Note Location
|-
|  | [[File:GClef.svg|center|30px]]
|  | G-clef or Treble-clef
|  | G<sub>4</sub>
|  | On the line that passes through the curl of the clef
|-
|  | [[File:CClef.svg|center|30px]]
|  | C-clef
|  | C<sub>4</sub> ([[Middle C]])
|  | On the line that passes through the centre of the clef
|-
|  | [[File:FClef.svg|center|30px]]
|  | F-clef or Bass-clef
|  | F<sub>3</sub>
|  | On the line that passes between the two dots of the clef
|}