FWIW, I've just discovered the Mezzo-Soprano clef. This is a C clef (like the Alto, or Viola, clef) but middle C is on the line where G (3rd finger first position, D string) is on a fiddle. It works wonders for me because it lets me make sense of stuff on the C string of a 5-string fiddle as it takes the same fingering as treble clef, but moved down 1 string. I stumbled on it by accident as I was trying to score a fiddle part and got fed up with loads of ledger lines below the staff and MuseScore gave this clef as an option!
Pretty much all references I've seen on the 'net say that the mezzo-soprano clef is obsolete and no longer used -- yet it's such a useful tool that helps to transition to 5-string without needing to learn how to read for viola!
I'd be interested to find out whether anyone else is using this...
This is the first I've heard of it. I gotta say, too, that if you're staying in first position traditional music notation and the fiddle make remarkably wonderful partners. It doesn't hurt that the fiddle is largely played a single note at a time. All you really have to do is become familiar with how traditional notation denotes the key the tune is being played in. No Sharp or Flats in the key signature? We're playing in C Major. One Sharp? We're playing in G Major. Two Sharps? We're in D Major. Three? We're in A Major.
Edited by - Lonesome Fiddler on 05/16/2025 12:46:59
That is interesting for a five string! Especially if a computer does the work.
At times I want a five string. Mostly I just want four. But there are times like today when I'm trying to follow a guitar melody that goes below G. Then I think: I wish I had a five string right now.
I have no desire to learn alto clef, so mezzo soprano sounds easier. But it only sounds practical if computers do the work.
