If you play a treble clef instrument can you switch to bass clef?

The Bass Clarinet is pitched exactly an octave lower than the 'soprano' Clarinet. Because of this, discounting octaves, it sounds a major second lower than the notation (so the music will show C when concert-pitch Bb is wanted.)

There are two notation systems used for bass clarinet. One is very common, while the other is used by some later German composers and Eastern European/former-soviet composers.

The first, called "french notation" uses the treble clef, and the bass clarinet fingerings are identical, note-for-note, to the common 'soprano' instrument. The pitches produced by the bass instrument are therefore an octave and a whole tone lower than the notation.

The second uses the bass clef, and the sound produced by the bass clarinet is only a whole tone lower than the notation. If the part gets high, the notation may switch to treble clef to avoid ledgerlines, and in this case, the notes produced by the bass clarinet should be, still, only a whole tone lower than the notation. This can be a point of confusion, but usually, when the treble clef is used this way, the music either starts with or ends with bass clef notation.

Tenor and alto clef are not used for the bass clarinet.

So the correct answer is, Both!


I have been playing the Bass clarinet for three years, and have only had music in the treble clef.