In pianoforte and organ music, high parts for the left hand, or low ones for the right, may be written either:
By means of leger lines ([Fig. 3], a);
By changing the clef (b); or
By writing the part in the stave proper to the other hand (c).
Fig. 3.
The example, of course, illustrates a high part for the left hand.
The first method is the hardest to write and read. There is not much to choose between the second and third. If the third be adopted care must be taken not to insert rests in the vacant stave: their absence shows that the hand is not resting.
When a part, in organ or piano music, though mainly in its proper stave, begins with notes more easily written in the other, the clef proper to the part should be inserted, as showing its general character, and immediately followed by that in which the notes are most conveniently written. Thus [Fig. 3], b, if the first measure of a composition, should have an F clef immediately preceding the G clef in the left-hand part.
A change of clef affecting the first note of a score should be anticipated in the last measure of the previous score, and repeated in the measure affected. This is especially the case in regard to the first score of a new page involving a turn-over. In addition to anticipating the clef, the old plan of inserting a “direct” is to be recommended. See [Fig. 4].