The Equidistant Music Clef
A musical clef for reading music based on equidistant and nearly equidistant scales.
The Equidistant Clef was developed to better represent musical traditions whose tuning systems differ from that assumed by conventional Western notation, such as the West African tambin (Fula flute) and balafon.
It does not change the notation itself, but reminds the reader that the staff should be understood according to a different interval system—preserving melodic shape, rhythm, and relative movement while avoiding the intervallic assumptions of the Western major scale.
Although originally developed for the tambin and balafon, the same principles may be applied to other musical traditions built on equidistant or nearly equidistant scales.
Read more about the background and design process of the Equidistant Clef on the About page, and download the clef for your own usage from the Download page.
Tambin flutes from West Africa, also known as tambinfulé or Fula flute.
Balafon from West Africa.