Maybe this is a stupid question but the thread on how to write for euphonium got me thinking. I can read treble clef just fine but if someone handed me a tuba part written treble clef I'd be more than a little lost as to what notes to play.
If it were in concert pitch I am sure with a little time and thought I could quickly figure out what notes to play. I have noticed that people mention now and again that if you know trumpet fingerings( which I don't--but could learn) you can play anything Bb treble clef. So how would know if the part was written in Bb treble clef or Concert pitch treble clef?
If its a trumpet part it will say what key it is written in- usually Bb or C, sometimes Eb. I don't think I've ever treble clef baritone part that wasn't written in Bb. Its just a lot of transposing to read treble clef parts. Flute parts, however, are always written in C. (And its always fun to see the look on the piccolo player's face when they realize your playing their part)
Parts of instruments which transpose (or exist in more than one key like horns trumpets, clarinets etc.) are almost without exception marked with the transposition, even if it is C.
If there's no mention of any transposition, it more than probably is a part in concert pitch.
The treble clef is the refuge of many brain-limited players of higher-pitched instruments. These people are only capable of learning one set of fingerings in the course of a lifetime. Composers, acting with a generosity that is more than these players deserve, transpose these treble parts in an effort to accommodate the deficit of brain cells these players have.
The bass clef, on the other hand is where the players of that most noble of all instruments dwell: tubists. These players, with their superior abilities, play music written at concert pitch, no matter what the tuning of the open notes on their instruments.
Allen wrote:I hope my unbiased view helps this discussion.
Hehehehe....
Oh, come to think of it --
If you get handed a part that's in treble clef, and written for Eb tuba (or any other Eb instrument, for that matter), you can treat it like bass clef pretty darn easily.
In this case, the written "C" sounds a concert Eb.
Add three flats to the key signature and read it like it was bass clef.
Allen wrote:These players, with their superior abilities, play music written at concert pitch, no matter what the tuning of the open notes on their instruments . . .
. . . and can instantly count many leger lines below the staff with one eye while noting the rhythm with the other. They use all five fingers on one hand to play any of 32 valve combinations (in tempo), delicately adjust their slides with the other hand, inhale and exhale massive amounts of air, all while setting the very rythmic and tonal foundation of the groups they support. Behold the mighty tubist!
I stand in awe
--paul;
(ok - maybe I'm a little punchy too - or is it just jealosy )
heh. At the brass band concert last Sunday, the intermission was "over" and the audience was having a little trouble returning to their seats. So....I blasted out the theme from 76 Trombones, on my CC tuba. They sat down! AND I got applause. I could not have done that with a fiddle.
MaryAnn wrote: I could not have done that with a fiddle.
For some reason you never struck me as the fiddling type.
I've met few violin players that coud fiddle, yet most fiddle players do a decent job with a violin (provided they read music ).
Similar stuff happens with othe non-classical styles.
Well, I made a major excursion into bluegrass at a younger point in my life. "Fiddle" has different rules than violin....bluegrass occurs on the back of the beat and the bottom of the pitch. (counter example...jazz occurs on the "top" of the beat, an entirely different feel.) It did take a while to learn the style, and it adversely affected my classical playing.
I have my elebendy-seventh performance of Orange Blossom Special coming up in May....my arrangement for fiddle, three horns, and tuba. It rocks!! We're doing it on a symphony pops concert.
I'd probably disagree with you on the fiddle player's ability to play classically, though. They generally are still on the bottom of the pitch even if they find the middle of the beat.
chevy68chv wrote:I Flute parts, however, are always written in C. (And its always fun to see the look on the piccolo player's face when they realize your playing their part)
Soprano flutes parts are always written in C. Alto flute parts are written in G. Eb flute parts are written in Eb. Db piccolo parts (just ask any seasoned piccolo player about "Stars and Stripes Forever" and Db picc.) are written in Db.
Bass flute parts are written transposed by an octave; Contrabass flute is written in F or sometimes G. Flute d'amore is written in Bb; Tin whistle parts (Irish flute) parts are written in G.
And this is for the transverse flutes--fipple flutes (recorders) have their own set of transpositions.
)
).
