[Trombone-l] Dvorak Violin Concerto - trombone 2 part in tenoror bass clef?

[Tom Izzo]

James,

--- james meador <jamesmeador at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Hey Tom and Doug,
> 
> I'm a little confused by this.  Of course we ALL
> understand that if you read 
> a part in the written clef (tenor, alto or bass) it
> will sound at concert 
> pitch.  However, if you read a part written in alto
> clef as if it were 
> written in tenor or bass clef, you do not get
> concert pitch.  Have you not 
> transposed the music? 

Yes, but then you are not reading the same pitch, not
playing the same pitch and not in the same key as the
part as it was written.

If you're sitting at home & just playing a capella for
the "heck of it", who cares what notes you are
playing.
But if you are playing in an ensemble and your part is
in Alto, Treble, Mezzo-Soprano, or whatever, clef, in
order to play ensemble-ly, you need to play the
correct notes, correct key, etc.

 It has always been my
> understanding that if you 
> rewrite music and change the clef, you are
> transposing the music.  That is 
> not to say that you are changing it from concert
> pitch, but you are making 
> it so a player can produce concert pitch on his/her
> instrument.  

One can produce notes on any instrument from any clef.
There's no rule that Violas can't read Bass Clef, or
Tubas, Soprano clef. Albeit in both of these cases,
unless octaves are freely displaced, some pitches
might have many, many ledger lines.

When I read flute or oboe parts on Tuba or Bass
Trombone, I transpose nothing; I just displace
octaves. C is still C, Bb is still Bb. But when I read
"French" Horn, or Cor Anglais parts, I play a 5th
lower. In this case I AM transposing, down a fifth.
Not changing clefs either, reading in F Treble, just
lowering a fifth.


If you 
> don't call that transposing, what do you call it?

I call it, "Just do it", I don't think about it, I
just play it.

Some people transpose by Clef (reading Tenor Sax
parts, Bass Clarinet, Bar Horn TC, etc), by reading
Tenor Clef, & adding 2 flats, or reading ContraBass
Clarinet, Bary Sax by reading TC like Bass Clef &
adding 3 flats. Some others, like myself, transpose by
interval:
When I read Tenor Sax, Bs Clar, etc, I read down a
9th, I don't need to change key, C automatically
becomes Bb. So F Horn parts are down a fifth.
Bb Trumpet/Clarinet parts then are correctly
transposed--down a whole step, not down a 9th (octave
& a whole step), as it would be transposing by clef.
In the Eb realm, transposing Alto Sax (or Wagner's
"Bass" Trumpet in Eb) by changing Clefs & adding flats
means you're playing the part an octave too low.
But it all cases, when reading any part for a keyed
instrument other than a C READING instrument (yes I
know our instruments are in Bb (or Eb, F etc), but we
read C music, than we are transposing to concert
pitch.
When we read any concert pitch part & play that same
note name in concert pitch on our parts, we are not
transposing.

Back to your question of rewriting music.
What's the "name" of this?
Well, if you write it out, it's called Violation of
Copyright for most music.
If you just learn to read it, it's called good
education.

For anyone playing Orchestral music on Trombone,
(Alto, Tenor, & Bass), Bassoon, Cello, String Bass,
and
Tuba (Tenor & Bass), you need to be able to read at
least Alto, Tenor, Bass & Treble Clefs (and in C & Bb,
and Eb).

Tom


Tom Izzo
Principal Trombonist, Bristol Renaissance Faire;
Bass Trombonist, West Suburban Symphony Orchestra;
Founding Director, The Naperville Area Trombone Ensemble;
Alto/Tenor/Bass/Contrabass Trombones, Tubas, Euphonium, Bass Trumpet, Electric Bass, Timpani & Percussion.
http://www.Geocities.com/Vienna/Studio/7875/
(630) 765-0154


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