On Tuesday, September 30, 2003, at 07:58 AM, David Horne wrote:
On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 09:52:35 -0400, "Daniel Dorff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said:So if this theory is valid, and I
believe it is, then it makes most sense to always write for flute without
8va signs, but to sometimes use them for piano. It sounds like Dennis's
colleagues would agree with this.
Some composers have a habit of writing extremely high piano notes (6 or
more ledger lines) but writing the note name above it. At least in
reading situations, I've always found this difficult to read, and
counter-productive. That said, with regular eyesight, reading up to 5
ledger lines for a pianist really shouldn't be an issue, but I'd agree
that if the music stays in a register with several ledger lines, an 8va
sign would probably be appropriate. I don't think Dennis was referring to
this, but I've played from scores where 8va signs were used in a register
where none of the resultant notes went above the stave. Personally, I
find this quite difficult to read (certainly in a sight- reading,
rehearsal situation) and a number of other pianists I've talked to have
similar reactions. I think it's partly because, on the whole, we're not
used to reading 8va notes there. While I'm at it, mixing 8va and non 8va
notes in rapid passages can be difficult to read, because there is a
disjuncture between what you see, and what the hand has to stretch to.
That's no doubt obvious, but I see it quite a bit- and of course there
are many older pieces which are notated this way. All of this is more of
an issue for initial reading, but let's face it, that's the situation
many composers will find themselves in- with limited reharsal time, etc.
Just to corroborate: on the piano, I'm so comfortable with exactly what an octave looks like that, with several ledger lines above the treble staff, I can nearly automatically "see" its counterpart an octave below. Thus, figuring out high notes is never a problem, because I can just "read it" an octave down and put my hand an octave to the right.
In my mind, this is very similar to reading for clarinet or tenor sax from a piano score. it's just a different degree of "mental transposition."
------------- Brad Beyenhof [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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