Jonathan Smith wrote > >> What matters is that the higher brass instruments > >> (trumpet, horn, fluegelhorn, etc.) tend to read from transposed parts, > >> while the lower brass instruments (trombone, euphonium, tuba, etc.) > >> tend to read from concert pitch parts, regardless what key their > >> instrument is in. > > > > What they told me about this in college is that brass instruments in > > bass clef are VERY rarely transposed. > > > > Except, of course, for the F horn... but that's usually the odd one > > out anyway. There's really no standard as to which octave it's > > transposed into when it's in bass clef, either. > > Not over here (France). We have a band that has Euphonium (Bariton) and > Tuba players that read in: > > Concert pitch Bass clef > Bb Bass clef (transposed) > B flat Treble clef (transposed) > > Every piece of music needs to have 6 parts for just these 2 instruments! > > This demonstrates the complete and utter mess bands have got themselves > into over the years. You only need to take a look at EMR publications > in Switzerland to comprehend the ridiculous number of alternative > transposed parts that are required if you wish to sell your music > throughout the European countries. > > Wouldn't it be great if like the adapting the 'euro' as a currency we > all decided to go concert. I would venture to guess that this could > also help in consolidating the manufacturers of these instruments.
Traditionally, all the parts in a standard "British-style" Brass Band (of which there are representative examples all over the world, including mainland Europe and North America) are in transposed Treble Clef, even the Tenor Trombones and EEb & BBb Tubas, which we refer to as Basses. The only exception is the Bass Trombone, which uses Bass Clef in Concert. This goes right back, at least to the oldest music in my band's library dated 1862. The reason for this was (and still is) that when a band is short of players, any player can pick up any instrument and be able to sight read and finger the notes correctly without needing to transpose. For non-professional bands this is sometimes vital. I play Bb Euphonium and Trombone and I have frequently needed to play Eb Bass or Eb Tenor Horn when the band is a bit on the thin side, even Bb Flugel or 2nd Cornet occasionally. For this reason alone I don't agree we should all "go concert" as you suggest. Some of the older music we play has the Tenor Trom parts in Tenor Clef Concert. Players soon learn that the lines and spaces are the same as if playing in transposed Treble Clef, but then have to remember that the key signature has to have 2 fewer flats (or 2 more sharps) than shown. Similarly, some old music occasionally has one or both the Bass parts in Bass Clef (I imagine because the publishers were trying to keep costs down and cover Brass Bands & Wind Bands with the same set). The Eb Tubas then find that reading Bass Clef as Treble Clef and deducting 3 flats (or adding 3 sharps) also gives the correct tones. I've never heard of Bass Clef transposed before. Best regards Peter _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
