On 26 Jan 2005 at 0:11, Daniel Wolf wrote: > You only need to memorize the following clef sequence: > > 1. treble > 2. alto > 3. bass > 4. mezzo-soprano > 5. baritone > 6. soprano > 7. tenor > > Each step up this sequence is equivalent to a transposition by one > step on the staff, two steps up the sequence is equivalent to > transposition by a diatonic third, three steps a fourth, four steps a > fifth etc.. The sequence loops back to the beginning, so that treble > clef is one step above tenor and so on. Whether the interval of > transposition is major, minor, augmented, or diminished is determined > by the key signature applied. Octave transpositions are ad lib.
That description with the flip "octave transpositions are ad lib." at the end seems to be rather clearly oriented towards score reading, not towards performance, where the octave is clearly *not* ad lib. I play viola da gamba, including treble viol, tenor viol and bass. I have sometimes on one concert played all three instruments, and on tenor I've had to read in as many as 3 different clefs in the same concert (in addition to playing continuo on the same concert). It's enough to make your head *really* hurt. It's not that I have trouble reading the notes (though I frequently have trouble switching between treble clef at pitch or 8ba and alto clef) -- it's knowing which octave you're in that is the problem, and translating that to the physical movements to play the notes. I mostly play bass and switch quite fluently between alto and bass clef. But when given a part in treble (at pitch) or treble 8ba, it can give me fits (this happens a lot because lots of viol music has been published only in editions edited for recorders, with the tenor parts in any number of possible clefs). What I *do* know is that the score reading I was trained to do did not by any means prepare me for reading in "inappropriate" clefs on an actual instrument. This is not to say that I can't do it quite fluently, just that it's a pain and does lead to additional mistakes in early rehearsals. Learning the viol did mean that I became as fluent in alto clef as I am in treble and bass (I was originally trained as a pianist). But it also means that *tenor* clef gives me the worst fits of any clef -- it's something that is just not used in viol music, ever, and there's no physical connection between the notation and the instrument for me. Indeed, I read tenor clef less well now than I did before I took up the gamba! So, I think the whole octave thing is pretty important. When reading a score at the piano and playing a reduction of it (or, say, being a rehearsal accompanist for a choir singing from old clefs), octave can be somewhat ignored as long as harmonies are preserved, but that is not by any means the same thing as playing it as written. -- David W. Fenton http://www.bway.net/~dfenton David Fenton Associates http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
