Re: Fwd: Music Glossary - 1.64 Concert Pitch

[Wols Lists]

On 07/07/10 19:06, Paul Scott wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 06, 2010 at 11:54:29AM +0100, Wols Lists wrote:
>   
>>  quote:
>>
>> The trombones are a special case: although they are said to be 'in F'
>> (alto or bass) or 'in B-flat' (tenor), this refers to their fundamental
>> note, not to their parts' transposition. (In fact, the trombones' parts
>> are written at concert pitch with an appropriate clef -- alto, tenor or
>> bass.) This differs from other instruments 'in F', 'in B-flat', and so
>> on, which are transposing instruments.
>>     
> At least in modern American music this applies to all brass music written 
> in bass clef as well as bassoon.  All parts are written as if they were C 
> instruments.  If you play a C tuba you use different "valvings" when you see
> a note than you do if you are playing a Bb tuba.  Bassoon could also be 
> considered 
> an F instrument but it's written as if it were a C instrument.
>   

Actually, I thought that was NOT true! I might be mistaken (the music
might have been written with accidentals but no key signature -
certainly it confused the hell out of me!) but I'm sure I've had some
American band music put in front of me that (a) was in bass clef and (b)
was transposed in Bf!
>   
>> Okay. Let's try and rewrite both of them:
>>
>> Transposing instruments:
>>
>> Instruments whose notated pitch is different from their sounded pitch.
>> They usually come in families which differ only in their fundamental
>> pitch (the base note determined by the length of the instrument from
>> mouthpiece to bell). 
>>     
> This certainly *not* true for woodwinds.  A "C" flute may have a C foot or
> a B foot.  An Eb baritone saxophone may go to low Bb or low A,
>   
I thin we've had this discussion here before ... but as you have
correctly said I'm a trombone player, not woodwind. The lowest note on a
brass instrument has a half-wavelength equal to the length of the
instrument. I get the impression that the lowest note on many woodwind
instruments has a quarter-wavelength equal to the length of the
instrument. At the end of the day, I was trying to get across the fact
that the note depends on the length of the instrument - hence
"determined by the length" rather than explicitly drawing any
relationship. So that explains your point about an Eb sax going to Bb or
A - the lowest note on a woodwind is typically a harmonic of the
fundamental rather than an octave of it (that funny 1/4 or 3/4
relationship).

I don't know what you mean by a "foot". Is that where you have eg a C
flute, and by replacing the foot with a longer one you convert it to a B
instrument? Like you change the pitch of a horn by changing its crook?
If that's the case, my definition still holds - changing the foot
changes the length, and therefore changes the fundamental. I'd call a
flute like that a C/B flute, just like my trombone is a Bf/F - using the
trigger adds extra tubing to change the fundamental (though like so much
with instruments, I'd call that on the trombone a cheat - you don't call
a four-valve euph a Bf/F!).

The thing I really wanted to get away from is the implication that the
instrument is named after the transposing note, whereas reality is that
the transposing note is chosen based on the fundamentals of the
instrument - as written it implies the effect is responsible for the
cause ...
>   
>> Except for those whose notated and sounding pitches
>> differ by one or more octaves (to reduce the number of ledger lines
>> needed), most such instruments are identified by the letter name of the
>> pitch class of their fundamental. This is the note which is written as C
>> when music is transposed.
>>
>> Trombones are a special case as the bass trombone is never transposed,
>>     
> Can you explain this?  I realize you are a trombone player but this makes 
> no sense to me.
>   
I know it sounds funny, but - from my own knowledge ...

The trombone (along with the violin) is one of the oldest modern
instruments in its current form - the basic design hasn't changed since
the sackbut of the 1500s. And unlike the horn or trumpet of that era
(which achieved chromaticity by changing a crook) the trombone was fully
chromatic in its basic configuration, so it was written in standard
pitch while the other instruments were written in what I call tablature
- where the note indicates fingering not pitch - ie a typical modern
transposed part :-)

Then from wikipedia ...

About 1900, the decision was made, in the British brass band world, to
transpose the tenor trombone just like all the other brass instruments
because tenor clef concert and treble clef Bf just happened (accidentals
apart) to place the same note in the same place on the staff. This made
it easier for arrangers, and for players switching between the trombone
and other instruments. The true bass trombone - a G instrument, still
popular at the time - stayed notated in bass clef. (The modern bass
trombone is actually a variant of the Bf tenor - the German "tenorbass"
instrument.)


My experience as a young trombone player probably isn't atypical - I
learnt my music craft on the cornet (Bf treble clef) in a brass band,
switched to the trombone (again Bf treble clef), switched to playing in
orchestras and had to learn bass clef concert, expanded my range and
learnt tenor clef concert (as I said above, dead easy once you
remembered the accidentals!), and then playing with a music ensemble
found myself learning treble clef concert as well! The one typical
trombone clef I can't do is alto. I now prefer playing in bass clef, and
when playing in a concert band and I have a choice of clef, that's what
I choose. When playing in a brass band, I play treble just like everyone
else ... :-)

Cheers,
Wol