Re: score transposition problem

[Christopher R. Maden]

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On 04/13/2011 00:15 AM, Tom Cloyd wrote:
> I want to arrange a Bach chorale for guitar. My score for the chorale is 
> a nightmare. I can barely read bass clef, and can do that in my mind, 
> but the scores for soprano, alto, and tenor all use C-clefs, and in a 
> way that each score must be read in a unique way. I've never before seen 
> a score like this. The notes fit nicely on the staff, but I cannot read 
> them without a lot of mental gymnastics.

I’m afraid there’s not much for it except to learn to read them (these
are probably tenor and alto clefs).  As others have pointed out, a
simple transposition is going to produce weird effects.  And speaking as
a trombone player who had to learn tenor clef to play orchestral stuff,
you actually do get used to it fairly quickly.  If it’s giving you
trouble, use a paper copy with the line-notes penciled in (e.g., D F A C
E for tenor clef) at the start of the line.

I find that I mostly think in relative terms when reading tenor; e.g.,
the first note is a C, then there’s a third so it’s an E, etc.

You could also try using some math as you go along: in the tenor clef,
every note is one “notch” high relative to the treble clef, so a note on
the 4th line should be moved down one to the 3rd space, which is a
treble C.  (You’ll be an octave off, but that is a much easier problem
to solve.)  For the alto clef, move the note up a notch for the treble
note value.

HTH,
crism
- -- 
Chris Maden, text nerd  <URL: http://crism.maden.org/ >
“Those in power write the history, while those who suffer
 write the songs.” — Frank Harte
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