[John Blane:]
>Don't you mean "sounds" a major 2nd lower?
Yes, I did mean that. Perhaps I was a bit loose in saying "played" a major
2nd lower - but sounding is what I meant. (In other words, I didn't mean that
the player plays the note as if it were written a major 2nd lower than what he
sees, thus producing a note a major 3rd below the written note.)
>It seems to me that the traditional use of its transposition is to avoid the
>bass clef altogether, similar to the tenor and bari saxes not written (but
>clearly sounding) in the bass clef. I should add that the Eb Contra-alto and
>Bb Contrabass Clarinets, both being lower instruments than the Bass Clarinet
>are also (to my knowledge) written in the Treble clef.
Seems pretty illogical to me - I would have thought bass-pitch instruments
would better be in bass clef, just as treble-pitch ones are in treble clef. It
seems a pity to distort the clarity of notation simply to avoid using the bass
clef as much as possible. Just as the treble clef is intended for notating
treble notes, the bass clef is intended for notating bass notes, and I would
have thought should be so used.
If you were trying to read a score for an ensemble of saxophones, in
various registers, but all written in treble clef, I would have thought it would
be a nightmare to actually try to decipher what notes are being played. Even if
you do know the various transpositions, it would be so confusing, and be so
laborious to sort out all the different parts, then fit them together mentally.
I find it strange that some traditions are designed to avoid the use of the
bass clef in favour of the treble clef - yet, at the same time, we still retain
the alto and tenor clefs.
>I suppose there are always exceptions but they are normally by, as Mark Lew
>pointed out, mis-informed composers.
How do you decide if a composer is misinformed? If a composer prefers to
notate bass instruments in bass clef (surely not an illogical thing to do), I
suppose that could be seen as misinformed by someone who believes those
instruments should be notated in treble clef. Someone of a different opinion
would just see it as one of the exceptions, though.
Regards,
Michael Edwards.
_______________________________________________
Finale mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
