Query: What about modern music? If I write a trombone part in alto clef, will it be tacitly understood that it is an alto trombone part?
No. Alto clef for trombone parts is purely a historical
convention, and these parts may be played on alto OR tenor trombone
(Mozart usually on alto, Brahms or Beethoven usually on tenor, for
example). The main reason for using tenor clef rather than the modern
standard bass clef is to avoid excessive ledger lines.
Just to weigh in on the reading clefs discussion, I completely
agree with David Fenton on context for clefs. As a trombonist, I had
to learn all four of the usual clefs, and Bb, Bb 8va, Eb, and Eb 8va
transpositions (F is less secure for me) and yet to this day I have
serious problems swinging if a part shows up in tenor clef or (heaven
help me) alto clef in a jazz situation. No problem in classical at
all, but after years of associating certain performance practices with
certain clefs, it is a hard habit to break.
I remember having this discussion a couple of years ago on this
list about font choices. Jazz musicians seem to swing better if the
part is copied to look hand-written (using the JazzFont, or something
like it.) There seems to be this association with
"engraved-looking" parts, where they seem more
authoritative, and the musician automatically goes into classical
mode, which involves reading exactly what is on the page, and not
adding anything that isn't expressly written (and paying more
attention to tuning and tone, incidentally!) With a hand-written part,
they assume that they are permitted, nay, REQUIRED to make it sound
looser and more personal. It seems to be the same with clefs.
Christopher
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