In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Roger Satorra writes: >You're talking about a scordatura.
I don't think of all cases of tuning a lower string down as scordatura. I associate that with notation that tells you where to put your fingers, but because the string is tuned in a non-standard manner, the pitch that comes out is not the one notated. That is what I recall from the Bach suites for unaccompanied 'cello. Do any readers know differently? >I'm based in Europe and it's nothing usual >for double bass to tune the 5th string to B. Always C. Not in the UK, in my experience, and the number of examples of low B being demanded suggests that Austrian practice may not be so, but I don't know for sure. I recall reading somewhere that tuning to B was more common in Europe and less so in the US. The point of tuning to B was mentioned earlier: it keeps the same relationship between the strings and therefore the same correspondence between intervals and finger spacing. >Sometimes composers want a note lower than the range of a string instrument >and then it's properly indicated that one of the strings has to be tuned down >to X (in this case the db to B). I have no recollection of the "Also Sprach Zarathustra" part giving me any warning. Strauss just assumed that the low B would be available. In "Metamorphosen" he puts low F# into violin parts, but the brackets around them indicate that he doesn't really expect them to be played and that they are doubled by violas. -- Ken Moore [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web site: http://www.mooremusic.org.uk/ I reject emails > 100k automatically: warn me beforehand if you want to send one _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
