On Aug 17, 2006, at 6:29 AM, dhbailey wrote:
Christopher Smith wrote:
Even in a piece without a key signature, if you had a C#7 chord
resolving to F#m, and the melody outlined the C#7 chord, how could
you spell it except with an E#? Anything else would be MORE
confusing, not less. I understand that some unusual accidentals
(like double sharps and flats) are not to be thrown around lightly
so as to avoid obscuring communication, but sometimes you need
them, darn it!
Even more so in works WITH key signatures, which I say use key
sigs if the piece is in a key, don't use them otherwise.
[snip]
I think that's terrific for you, Christopher, but I'm not so sure
there can be such apparently hard-nosed "rules."
"Sometime you need them (double sharps and flats)" is a hard-nosed
rule? Avoiding them completely seems much harder-nosed to my way of
thought!
Not all situations are similar and we each need to follow our own
inclinations to produce music which fits the situation.
For any music for which there will be plenty of rehearsal time,
where any confusions will be able to be clarified through
explanation and rehearsal and lots of private practice time, I
agree with you.
But for other situations, I try to make the individual parts be the
easiest to understand for quick accurate reading.
Again, for top-notch professionals I would never simplify the note
spelling, but for amateurs I wouldn't hesitate at all. And I'd add
an explanatory note in the conductor's score which would explain
that for certain pitches, the parts had been simplified for easier
reading.
I agree that amateurs would not get much of a communications
advantage out of double sharps, as they most likely wouldn't tune it
closely enough to matter much. As you said, easiest to understand is
best, which we both agree is different for pros and amateurs.
Christopher
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