Patrick: I am not a choirmaster, but I am a composer and a singer who occasionally performs tenor parts. The reason that I can think that it makes sense relates more to classical choral tenor (ie: Bach, Mozart, etc) and to operatic tenor parts. Those parts tend to lie more above Middle C (and in the case of operatic tenor, up to High C or D). So to put the tenor parts for that type of music in the treble clef with middle C at the bottom of the staff (and needing only the occasional few ledger lines below the staff for G-C) rather than in bass clef with middle C at the top of the staff (and thus requiring copious amounts of ledger lines above the staff) creates an economy of space.
But as a composer, sightreader and notator, it bugs the hell outta me to see this. When I'm writing, I always put the tenor part in Bass Clef and I may or may not switch it later. Adam On 14/09/2011 11:40 AM, Patrick Sheehan wrote: > To All Choirmasters out there: > > > > Part of my work for the past 10+ years has been accompanying for high school > choirs, where at times we will perform a mix classic and new serious > literature as well as some of the popular alternative choices that are in > the catalogs today. > > > > What bothers me in reading, is that now 75% of the time in the printed music > of today, the tenor staff (part) is in treble clef (with or without the 8 > below the clef). I personally think that that clef is absolutely > unpractical, and should never be used. When I play part summaries in > rehearsal (no accompaniment, just al the parts) in rehearsal, it bugs the > absolute hell out of me that the tenor part is in treble "8" clef, because I > expect to see two staves in treble (soprano, alto) and two in bass (tenor > and bass). My question is: WHY is this treble "8" clef used in printed > music today when it used to be printed in bass clef most of the time. And, > does this bother anyone else, and do you agree that it should be abolished? > > > > Patrick J. M. Sheehan > Music Director, Instructor: Woodlawn Arts Academy > _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
