Most fiddlers I've asked prefer not to have 8va unless it goes to six or more ledger lines, that is, E. FWIW, the violin part of Kreutzer Sonata does not use 8va even for the high F. (The score does, however.)
The reason that 8va/8vb works on keyboards is that the fingerings are the same in every octave. This is not true for string and wind instruments. Writing 5 ledger lines above alto clef seems silly, but what do I know. I'm not a violist. Writing 5 ledger lines above bass clef is not silly at all for tenor instruments, nor is writing 4-5 ledger lines below treble clef silly for horn players. On Mon, Apr 14, 2014 at 12:33 PM, Steven Larsen <[email protected]>wrote: > Changing clefs too frequently usually comes from preparing a > printable version of a score with a lot of instruments; you try to fit all > the parts on a page, fiddle around with staff spacing, but notice that the > 1st bassoon or 1st trombone has a note that is sticking into the staff > above. Simple solution: change the clef. > But then when you go to extract parts you should change it back. > After all, the clef change was for "your" convenience (the > arranger/composer), not the musician's. > And although nobody has brought this up, let's talk about 8va > indications. It's OK to use 8va to bring down a high flute or piccolo > passage in a score, but it should NEVER be notated that way in a part. This > does not hold true for violinists, who are grateful for not having to count > 8 or 10 leger lines. > Speaking of leger lines, I recently conducted a pops show with one > particular arrangement, skillfully arranged, that featured a beautiful high > passage of violins and violas playing pitches above the treble staff. > Unfortunately (for me, at least) the viola part stayed in alto clef for the > entire piece. I never got the chance to ask the violists how they felt > about > it, but even though I read alto clef fluently, when it uses 4 and 5 ledger > lines it might as well have been Sanskrit to me. > > Steve Larsen > > -----Original Message----- > From: David H. Bailey [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Monday, April 14, 2014 5:18 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Finale] Changing clefs within same measure in concert pitch > score > > On 4/13/2014 8:35 PM, Darcy James Argue wrote: > > On Apr 13, 2014, at 8:25 PM, Robert Patterson > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >> I guess when Beethoven does it, no one complains. > > > > Right. To be clear, these players are only talking about C clefs in > > new music. And I actually think most of this is actually a proxy > > complaint for "too many ill-considered clef changes." > > > > And if that's the case, then I agree with them. One of my pet peeves is > when something is notated in an awkward manner simply because it's easy to > do so. > > Having 3 clef changes in 4 measures simply to avoid ledger lines makes no > sense to me and I would complain about it also. But using a clef change > for > a lengthy passage would not get a complaint from me. > > I complain the same way about the excessive use of elongation dots (dots > more than 1, in my preferences) when the rhythm is much more clear and less > likely of misinterpretation using tied notes. > > Any notation "cuteness" done more to exhibit the > composer/arranger/notator's > cleverness than in any real effort to make the musical meaning clear to the > musician reading the part is something which I find to be a fairly modern > problem as computer notation programs have made it possible for people with > no idea about notational clarity to spew reams of printed music which could > be so much more clearly notated. > > > > -- > David H. Bailey > [email protected] > http://www.davidbaileymusicstudio.com > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Finale mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale > > To unsubscribe from finale send a message to: > [email protected] > > _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] https://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale To unsubscribe from finale send a message to: [email protected]
