Klarinet Archive - Posting 000273.txt from 1996/03

From: "Daniel A. Paprocki" <dap@-----.US>
Subj: Teaching transposition in the US
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 1996 13:18:48 -0500

A couple of years ago I had an eye opening experience. I was
studying in Vienna at the Conservatory in the summer of 1991 with Roger
Salander. It was an intense study of reed making, literature, and other
things (beer, ice cream, & bus schedules).
One exercise was to play duets with Roger in front of the class.
We would start out normal and then 5 lines in he would say 1/2 step up.
Next in C. Next 1/2 down. I really learned fast how to sight transpose.
Not that I had never transposed before - Bruckner Mass, Schubert Great,
misc. C parts. But I would always have the music before and learn the part
transposed before rehearsal (memorize the harder passages).
I now do daily transposition of a Rose (40 or 32) etude Which
includes reading it in C on Bb and A (using the bass clef method) and doing
1/2 step up and down transposition. I find this helps my overall reading
skills (music is so much easier when your brain doen't hurt) and in
partuculair my sight reading skills. I also try and do alot of bass
clarinet in bass clef reading (Bach cello suites are great for this!). The
one area that I have to force myself to work on is Bass clarinet in A in
bass clef (bass clef in A, No thanks I'll just take the live rattler
please).
I'm curious do USA teachers do any transposition skills with their
students? It was a skill I never thought of until it was called for in the
music. In Europe it's much more part of a players tool box.

Dan

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Daniel A. Paprocki
dap@-----.us

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