Klarinet Archive - Posting 000601.txt from 1999/10

From: Craig Rasband <jasband@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Transposing C fakebooks - HELP
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 22:43:16 -0400

I wrote:
> > I hate transposing! Transposing makes me crazy! So I don't
> > do it. Instead, I've learned the names of the notes on my
> > saxophones in concert key.

Dodgshun family wrote:
> If I understand this correctly, you would know what most sax players call
> "C" as "Eb", right? I would find this WAY more confusing. What I like
> about the sax fingering system is that you can switch around from sax to sax
> and the fingering remains the same. If I tried to "transpose" like this,
> I'd find myself tied in knots! What happens when you want to play a sax
> part that has already been transposed??

Maybe I didn't make myself clear. When I am reading an alto
sax part on the alto sax, I do it like everybody else. Same when
I'm reading a tenor sax part on the tenor sax. When I am reading
from a C fake book, or a piano part, I substitute the names of
the notes in concert key for the normal ones, and just read the
part, with no computation involved. There is no delay, so it
doesn't matter what the tempo is (as long as it's within my
technical ability). Like I said, I've been doing this for over
twenty years on alto sax, and for me, it's a piece of cake. I
must admit, though, that since I haven't spent as much time on
the tenor sax as the alto sax, a lot of times I just transpose a
concert key part up a whole step when I'm playing the tenor. But
that does require a moment of computation, or extra thought, and
so can slow me down a bit.

I wrote:
> > I also play the bass, so I still have to transpose if
> > someone hands me a saxophone part to play from (and it still
> > drives me crazy), but there's no way I'm going to learn the >names> > of the notes on my bass in alto and tenor sax keys!

Dodgshun family wrote:
> Uhh, bass clarinet is in the same key as tenor sax, so therefore you> shouldn't have to transpose at all.

Sorry, I guess I assumed that since I said I was still
learning the clarinet no one would think that I can play the bass
clarinet. I play the "string" bass - the upright bass and the
electric bass. I should have remembered where I was (klarinet).
:-)

Craig Rasband

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