 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: djphay
Date: 2011-04-06 21:51
Hi, I'm taking part in a residential chamber orchestra weekend in a couple of weeks and we're doing the Overture for l'Italia in Algeri. I've got the clarinet parts from IMSLP but they're in C - does anyone have transposed versions for Bb to avoid panicked transpositions?
I know it's lazy but if anyone can help...
Thanks,
David
Rank amateur
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2011-04-06 21:59
Why don't every clarinet student learn to transpose from C, I really don't understand it. Just play through an old etude every day as if it's in C, in a few months it will become second nature. Start with something simple and work up to etudes like the Rose 32 etudes. One a day, 10-15 minutes, not a big deal. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2011-04-06 22:13
I second Ed here. This overture is not that tricky to transpose and it would be good experience for you.
Get stuck in I say.
Peter Cigleris
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2011-04-06 22:17
My general advice, too, would be to learn to transpose. But for something coming up so soon you might call Kalmus and ask if there are transposed parts available. There often are.
Karl
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Author: rmk54
Date: 2011-04-06 22:43
If you are looking for transposed parts, Luck's has a wider selection.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2011-04-06 22:55
What Ed says.
Start out with something utterly familiar -- say, Three Blind Mice. http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=em&p=1553&c=116.
Play it as written, in C. Then close your eyes and play it a step higher, in D. Then open your eyes, read the notes in C and play in D.
Do the same for Row Row Row Your Boat. http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=em&p=642&c=23 and other songs at http://www.mamalisa.com/?p=88&t=ec&c=23
Then go to something a tiny bit more difficult -- say Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair. http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/stephen-foster/012718.HTM It has many scale passages, which your fingers will be able to play in any key.
Then do something unfamiliar but with repeated notes and sequences, such as If You've Only Got A Moustache http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/stephen-foster/012636.HTM It's light and quick, about 120 to the dotted quarter. This is great practice, because your fingers already know how to play scales and also how to play a pattern and then play the same thing a step up (or down).
Finally, put the Italian in Algiers part on your stand and work very slowly on transposing it up a step. Play it at quarter = 40 if you need to. Be sure to make it slow enough so you don't make any mistakes. If you lose track of how it goes, hum it and then play it.
Transposing pretty quickly becomes second nature, like playing in bass clef or using F fingerings in the chalumeau and C fingerings in the clarion.
You have enough time to learn the part and play it transposed. When you do, you'll be a mile ahead of everyone else, with a skill you'll use for the rest of your life.
Ken Shaw
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Author: djphay
Date: 2011-04-06 23:26
Thanks for all the comments and tips. I'll see how it goes - I'm just a little concerned about getting up to speed with transposition for the part, juggling the other pieces we'll be playing and doing the day job!
Thanks again.
David
Rank amateur
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Author: Simon Aldrich
Date: 2011-04-07 04:10
David - If your day job prevents you from getting a handle on the transposition in time, email me off-list or leave a message on this bboard and I'll send you scans of the transposed part (if it is the 1st clarinet part you need).
Simon
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Author: davyd
Date: 2011-04-07 04:21
Can the orchestra itself be any help? Or have they directed you to use the IMSLP parts?
I agree with the others that learning how to transpose is essential for orchestra playing. However, you do have a couple of weeks; that should be long enough for you to write out the part, by hand if need be, without having to hurry (we're not talking a Mahler symphony here). This will also help you to learn your part, since as you write, you'll be thinking about fingerings, phrasing, dynamics, etc.
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Author: clariza
Date: 2011-04-07 14:08
I have always been very grateful that my teacher insisted I learned how to transpose. His method was to use the Kroepsch exercises, at pitch, a tone up and semi-tones up and down.
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Author: mrn
Date: 2011-04-09 15:01
:-) Our orchestra just played this a few months ago and our parts came already transposed.
You can buy transposed parts for this piece for $3.50 a pop from Luck's Music Library (http://www.lucksmusic.com), which is where our orchestra rents a lot of our music (if you rent it or buy a complete set of orchestral parts, they come with the transposed parts, too). They have a $10 minimum order, but if you order both the 1st and 2nd parts together, that's $7. Throw in a solo or something else you've always wanted to play but never have and you'll hit $10 easily--they have just about everything under the sun.
Otherwise, I'd say pull out a pad of staff paper (or a computer) and transpose it yourself. Sight transposing from C to Bb is worth learning how to do and not that difficult (just add two sharps to the key signature and move everything up one note-name), but doing it well takes practice and, being an amateur with limited practice time, I'd rather spend my practice time on other things. (besides, the way I look at it, transposing in my head is just one more way to make a mistake--I have more free moments in front of a computer screen than I do with my instrument, so for me it's more efficient simply to write out my own parts)
Post Edited (2011-04-09 15:06)
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