 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: willr13
Date: 2007-02-10 16:36
hey!!! i need your help!! i really cant sight transpose, its awful 2b honest!!! and iv got my technical exam coming up in a few weeks, can any1 explaini it really simply or give me some good ways to 'think' while doing it.... its the usual up and down a semi-tone and tone... thanks!!!!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: GBK
Date: 2007-02-10 16:45
Start with very slow exercises, (even whole notes if you have to) or simple songs.
Any exercise or song with scale-wise passages would be an excellent choice.
Play them at a slow enough tempo so your brain/fingers can do the 1/2 step conversion.
Gradually increase the speed and try more difficult intervals and rhythms.
Although you won't totally master transposition in 2 weeks, you can certainly make a significant improvement ...GBK
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Tom A
Date: 2007-02-10 21:03
Also, think carefully on the key you're going to, especially with A transposition (down a semitone). In keys with more than 2 sharps, the notes don't have to change, only the key signature. For example, if the original is in E Major, the transposed key will be E flat Major. Same staff positions, but using 3 flats instead of 4 sharps.
As GBK says, it's a matter of doing it slowly at first, and a lot. Eventually you'll see patterns such as an arpeggio, or the first 5 steps of a scale, and your fingers will play that whole pattern automatically, starting on the first transposed note.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: EEBaum
Date: 2007-02-10 22:10
If you can manage it, find a way to play along with pieces where your part is in the wrong key. (play Bb with a recording that's in A, play some C parts, etc.)
What had me really good at transposing for a while was my conducting class. Our class had a half dozen clarinets and quite a few saxophones, and were missing half the necessary parts for the orchestra, a situation made even worse when our class split in two to get people more podium time. So while one student was conducting and the rest of us playing, the surplus instruments would cover other parts as best we could. I got pretty quick at playing flute, bassoon, viola, horn, and cello parts on my Bb, displacing by an octave in addition to everything else as necessary. On a couple occasions, I was covering multiple instruments at once, jumping from staff to staff on the score while another student, unable to play with a hand injury, turned the pages.
Nothing screws with your head like making an instant switch from transposing a treble clef part in F one moment to a bass clef part in C the next, followed by alto clef, but it sure did make Bb/A and Bb/C clarinet transpositions seem easy.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Danny Boy
Date: 2007-02-10 22:12
Semitone up and down, I find it best to simply add sharps or flats (or double sharp etc) rather than thinking of a new key entirely.
Try and play Uhl book 1 number 1 in all keys, I found this really helped my transposition.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: joeyscl
Date: 2007-02-11 01:26
"Semitone up and down, I find it best to simply add sharps or flats (or double sharp etc) rather than thinking of a new key entirely.
Try and play Uhl book 1 number 1 in all keys, I found this really helped my transposition."
I'm totally with danny boy on this... my teacher finds that the previously mentioned "method" (whole new key sig. business etc) works better for him.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2007-02-11 14:35
Other than getting used to doing it, the secret to transposing at sight is using your ears as well as your fingers.
Play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in F. Then play it a step up in G. Play the same tune at another pitch, rather than "transposing" it up a step.
Then, practice the E and F# scales for a couple of minutes and play Twinkle Twinkle in those keys.
That's why we practice scales and arpeggios -- to learn the patterns of fingerings for each key and engrave them into muscle memory. Then, when a C clarinet part comes along, we "think a step up" and let the familiar scale patterns do the other half of the work.
When I was in high school, I used to take a second flute or oboe part and jump in, drop out and get back in until I got used to it. Later, I started playing recorder and often played clarinet on violin or oboe parts in small groups. Baroque music is harmonically predictable, so I let my fingers play in the right key, while I looked ahead for accidentals that meant I had to play non-chord notes.
When I learned to play saxophone, it took me only a few days to get used to playing the same fingerings in the low register as in the high.
If you set it up so you have no choice but do it (such as by playing a C part in an ensemble), you can learn basic transposition in a couple of weeks.
Ken Shaw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sherman
Date: 2007-02-11 16:40
Many saxophone players learn to use the clef system and they are terrific readers at sight. It's worth considering. At school, we had to sing pieces that changed clefs several times within 16 bars or so, and that will teach one to learn clefs and to read accurately, and you will improve considerably.
A stray puff:Saint-Saens could read from an orchestral score at sight, at 8 years old. I heard it was Tristan....Yes, He had a great ear, maybe better and knew the piece, one can be sure.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
