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Re: Conversion

Author: NorbertTheParrot
Date: 2008-08-18 13:48

John25 wrote:

"I assume that the tenor trombone part is written in the tenor clef."

It might be, but most trombone music isn't. In fact tenor trombone players need to know four clefs:

1. Treble clef is used for British brass band parts, which sound a major ninth lower than written - like a tenor sax or bass clarinet. So concert middle C is on the fourth line counting upwards.

2. Alto clef is used for some nineteenth century orchestral parts, typically those originally written for alto trombone but often now played on tenor. This sounds at concert pitch, so concert middle C is on the middle line.

3. Tenor clef is used for the higher reaches of many orchestral parts.This sounds at concert pitch, so concert middle C is on the fourth line. Therefore tenor clef has the notes in the same place as transposed treble clef, but with a different key signature.

4. Bass clef is used for most orchestral parts, and for almost all jazz and concert band parts. This sounds at concert pitch, so concert middle C is on the first leger line above the stave.

(In addition, very occasionally, treble clef may be used at concert pitch, for very high parts in virtuoso music.)

John's method of transposition is correct for tenor clef, assuming you want the music to sound an octave higher than it would on trombone - or at the same pitch if you are using a bass clarinet.

For transposed treble clef, no transposition is required, just play what you see.

For alto clef (very unlikely if this is a modern piece) then you need to play chalumeau D when you see the middle line, so as to get concert C. This can be done by pretending that the music is written Bb-transposed in bass clef, and adding two sharps. Easy if you can read bass clef.

For bass clef, which is the most likely, then you need to play chalumeau E when you see the middle line, so as to get concert D. And you need to add two sharps. This transposition is a pig. However, it is worth learning how to do it, because it is the same transposition needed to play a (bass-clef) bassoon part on bass clarinet. For the notes from middle line downwards, you can get this transposition by fingering the clarinet as though you were playing a sax, but this method fails for higher notes.

You need to check the range of the piece. I'll assume you are playing to sound an octave higher than written (or at the same pitch on bass clarinet).

High notes should not be a problem; most trombone music stops at about C an octave above middle C, which is only low-altissimo D on the clarinet. Even a virtuoso part shouldn't be impossibly high.

Low notes may be a problem. The lowest "normal" note on a valveless tenor trombone is E just below the bass stave, corresponding to low F# on the clarinet. There is then a gap, below which the instrument will sound low Bb quite easily, then the notes down to E below that with increasing difficulty. These "pedal" notes have no equivalent on the clarinet; even if you are using a low-C bass clarinet then concert Bb is as low as you can go. Many/most tenor trombone players use an instrument with a valve, which fills in the gap (except the low Bnat, which remains problematic) and gives even lower pedal notes, in theory at least.

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