Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-04-17 13:12
The music is always written out a 5th higher than it sounds, so when you see and play a written C, it always sounds the F below putting it at the correct pitch.
The fingerings are identical to oboe, so G is xxx|ooo - but sounds a 5th lower (ie. it sounds C). You don't have to worry about learning new note names for the fingerings as it's a transposing instrument, and shares the same notated fingerings as all the other oboes, large and small.
There aren't all that many cor anglais specific books, only a handful - Geoffrey Browne's 'The Art of Cor Anglais' covers some major orchestral solos and has other tips for playing cor. But any oboe tutor or study book will be playable on cor - but unlike the oboe, you won't have the low Bb (unless you're in Germany or Italy).
If you are reading from a concert pitch part (eg. oboe music) then you have to transpose everything up a perfect 5th - so bottom line E is now mid line B for cor, F - C, G - D, A - E, Bb - F, B - F#, C - G, etc. It gets easier as you get used to doing this (and it can come in useful to be able to sight transpose), but you rarely have to read untransposed parts.
I do find playing cor much more fulfilling than oboe, I know some people that don't (just as some alto/bari sax players don't like playing tenor sax) but if you get the opportunity to play cor, do at least give it a good go - and experiment with the shape of your mouth and embouchure to get the sound you like - aim for a much fuller and darker sound than on oboe, somewhere in between an oboe and bassoon in darkness, and a slower vibrato than on oboe as well.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2007-04-17 13:22)
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