Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Pope
Ken, traditionally, the lowest note of a 3-valve BBb tuba, the instrument that Holst was familiar with, is E natural four ledger lines and a space below the bass clef. Of course, this is the actual pitch, not the transposed notation pitch, of a standard open E string of a 4-string double bass.
This is very convenient, as convention is to simply take a tuba part and play everything up an octave from what is written on double bass. Even today, until you get to some grade 5 or 6 pieces written for 4 and 5 valve tubas, 99%+ of all concert band literature has this same range. Even then, it's only the occasional note, playable with a handful of valves, in the same manner as playing the same notes on a C-extension double bass.
I still occasionally have to sight transpose, both ways. In my jazz/dance band, I occasionally get tuba parts that I play up an octave, and in concert band I occasionally get double bass or bass guitar parts that I play down an octave, or occasionally we'll get a piece that just sounds better on one instrument or the other, or even electric bass, and I just make it work.
Since the orchestra part is available, yes, I'd just get it, because it will take awhile, even with Finale or Sibelius, to rewrite the part up an octave. Then you'll always have it.
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Yes, I know all about the transposing thing as I started playing bass at 13, turned 60 last Sept. and played 20 years professionally in NY. Rarely did I EVER have to transpose because in professional circles, they write the parts in the correct octave. Imagine being a trumpet player and they give you the trombone part!
I get one rehearsal this time before the dress reh. because there are only two pieces for bass this concert which was originally Brass and Woodwinds only. I also will play the Dvorak Serenade for Winds and Brass with 1-Bass and 1-Cello as well in that concert.
I played for a year and change about 10 years ago in a concert band and some of the pieces were only for Tuba of which I have to transpose. One piece I made up the part by copy/pasting a mix of the Tuba and Bassoon parts to make up a DB part. When I left that band, they had a real bass book. Something they never had for well over 100 years since that group was founded.
I never played/studied Tuba or Piano so reading below the 5-string B is foreign to me. Sight reading it at a rapid fugue tempo is just not happening. Even with bass parts that have sections in Treble or Tenor clef I have to learn the parts and even write in the notes above to I don't make mistakes i n rehearsals or concerts. Usually I have them memorized by concert time. This time around I am working with 4 different Orchestras and have 4 concerts all within a month. That is A LOT of music to work on. My reading is fairly good so all I ask of the people I work with is clean parts to play without confusion.
I will probably add the $5. to my cartage bill for buying the part when I turn my fee slip in. I just wont tell the conductor about it!
