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Thread: Terminology in Music

  1. #11
    I was taught it refers to what pitch is played in response to a written C on the page. That is, a euphonium in C plays (no matter the clef) a concert C when seeing a written C;a tuba in E flat plays an E flat when reading a written C, and so on. That understanding works when, for example, when I've seen some European bass clef parts notated euphonium in B flat and the euphonium is expected to play a B flat when the written note in bass clef is C.

  2. #12
    Join Date
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    I'm so glad my horn plays in 'H' flat, just a bit above 'G'....

    DDG

  3. #13
    This whole debate started off when Dave used the term "in C" to refer to untransposed music. My point is that pretty much all of Europe does just that. A "Bass in C" part from a European publisher is not calling for a specific type of tuba. It is only informing the player that the part is in concert pitch. I see "Score in C" quite often to refer to concert pitch scores in both American and European music. Since it's an entire score, it surely cannot be calling for all the instruments to be in C.

    Now, I can understand wanting precision and clarity on music issues where such exists, but it's just not the case here. The use of "____ in C" to refer to something being untransposed is prevalent enough on both sides of the Atlantic I see no room to condemn it as incorrect. Imprecise, maybe. Annoying to some, possibly. But it's simply too common a convention to go either ignored or condemned.
    Last edited by davewerden; 10-08-2017 at 03:11 PM.
    Adrian L. Quince
    Composer, Conductor, Euphoniumist
    www.adrianquince.com

    Kanstul 976 - SM4U

  4. #14
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    Here here! Well said Adrian.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  5. I've been playing music all my life and I still don't understand half of the Italian words used in sheet music.

  6. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by jkircoff View Post
    I've been playing music all my life and I still don't understand half of the Italian words used in sheet music.
    If you're playing in a band, they all mean the same thing: Watch the conductor.
    Adrian L. Quince
    Composer, Conductor, Euphoniumist
    www.adrianquince.com

    Kanstul 976 - SM4U

  7. #17
    Musical notation, as with most human languages, is the product of the people who use it. In English, there's a certain sect of grammarians who take hardline stances on things like not splitting infinitives and not ending a sentence with a preposition. It doesn't matter to them that, at no point in recorded history, have those been hard and fast rules of English grammar. They were attempts by those codifying English grammar in the 19th century to make the language more Latin-like. This particular insistence on the incorrectness of referring to untransposed music as "in C" feels very similar to me.

    On a broader note, very rarely is the meaning of music notation fixed and unambiguous. The intent of tempo marks can and does vary by composer and era. Dynamics likewise. Certain articulation markings have changed meaning over time, notoriously the hat (^) marking, which went from a heavy accent to a short, "doit" accent when adopted by jazz players. Pitch centers and tuning systems have changed. Concepts of good tone quality are different depending on the era and location. For example, the American euphonium sound that composers like Sousa and Fillmore were writing for was lighter and more direct than what their British counterparts were looking for. I could go on and on.

    The point is, rarely if ever is playing a piece of music as simple as just reading what's on the page. There is and always will be room for interpretation in musical notation.
    Last edited by davewerden; 10-08-2017 at 03:00 PM.
    Adrian L. Quince
    Composer, Conductor, Euphoniumist
    www.adrianquince.com

    Kanstul 976 - SM4U

  8. Quote Originally Posted by adrian_quince View Post
    The point is, rarely if ever is playing a piece of music as simple as just reading what's on the page. There is and always will be room for interpretation in musical notation.
    Of course that is the point. But how else do you speak the language if you don't have a common vocabulary so time is not wasted on explanations or translations, so the music may be interpreted?

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