TromboneChat

I was looking over some Dvořák parts, and saw that the 8th goes down to c-sharp ( , but in alto clef). I can't sight read that low, because most of my clef reading practice came from transposing bass clef etudes by sight. And most of my etudes are for tenor trombone.

What's the lowest an alto clef part goes, in the orchestral rep? And feel free to suggest etudes to practice reading those notes. Do you pros know each clef throughout the whole range of the horn?

For the lowest? Probably the second trombone part to Shostakovich 5.

Read some Blahzevich - they'll challenge most everyone's clef reading capabilities.

WilliamLang wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2024 11:49 pm For the lowest? Probably the second trombone part to Shostakovich 5.

I seem to remember some third trombone parts in Shostakovich that sometimes go into alto clef. (But it's been a while, so I may be mistaken.)

Read some Blahzevich - they'll challenge most everyone's clef reading capabilities.

My favorite for that is André Lafosse, School of Sight Reading and Style, especially book 5.

Howard

I’m playing second a program later today of all Russian music in alto clef. Shostakovich’s Festive Overture has several Fs and Es that would be in the middle of bass clef. Scheherazade has a low C# in alto clef after the bassoon cadenza in the second movement and the Prokofiev Cello Concerto goes to bass clef at appropriate times thankfully. No low F’s or pedal Bb in alto clef!

WilliamLang wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2024 11:49 pm Probably the second trombone part to Shostakovich 5.

That's pretty low.

AtomicClock wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2024 11:41 pm I was looking over some Dvořák parts...

I looked at a few scores. Tbns 1&2 share a staff in alto clef; tbn 3 and tuba share a staff in bass clef. I wonder if these clef conventions arose as a convenience to the conductor (or composer). To be able to glance at a score (with some lines missing because they are tacet) and know which instruments are on which lines must be difficult. I imagine an alto clef (or an alto/bass pair) way above the violas is a useful anchor point for the eye.

For some reason a lot of Russian music of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries has all of the trombone parts written in alto clef. I suspect it had become a sort of convention. I once had to play a German Christmas piece where the 1st and 2nd trombone parts were instructed to read the 1st and 2nd viola parts. Kinda weird.