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Alto clef in Organ music

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profeluisegarcia

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Re: Alto clef in Organ music

PostMon Feb 25, 2013 11:00 am

Yeah, dear Ernest...only that English seems to be the official language of this Forum´ :wink: .
Best Regards¡
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johnstump_organist

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Re: Alto clef in Organ music

PostMon Apr 01, 2013 11:26 pm

I don't know if Buxtehude ever used any clefs. I thought all his organ music was in tablature, but maybe I'm mistaken. If it was in tablature, then the alto clef comes from an editor who transcribed it into regular staff notation. Clefs were used as ledger line savers.
Three ways to learn to read them:
1. enough exposure to make them second nature like treble and bass clef
2. thinking of them as transposing from a clef you know as already suggested
AND my favorite as a teacher.
3. read by intervals after you get the first note and don't worry about note names. This might improve your sight reading in general if you learn to read this way. In Wachet Auf for example, Once you determine the first note is B flat, you go fourth up, step up, Step up, repeat note, step down, third up, etc be mindful of the key you are in and think a little about accidentals.
It can also be helpful to learn Where all the C's and G's fall on the staff and then judge how far you are from one of those key notes.
By the way, G and F clefs are not fixed clefs either, G clef can be placed on the first line of the staff and it is then known as violin clef (examples exist all the time in Baroque music but most editions have "corrected" it to treble clef. F clef can also be found on the third line when it is then known as Baritone clef instead of Bass clef.
C clef can also be on the first line of the staff and it is then known as soprano clef. There as an edition of the Bach Chorales in soprano (c clef first line) alto (c clef third line) tenor (c clef fourth line) and Bass clef.
One of the tortures in solfege class at Juilliard was to require playing three of the parts and singing the fourth one and you weren't allowed to play any of the notes of the fourth part unless it happened to be doubled by another part.
John
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jocr

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Re: Alto clef in Organ music

PostWed Apr 03, 2013 12:33 pm

The music theory and orchestration classes I took at USC made all these tasks seem trivial. Try reading from Buxtehude's tabulature (harpsichord suites, complete PDF available at IMSLP) http://imslp.org/wiki/Keyboard_Suites_%28Buxtehude,_Dietrich%29, now there's a challenge!

James Pressler
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telemanr

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Re: Alto clef in Organ music

PostWed Apr 03, 2013 12:55 pm

There's a score I'll never play. Life is too short.
Rob Enns
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RichardW

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Re: Alto clef in Organ music

PostWed Apr 03, 2013 1:07 pm

It looks more like shorthand than music.
Richard
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sonar11

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Re: Alto clef in Organ music

PostWed Apr 03, 2013 1:11 pm

telemanr wrote:There's a score I'll never play. Life is too short.

Couldn't agree more... seems like too many academics get caught up in the theory of it all and forget that music is meant to be played and enjoyed for the sound it brings, it's not a task in and of itself.
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jocr

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Re: Alto clef in Organ music

PostWed Apr 03, 2013 1:13 pm

RichardW wrote:It looks more like shorthand than music.

I figure it was what made Buxtehude such a great improviser. Like lead sheets or figured bass to the 10th power of compactness.

James Pressler
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