Quote:
Originally Posted by screamingmorris  I am 52 years old.
I first became aware of jazz trumpet, Maynard Ferguson, Bill Chase, etc in the early 1970's.
I *always* heard the G above High C referred to as High G until I started frequenting these Internet groups last year and I discovered a small number of people here on the Internet who insist on calling it Double G.
For 35 years I *always* heard Double C referred to as the beginning of the Doubles so that Double G would be above Double C.
Please explain why in your nomenclature the Doubles would start on a G in the *middle* of an octave.
Edit:
For conventional naming of notes in trumpet playing, see BbTrumpet.com:
"The Highs go from High C 2nd ledger line above the staff up to B 5th ledger line above the staff.
The Double register starts with Double High C on top of the 5th ledger line above the staff." Trumpet Lessons
- Morris |
Well, I have given this some thought, because it has always, at least amongst the pros and educators I have worked with, that G above High C is "Double G." Here's why-
Trumpet players are an odd sort- no other group of players refers to pitches in this manner, except for singers, who usually stop talking at High C. If you consider the range of the most common trumpet, the Bb, it has a range from F# below the staff, to well, wherever. That lowest note is F# below the theory-strict "middle" C, making that "low F#." the next octave of that note is "middle" F#, Followed by "high" 5th line F#, and would then be the first "double" note above high C. If the 1st space F# is "low," what is the octave below? It has been the convention in the circles I have tread- including instruction from Clark Terry, Bud Brisbois, my private teacher who was a first-call Vegas lead, that the hierarchy of pitches on trumpet is: pedal-low-middle-high-double-I'mlyingaboutmyrange. I have always heard low F# referred to as such, F above high C referred to as "high," and the G above that as "double." In terms of the unique vernacular used for trumpet, this makes sense, as it is also consistent with the common usage in music theory. The only thing that causes confusion is the also common habit of calling third-space C "middle C." I do not think that the semantics of this are really all that important, as even experienced band, jazz, and orchestra directors also make reference to "cut time," (there is no such thing- the correct term is "alla breve"), time-signatures (they are
meter signatures), "common" time (again, no such thing- that symbol is not a "C", it's two-thirds of a circle- no kidding, this is a true story), and some instrument called "French" horn (it is never referred to as such in any professional score, it's just horn). These are all irrelevant- can the kid hit the note or not?
****This discussion has gotten seriously off-thread, and I apologize to the original poster, who had a very valid question about balance in the jazz band trumpet section. Might I suggest a thread devoted to trumpet semantics? If I write a G above High C, I concern myself much more with whether that note will get reached than what the player will call it when he gets there.
