Rain

This may make me look stupid,... but give me a break I'm still in Highe school on not up on ALL the good lingo, but what are you talking about " handle on D" ?? I'm not sure at all explain pleas maybe my Lingo knowlede will grow

thanks
Rain

administrator

This post has been moved from the WiseTalk forum.

tpetplyr

Handel.
His trumpet parts are written (usually) for "Trumpet in D" and therefore would necessitate you transposing them up a M3 on Bb trumpet. They are usually played on piccolo in A, but some people prefer to do it on a small(er) D trumpet such as Wilmer's short model Bach (I believe).

This is true for many baroque parts (Bach, Handel, Vivaldi etc). But there are also modern (eg after valves were invented): Ravel - Bolero, Stravinsky - Rite of Spring and Petrouchka (1911 version, the Ghost. I believe in the '47 it's C trumpet) and probably some others. Again these are often played on A piccolo but some people prefer them on D trumpet.

Stuart

camelbrass

Rain,

Read this:

George Frideric Handel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Handel was a composer and he wrote some wonderful music. Back in his day trumpets didn't have valves and in order for them to be able to play in different keys (like you can) the trumpet had to specifically made for the key of the piece. In other words the length of the trumpet had to be physically changed for each piece, or a totally different instrument used. (If you want to google 'natural or baroque trumpet). The Bb trumpet that you currently use is a relatively new invention going back 100 or so years.

Classical musicians when they play these pieces these days often use trumpets that are tuned in keys other than Bb. Whereas the C on your trumpet corresponds to Bb on the piano, the trumpet that Wilmer would use in the Messiah would be smaller and his C would correspond to D on the piano. The piccolo trumpet is a smaller and higher pitched instrument again.

Go and buy a CD of the Messiah there is lots of recordings and listen to it. Fantastic music.

Regards,

Trevor


Trevor

Vulgano Brother

Rain, there is a kind of secret "trumpeter's vocabulary" that we pick up over the years; there is nothing wrong with asking what the heck we're talking about, and Trevor and Stuart are super-cool for answering your question in as much depth as they did. Keep asking, and maybe you can teach us some stuff about test-messaging!

bagmangood

*Text messaging
I got thrown into all of that my freshman year, and it was really nice to have someone explain it all to me
and i still often get stuff thrown at me i don't understand but there are always places (like TM!) that you can ask

rowuk

Rain,
my suggestion is to practice the trumpet part as written with your Bb first. The C will stay C on your Bb in this case. You then get a feel for what Handel wrote and are not trying to transpose AND play high notes at the same time. Once you can play it in Bb reasonably well, then either transpose it up by writing the part out in E Major(easy), or just by playing up a third (MUCH harder if you haven't transposed before).

It is possible to perform this on the Bb trumpet, you just aren't doing yourself, the choir or the bass soloist any big favors! It is fun to practice it that way though!

Rain

Hey guys... I may be 17 but I'm still a TOTAL band geek, I HAVE NO CLUE HOW TO TEXT MESSAGE! what a waiste of time! lol oh well, Thanks for answering my question and not makeing me feel stupid for posting it, I try to pick up more trumpet knowledge all the time, I guess I really AM a band nerd

Rain

bagmangood

Lucky!
I wish i didn't so i wouldn't have to get bothered continuously
AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS!!!! (I'm 17 too btw, and HOORAY FOR BAND GEEKS)