camelbrass

Hi,

I've recently discovered the delights of orchestral trumpet and now have one performance under my belt (Beethoven 2 as well as Peer Gynt 1) which I played on Bb and transposed...it worked well but neither are particularly taxing. I've been asked to continue playing 1st this season in a 40 ish piece Chamber Orchestra.

I'm relatively comfortable both transposing and range wise on the Bb in C and D but I can forsee a situation where I'll get a part, particularly in E,..up an augmented 4th and 6 sharps. OK for you experts but that'd wreck me!! Now, as far as I can work out I've got 2 options I could use to avoid this. I'm not playing in a full orchestra so I could use a D trumpet and transpose up a 2nd (seems to be the English way) or use a C trumpet and up a third. I can see the logic in both...the D would work and not be too out of place soundwise since it's a chamber orchestra but the C would be the more versatile instrument and would probable take less adjusting to from my Bb (in fact if I went this route I'd probably play all my orchestral stuff on C).

Have any of you addressed similar issues and what has been your experiences? Your help would be appreciated.


Regards,


Trevor

music matters

Trevor: I have played a few pieces for the Dubai Chamber Orchestra for trumpet in E and have used the Bb with no problems - I think you always have to wait to see the parts but the repertoire they have chosen in the past for trumpet in E has been mostly fanfare style trumpet calls with the timps with not many different notes! The Orchestra will hopefully have more than one trumpet (I may play with them again next year) so an interesting question to ask is would it be best both trumpeters are playing the same keyed trumpet? - or one on a D and another on a Bb which could have more blending issues?

Graham

music matters

Trevor - Noel and Manny replied to me re. this transposition a while ago on TM under the thread "why C trumpet".

I asked:

Hi Noel,

As you know I am very much an ameteur player, and in the Orchestra last year I had to transpose for trumpet in C, D, Eb, and E to be able to play on my Bb! Only one part was in Bb- this was all in one concert! ( I found E the hardest transposition - do you think of it as a tritone, augmented 4th, or diminished 5th!)

I had to be honest and I cheated with a few of them and photocopied the parts and wrote the notes in pencil - but the conductor was happy, so as you say, it's the end product that matters! All good exercise though!

All the best,

Graham

Noel replied:

Hi Graham. hope you are well.

As far as transposing from E onto B flat trumpet goes, it all depends on the key of the original music. For example I'd rather think of A than B double flat when transposing from a part written in E flat - so augmented 4th not diminished 5th but the reverse would be true if the original were in A ie. I'd be thinking E flat, not D sharp. Common senese really - must admit - if I didn't know the piece really well, I'd be writing a cheat part out for myself - or passing the part on to someone else, which is sometimes the best way to 'get the job done'.

All the best, Noel.

...and Manny replied...

Another way to think of that, at least the way I was taught, is that you go by the key. That is to say:

if a piece is in many sharps, use the fifth as your interval. Up a fifth is in 6 flats. If you have, say, four sharps in the key signature then 6 flats minus 4 sharps equals up a fifth in 2 flats. You could think of trumpet in F in 2 flats.

If a piece is in 4 flats use the interval of the the fourth and use 6 sharps. Six sharps minus four flats equals up a fourth in 2 sharps. You could think of it as Eb trumpet in 2 sharps.

To the uninitiated it seems complex but it truly simplifies everything about E trumpet. E trumpet, using this system, is no more complex than A assuming you're using a Bb trumpet. E trumpet is always either up a fifth in 6 flats or up a fourth in 6 sharps assuming the key is C major to begin with. All my advanced high students learned with this method (taught to me by Mr. Vacchiano) and by the time they left me they were more proficient at it than many professionals around town.

ML

Hope that this is useful and interesting! - I am around most of the summer if you want to play some duets (you can have a proper go on my MR!) and it would be fun to do some Cornet duests - my playing isn't great at the moment though, I had an operation to clear the passages to my sinuses and I have a pressure pain at the top of my nose and head when go above the staff? Hopefully if I just take it easy it will fix itself.

Graham

camelbrass

Graham,


Thanks for all that trouble. I'll print it all off and digest it, pencil and paper in hand.

I'll be around a bit as well this summer so I'll give you a call.


Regards,

Trevor