Re: Hymnal Bass part


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Posted by Klaus on March 18, 2002 at 20:51:37:

In Reply to: Hymnal Bass part posted by Allan on March 18, 2002 at 13:11:11:

As one who has played in and arranged for very differentb ensembles I would say this:

Your way to make your practise sessions more interesting is a good one. And the very fact, that you have rub into problems will motivate you to develop your insight in musical structures. Your question on this board is one step in that direction.

To make the melody line playable on an Eb tuba you most likely must tke it down two octaves. If you then play the bass line as written for voices, then that line will sound above the melody line as you play it. That can give odd results, when fifths are inverted to fourths.

The vocal bass line most often is playable on a valveless tenor trombone or a 3 valve euph with the range rarely descending below F and E just below the staff.

That fact makes it easy for a BBb or a CC tuba to play the contrabass line an octave lower. But it lets the Eb bass sitting somewhere in the middle.

The remedy might at first be to write out parts for Eb tuba in a way, that keeps as well the melodic as the cadential/harmonic qualities of the bass line. That means, that you must calculate the points where there shifts of octave happen.

General rules can be hard to give, but maybe a couple of samples:

If 4 quarternotes in a 4/4 bar descend stepwise to a note on the 1st beat of the next bar, which is just out of your range, then it is no good idea to shift to the upper octave at the barline. The break should rather happen between the 1st and 2nd beat or between the 3rd and 4th beat in the bar before too low note. Which place to choose? One where the descending step is a major second. That point will translate to an upward leap of a minor seventh followed by a stepwise move downwards. Most often that will sound good.

The two last notes befor the final note often will be separated by a minor sevent or by an octave. With not too much loss of effect the note before the final one can be kept in the original octave, when you make yoour "pseudo"-contrabass part for the Eb tuba.

Start with writing ourt these parts. But do it in a way, that will teach you the general idea. Because the goal must be, that you can do these conversions sight-reading from a vocal part, a vocal score, or from the 2 or 3 stave organ score, whatever might be available at the first rehearsal.

The matter is somewhat parallel to the questions of transposition and clef reading, that occur on this board from time to time. Start out doing them more or less mechanically by the book. But use the transition period to get the general idea. Then just do things as they fit into your musical environment.

The method sketched above is one I often have used to get the most "bass" of bass and great bass recorders and from euph, bass bone, and Eb tuba. Versatility based on an understanding will create great fun for yourself. And make you an even more attractive musical partner.

Klaus


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