Posted by jlb on October 29, 2002 at 09:18:47:
OK. I've been thinking about the subject of playing trumpet lines on a tuba and I confess I just don't get it. Specifically the notion of "add three flats and play as if it were the bass clef staff"
1. Music written for a Bb trumpet is written up a whole tone, correct? That is, a written 'c' (first line below the treble staff) is played open and sounds concert Bb, correct?
2. If that is the case, it seems to me that, while reading trumpet lines, if I see a written 'c', I want to play a concert BBb, right?
3. However, if I read the staff as if it were bass clef, the first line below the staff is 'E', not 'BB". Even if I add three flats the line still represents Eb concert, not BBb concert.
4. I understand others have done this 'transposition' successfully. Can one of you students of the language of music elucidate this conundrum for me?
John (theory challenged) Breyer