Do you believe it is really worth it for a trombone player to learn how to read tenor clef? Why Can`t the modern publishers of today just transpose all of beethoven`s music, wagner, tchaikovsky, mahler etc. and the British Brass band music and put it all into bass clef. take all the music that was originally in tenor clef and put it in bass clef. That would make things easier.

next time you compose a major orchestral work and have to write 3 ledger lines for EVERY single note in a phrase tell me what thats like. its how its done, deal with it.

and anyways your going to be transposing all your life because lame-os dont want to transpose for you. might as well learn how to be flexible.

Yeah, it is MUCH easier to just learn tenor clef than to try to tell people to trasnpose everything for you. It really is easier to read sometimes, and it`s not hard at all once you get the hang of it. Plus, once you learn tenor, you can read anything in Bb treble (trumpet, tenor sax, etc.) no problem.

Long story short, tenor clef is more than worth it. Everyone gets frustrated with it when they learn it, but seriously, once you get used to it, it rocks. As does alto.

As a musician, trombone in particular, will see Tenor Clef in some songs of plays, parts in a music, etc. Tenor Clef is a bit confusing I guess, at first....I`m still struggling...but, I would say learn the Tenor Clef-ness of clefs, rather then transpose it...xD

Yeah, just take your time with it. It`s not something you are going to get right away. Keep hacking away at it, and keep sightreading in that clef. That`s the best way to learn it, just to dive right on in. Eventually, it will become second nature, and then you can go on to the alto clef.

If you want to be a pro and goodness knows im not one, you need to be able to read all 4 major clefs and read treble and tennor almost if not as good as base as to alto i have only seen tbone on alto cleff once and it was cause some faggot blower (basoon player) had transposed it there.

You see alto clef A LOT in classical music. Let`s put it this way. Back in the day, say, Beethoven`s time and before, there were basically 3 trombone parts. Bass trombone was in Bass clef, Tenor trombone was in Tenor clef, and Alto trombone was in Alto clef. It is extremely common in pre-19th century music. It was used commonly by Bruckner, Brahms, Dvořák, Beethoven, Weber, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann, as well as many others.

Check this out, a little history on the alto trombone:

http://www.trombone-society.org.uk/shifrin/index.htm

And to really catch you out, just when you thought you were safe reading Tenor as an Orchestral 2nd Trombone, along comes the Dvorak Cello Concerto (which i played in last Saturday) and gives the 2nd Alto Clef to read.

It was a good learning experience, and I will be better prepared for it when it next appears. So if you are going to be playing a lot of orchestral work , then Bass, Tenor clef are a must, and Alto would help.

Cheers

"faggot blower"

holy shiit.. if only the italy, germany, and the netherlands just called it a bassoon like england and france. =( don`t know why s/he transposed it to alto clef... i`ve never heard of the alto clef being used in bassoon music... just bass, tenor, and treble for those REALLY high songs.. haha.

i like the tenor clef. because there becomes a point where you have to count all the ledger lines super quickly before playing them and sight reading becomes a biitch. =) tricky, but worth it IMO.

I play bassoon and refused to learn tenor cleff for the first four years I played. I finally learned a few months ago for an audition I have coming up. I wish I wasn`t so stubborn before because it really is easier than reading ledger lines. It is definitely worth learning. You never know when you may not have time to transpose.

[Warning: the following post is a bit off topic. Reader discretion advised.]

For me, being a sax player, I don`t think I`ll ever have to learn tenor clef. I know my teacher has never learned it. I had to learn bass clef for piano, but that`s no problem.

I recently had to double on some bassoon parts in a pit orchestra I was in, but since bassoon and bari sax parts are on the same staff lines (disregarding the clef), all I had to do was mentally add 3 sharps to the key signature. That did prove to be a bit difficult, though, when the bassoon parts were in D major, E major, etc.

Yes, I know this is a trombone forum. I just felt like sharing that with all the tromboners out there.

Cheers,

Thomas

Definately off topic

However, if you intend to play in an Orchestra Trnor is a must for 1st and 2nd. Alto must for 1st and very useful for the 2nd.

not really paying attention so i don`t know if someone already mentioned this but the tenor clef is also useful in reading trumpet music. i believe you just add 2 flats and you`re set... (correct me if i`m wrong)

You are very correct. Not just trumpet, but also tenor sax, clarinet, and any other instrument in the key of Bb. I do that all the time, sometimes out of boredom and I feel like reading something new, sometimes doing duets with trumpet friends, and sometimes in rehearsals or gigs where there is no trumpet player, but a part that needs to be played.

It`s fun.

Tbone guys are pretty hot, i guess we`re just cool like that. We are def. hotter than trumpets they suck