Re: transpose treble clef key of to bass clef for a b flat trombone
Reply #7 –
I think it's more about exposure. I have no desire to boast though I know it's going to sound like I am: I too play 'bone, however I first learned in a British tradition brass band where you play transposed treble clef - that's almost the same as tenor, just with 2 extra sharps... It was nearly 30 years before I was exposed to bass clef. And what about fake books? They're nearly always concert treble (yes, I know you can buy C, Bb, Eb and bass clef books but usually you only see concert treble).
It really didn't take much effort and these days I play transposed treble, concert treble, concert tenor and concert bass fluently. Very occasionally I forget what clef I'm in and make some interesting sounds, but mostly it's no problem. The situation I find most troublesome is clef changes in the middle of a part - I'd prefer to not have this, but again it's exposure. If the things I was playing had these changes more often I'd get used to it and the problem would go away.
I will say that the way I learned makes for some interesting things going on in my head. Take a second space "C" (bass clef). Because of the way I learned that 6th position "C" is really a "D" for me, in the same way a 1st position "Bb" is "C" and a 4th position "G" is really an "A" in my book. Better still, a 4th position "B" is actually a C# to me...
My advice is: "Don't fight it, instead 'go with the flow' and you will be surprised how much easier it becomes."
BTW, I regularly play in situations where I encounter Transposed Treble (a brass band) which is almost the same as Concert Tenor, Concert Treble (Jazz "real books" and some of the stuff I play at church) and Concert Bass (mostly big band charts and musicals {where I also sometimes see Concert Tenor} and anything where I've written a part for church).
And just to make it interesting, occasionally I've written something for church in bass clef and decided it works better on my trumpet - I don't bother rewriting it, I just play my trumpet from the bass clef part... Or sometimes it's the other way around - a trumpet part I've written might work better on my 'bone or Eupho - I don't bother with a rewrite - just play it. A little effort and it becomes easy.
Again, don't fight it, embrace it.