I mean, violists don't play from tenor clef, so I completely sympathize with feeling less comfortable sight-reading in a clef that isn't one of your daily drivers. But maybe not a great look to say to a student "I don't read tenor clef" instead of "please excuse any clef-reading mistakes on my part" - ThreadSky

chrisbrody.bsky.social • 3 days ago

I mean, violists don't play from tenor clef, so I completely sympathize with feeling less comfortable sight-reading in a clef that isn't one of your daily drivers. But maybe not a great look to say to a student "I don't read tenor clef" instead of "please excuse any clef-reading mistakes on my part"

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rebelmusicteach.bsky.social•3 days ago

Agreed, and I play bassoon and *hate* tenor clef.

rebelmusicteach.bsky.social•3 days ago

I can but I’d *really* prefer not to.

Clef switching hatred comes from playing flute first. There is no piccolo clef, so you just read 8,000,000,000 ledger lines & deal with it!

chrisbrody.bsky.social•3 days ago

There's sort of a piccolo clef, right? In that the piccolo's treble clef is understood to sound an octave higher than written?

I also know flutists (unlike violinists for example) don't like reading with the 8va symbol. Is that also true of other treble woodwind players?

thebestgay91.bsky.social•3 days ago

It’s a transposing instrument, not a transposing clef. The player reads and plays the written note and the instrument sounds up the octave.

thebestgay91.bsky.social•3 days ago

The fingering systems are mostly exactly the same throughout the family of instruments as printed on the page. A top line F is fingered the same way on each clarinet, from tiny E-flat to big ass B-flat contrabass, but they will also sound differently

rebelmusicteach.bsky.social•2 days ago

Right. As I recall (although I haven’t played piccolo in many years) it’s exactly the same fingerings. Same with bassoon & contrabassoon (just the opposite, an octave lower). And clarinets. And saxophones, although there are fewer variations than clarinet.

rebelmusicteach.bsky.social•2 days ago

And although I’m kind of a newbie at it, recorder is the same way — soprano & tenor are the same fingerings/transpositions and so are alto/bass.

badexampleman.bsky.social•3 days ago

I don't know nothin' about no fancy orchestral playin' I'm just a simple bedroom picker and I'm embarrassed to say how many years I was playing mandolin before I realized all the scores are written an octave lower than played.

micaelab.bsky.social•3 days ago

Clarinetists don’t do much 8va either, though our ledger line situation isn’t as out of hand

rebelmusicteach.bsky.social•2 days ago

Even like, marching band music gets nuts. In college I marched piccolo & 30 of us on that F# above the third ledger line was not a happy place.

professorberry.bsky.social•3 days ago

Same, as a bassist who’s played from many tuba parts 😵‍💫

mainewitch.bsky.social•3 days ago

Yeah, I’d agree with this. I can read treble/alto/bass clefs quite fluently and I understand WHAT tenor clef (and all other C clefs, for that matter) is and how it works, but I find it nearly impossible to sight read tenor clef while playing the viola.

mainewitch.bsky.social•3 days ago

But also, given the general state of tertiary education, I’d say you’d be lucky to find a BMus grad who is not a cellist or bassoonist who can read alto or tenor clef fluently.

chrisbrody.bsky.social•3 days ago

A different story of course if the violist is also an orchestra director, frequently teaches cellists/bassists, etc.

professorberry.bsky.social•3 days ago

Agreed!

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