Double Bass Eccles sonata in G minor

[Andy Mopley]

http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Sonata-in-G-minor/4303087

Hi all, I have this copy of the score, can you please tell me how the first movement is notated, eg it is not in normal bass clef, looks like tenor clef, and from what I have read, it is to be played as written, no transcription, is this so? Also, is there a you tube link where the piece can best be seen, from a learning perspectice, eg close ups?

Thanks for reading!

 

[MartinBorgen]

So, there's nothing really strange about this, once you get it. Basically, the Tenor clef denotes the C usually found at the first extra-line above the regular staff (proper English terminology escapes me /non native english speaker here). The notes are the same, they're just found two lines lower than in Bass (F) clef. The first note of the Eccles 1st movement being the D one octave above a loose D-string, for example.

 

[Andy Mopley]

Danke Martin - that explains, it!

 

[ThumpPlunkJunk]

Move everything up a fifth.

So, the first note is a D, so it will appear on the clef as a G. Once you start reading them this way your ear will adjust. Think of the staff as a long continuum and clefs just denote different parts of that continuum. So if bass clef starts on G and ends on A, tenor starts on D and ends on E. The more you practice reading it, the easier it gets. I'm not very good at this yet myself, especially if it's off the cuff and I'm just asked to read tenor clef.

Helpful hint is to sing the first few pitches in your head before you have to play them. Try to equate the pitch and distance before you start playing. This is how you read normal notes in bass clef, but you're probably so practiced at it that you don't need to think about it anymore. The quicker you understand how your brain is interpreting these things, the easier it gets to accommodate your learning process to fit how you naturally do things.

 

[Andy Mopley]

Thanks TPJ, moving everything up a fifth is the process I go through...Incidentally, what "grade" level is this piece at, 7-8?

 

[ThumpPlunkJunk]

Thanks TPJ, moving everything up a fifth is the process I go through...Incidentally, what "grade" level is this piece at, 7-8?

I don't know, really.

Someone else should be able to answer you though.

 

[MartinBorgen]

Grade on a scale of what? 10? 100? 1 000 000 000?

 

[TonyD]

I like this version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D5t5WdkbIw&feature=related

 

[Andy Mopley]

Indeed TonyD, a very good version, it also allows a peak at how to play it, which is what I was also after! Thank you for posting!!