as if my insanity needed more documentation

Damn. I was doing so well with the updates, and then I disappeared. I guess it was too much to hope for.

So, I recently performed Brahms 3. The performance was okay... Brahms 3 is probably the least stressful of the Brahms symphonies for the trombone section, but it is some awfully nice music regardless. I do love the way that Brahms wrote for the trombone, even if I'm not always capable of executing it properly.

Now, I know this orchestra has a limited budget, and probably can't afford the best editions. That being said, I really wasn't expecting to get a first trombone part transposed into bass clef. Maybe they thought they were doing me a favor, since I know some people don't like reading alto clef.¹

So what did I do? I brought a personal copy of my own and read the part in alto clef, of course. Yes, I suppose I did make it harder on myself. Theoretically a trombonist should be equally adept at all three clefs, but in my experience this is rarely the case.²

Why, you ask? I'm still thinking about it myself. Maybe it's because I thought I needed to do more reading in alto clef.³ Maybe I was acknowledging that most orchestras don't do this, and that I wouldn't be doing myself any favors if I took the supposedly easy way out this time. Maybe I just like to make a martyr of myself, even when no one else knows I'm doing it. I think if someone had noticed, however, it would have been less martyrdom and more, "Why would you do that? Are you a masochist?"⁴

I don't know. I just... couldn't bring myself to play a Brahms symphony in bass clef. It felt wrong. Yes, the notes are the same, but for some reason I had this idea that it would sound different somehow.

How? I have no idea. Am I actually suggesting that the different clefs sound different in my head in some way? Could be... my head is a pretty strange place. It makes no sense, but that didn't stop me from reading in a less comfortable clef when I didn't have to.⁵

Does anyone else ever get that? The idea that changing the way the music is notated will change the way you play it? Or am I the only crazy one?

Yeah, I thought so. Can I get that straitjacket in black? I think it'll really kick out nicely against those white padded walls.

1. I don't always like it either, but come on, it's part of the job.[↩]


2. My personal exception to this? I have a mental block when it comes to playing alto trombone in any clef other than alto clef. I don't know either.[↩]


3. Oh, do I.[↩]


4. The short answer? Yes, yes I am. The long answer? Pretty much this entire blog to date.[↩]


5. Interesting side note... my biggest problem while reading Brahms 3? I kept overshooting notes. It was weird.[↩]