Welcome to the Orchestration Online Alto Clef Reading Course, designed to quickly and permanently improve your ability to recognise any note on a C-clef, and to understand the context of its scoring for relevant instruments and voices. Use this page as a home base while you take the course, accessing the different units from the…
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FINDING A USEFUL SYSTEM When I was just about 14, I switched over from the violin to viola in my junior high school orchestra class. Part of this was to simply take on a new challenge, as we seldom learned anything above 1st or 2nd position – but mostly it was because my hand size…
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Note: make sure to read my first tip in this course on Alto Clef concerning Pitch Recognition, download the flashcard PDF files, and test yourself thoroughly before undertaking the drills in this tip. Now that you’re completely familiar with the pitches defined by alto clef, it’s time to do some scoring – not using a…
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If you’re new to reading the alto clef, but you’ve taken the time to drill yourself on Pitch Recognition and Scoring, especially after studying the posts I linked in this sentence, then you’re ready to take on some practical information. Which instruments use alto clef, and how does the alto staff relate to their ranges…
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If this is your first look at my Alto Clef Reading Course, jump back to the my first two sections on Pitch Recognition and Scoring, and then read the companion chapter to this one on Score-Reading Viola. Of course, if you’re very well-versed in reading alto clef and viola parts, but you just want more…
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This represents the final post in my series, “Alto Clef Reading Tips and Drills.” Make sure that you’ve first studied my posts on Pitch Recognition , Scoring, and fully studied the materials in Score-Reading Viola and Score-Reading Alto Trombone. Then you’ll be ready to take the last step in fully developing your comprehension when picking…
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100 ALTO CLEF SIGHT-SINGING DRILLS By this point in my Alto Clef Reading Course, you should have sharpened your recognition of alto clef pitches by using my provided flashcards; developed your own reliable, natural freehand alto clef writing, along with practicing the reversed positions of key signatures; and most importantly of all, studied the repertoire…
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For better control in delicate scoring, use the horn’s middle register, especially in the octave between written G3 to G4 (sounding C3-C4). For this specific area of range, bass clef is recommended if the orchestrator is scoring in concert pitch. I recently moderated a composers workshop hosted by the Academy of Scoring Arts, in which…
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While dovetailing a line between woodwind instruments can feel very natural, truly seamless doubling requires the use of compatible registers between members of the same family. Sometimes, a composer conceives an exposed line that’s so wide in scope that it requires dovetailing between instruments – and yet there may be a need to keep that…
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Comparing the spectrum of normally played harp notes with harmonic tones reveals a wealth of information useful in understanding dynamics, contrasts, and quality of timbre. The poetic, bell-like tone of harp harmonics is a magical effect. The scores of composers like Ravel and Holst contain beautiful examples, carefully highlighted in ways that draw the attention…
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