Choral pitch going flat -advice
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I am interested in your experiences with choral direction and pitch. In my limited experience,
Choral singers, especially non-professional have a tendency to go flat, not sharp (especially a -capella)
1. Is this your experience and;
2. Do you have any techiqniques or tips that will help a choir (and individual singers)
stay up to pitch? -
There are a thousand stories in the naked city, ghm7, can you boil them down to about five?
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Yes. This is my experience. Every. week.
It drives my kids who have perfect pitch crazy because then they can't sing the notes they see! There are two or three sopranos who should be altos who continue to drive the pitch down.
A lot of it is laziness. Another part is that they aren't listening. Still another is that they don't understand. They don't understand why falling pitch is BAD. (I'm going to look for a good youtube video of a choir going flat and tell them to listen.) They don't understand why they should sit up straight and breathe from their diaphragm. They don't understand why they should try and memorize the words and turn the pages sooner. I tell them they are NOT singing in the shower or in the car. They need to LISTEN and blend, and sing quietly.
How do I deal with this? Well, I'm not mean enough. I should banish the two perpetrators to the altos, which I think would help, but I'm too nice haven't done so.
So, I move people around. I surround those whose pitch is falling with those who keep the pitch up. I tell the women around the perpetrators, who are the better singers to always keep the volume a little louder, even if I indicate a decrescendo. I've also toyed with changing the entire structure of the choir so that the men will separate the altos and sopranos. This is because two young men have perfect pitch and I've noticed the pitch of the choir is better if people with excellent pitch interfere with the falling.
I'm the director, not the organist. As I conduct I stand up straight. I hold my palm up and keep my eyebrows up and smile, smile, smile with my eyes. I do find this helps. I also talk about posture at nauseam, not that the perpetrators understand. They're lovely older ladies singing their praises to God. It's hard to interfere with that.
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Most troubles with going flat can be traced to improper breathing and breath support. I would take some time teaching this. Other factors are poor intonation and ears not really tuned to precise pitch relationships both on one's own part and in relation to the other parts. Some careful attention to these would give your singers improved tools for singing well. Hearing and breathing are the keys. Other factors can be poor acoustics, singing too loudly (competitive singing, which is foreign to good choral technique), straining the voice for ascending passages, a stiff neck, poor posture....
As an afterthought: the members of an entire choir may go simultaneously flat, or one or more individuals may drag the choir down. So, it pays to know one's singers and to take the appropriate measures with the whole choir, or concentrating on a culprit or two... or three....
Still, regular vocalises which emphasise ear and breath as well as voice should be quite profitable. I never begin a rehearsal without excercises in pitch, ear, breathing, group performance of consonants at the precise same moment, and matching vowel qualities, and matching timbre and loudness or softness. It's easy to make a game of this and it will be an enjoyable part of practice. Proper group breathing and hearing is woven into all of these. -
I remember my Music Theory TA in college (circa 1979) had a way of handicapping people with perfect pitch in sight-singing exercises: he transposed the pitch a tritone.
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Most troubles with going flat can be traced to improper breathing and breath support.
Exactly this. Proper posture and breathing are the first steps to improving and maintaining pitch. Listening is required as well, but if posture and breathing are not correct, pitch will suffer no matter what.They need to LISTEN and blend, and sing quietly.
This as well. Many pitch issues come from people actually trying to sing too loudly. If you try to out sing everyone else, you're going to be the one who sounds bad, rather than making the group sound good. This can also have a slowing effect on the tempo. -
Many pitch problems also rise from (usually) stepwise ascending or descending passages. The tendency is, for an ascending sequence of notes, to make the intervals too narrow, thus going flat as the voice ascends through the sequence. The exact opposite hods for a descending passage of notes, to make the intervals too wide, thus again going flat as the voice descends through the sequence. This tendency, overall, occurs more often when voices are in the upper part of their range and hence "shy away" from going higher when ascending, while "hurrying back" to a more comfortable pitch range when descending.
But, as pointed out above, the root causes of this tend to be (a) inadequate breath support, (b) inattention to listening both to oneself and to others (which can occur if one is singing too loudly).
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Choose a lower pitch to start on. Remember, A=440 is recent institution and was not chosen with singers in mind, but rather orchestral instruments and how they sound.
Much sung music sounds better at A=415, a half-step lower - it was once the common pitch. The human voice box has not changed over the years to justify singing at higher pitch...and this is often the cause of people going flat, as they seek a comfortable pitch to sing.
Read this before responding: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_pitch#History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music -
One thing to keep in mind is that amateur (and even a lot of experienced) singers do not reeally know when they go flat - they don't have a visceral sense of what that IS. So if you're not careful, it becomes a bogeyman that drags every rehearsal down. In other words, you spend the whole time harping on something they are not even experiencing.
One overall tip, then, is never to focus on "not going flat", but rather to always focus on a positive goal ("sing to the top edge of that pitch" "sing while making a large circle over your head with your free hand" and one of my favorites - isolate head voice by having them put their fingers on the top edge of their cheekbone, then produce all sound above the fingers, then "mix in more head voice"). In my experience, anytime you mention flatness the singers start working harder, not smarter, as they don't really feel the flatness and they don't know how to fix it. The result is actually that they go even flatter, thus perpetuating a vicious circle and making rehearsal torture.
Some other ideas:
When you've decided to pursue good intonation (rather than 'non-flatness') with your bag of tricks, you must stick to it until you actually achieve something, even if it is just one phrase that is well-sung. The only way you can start to build awareness of pitch is to achieve good intonation with them, and then point out what they have achieved.
Remember that repeated notes tend flat, and the very first repeated note is when you give the pitch from instrument or pitch pipe, and they repeat it. Many times, even if the piece itself stays in tune, you start flat. So again, really take some time with each section to give the start pitch and have them repeat it until it is correct. This also builds awareness of flatness.
Focus on notes that are unisons between sections. This is especially useful for basses and altos in duet with soprano - listening for and meeting their own pitch an octave or two above helps immensely in their ear training, as they both listen to other parts and activate their head voice unconsciously by emulating a higher voice part. I spend a lot of time running duets, and holding them to a high standard on these unison notes tends to keep everything on pitch and generally in tune. Especially in that situation where basses are descending and sopranos are ascending - a classic flat moment. -
One thing to keep in mind is that amateur (and even a lot of experienced) singers do not reeally know when they go flat - they don't have a visceral sense of what that IS. So if you're not careful, it becomes a bogeyman that drags every rehearsal down. In other words, you spend the whole time harping on something they are not even experiencing.
YES. It's like yelling at children to "Be GOOD" or "PAY ATTENTION."
They have no idea what this even means. -
Thank you, Noel, for pointing that out as well. I've noticed that even in performances of Bach's works (Notably "Mache Dich" from the St. Matthew Passion, as I'm a baritone and I like that sort of thing), prominent performers are singing at least a half step down. Klaus Mertens even sings Komm Susser Tod a major 3rd lower than what is written (with original key in Eb on my score). I would only mention that Ton Koopman mentions Chorton from Bach's day being A=465. This doesn't mean much, though, as just because something was done in Bach's day doesn't make it the rule.
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Use good and varied vocalises with stepwise and build solid vocal technique into every part of rehearsal. This is something that can't be learned from a book, so I'd recommend taking voice instruction from a voice teacher with a solid reputation, either in a class or small group or private lessons.
Breath and support are important, but won't fix all pitch problems, especially those relating to resonance. Every instrumentalist I can think of that has sung with me has struggled with pitch, even those with perfect pitch don't have automatically fine resonance and sound a little under, which is often perceived as just a little dull. Very often they think they are singing in tune when they are not.
Use solfege, both in exercises and in repertoire.
Chuck is right about the different tuning- and thus, energy- requirements for ascending and descending passages.
Tuning for singers is a gradual skill that requires patience. Here are the top bits of "bumper sticker" reminders that I use in every rehearsal:
- onset is key. Start, stay, and stop in the position/ feeling of the highest note of the phrase
- listen to the whole choir, not just your section
- listen ahead, hear the whole phrase
- evaluate by listening to others and feeling your own resonance. Listening to yourself does not give you an accurate picture, and often makes you late/ tweaks the overall rhythm
- breathe sooner than later (if you're at the end of your tank you are much more likely to go flat)
- sing tall and with energy
- low/high breath, sink the breath low and resonate high
- sing in a curve
- sing in circles, not thudding down steps or scooping up the intervals
- sing to the top, or shimmer of the tone
- posture check! Singers should be athletic posture- ready to make and use energy, though not tense or rigid and never floppy/ collapsed. -
Okay, intonation with precision is obviously a collaborative affair. The constituency of that collaboration will include the deliberative skills of the director, both in aural and audible execution, an accompanist or instrumentalist with the timbres and tunings of their instruments at odds always with "just intonation," and the range of skill levels of the choristers as well as their intellectual, psychological and intuitive abilities. Generally speaking one will find a platform or scaffold that has a sufficient number of folks, director/organist/section leaders/regular choristers, who possess those skills so that a consensus emerges over time about what observational, critical and remedial strategies are best employed to correct faultiness swiftly and without substantial interruption to the rehearsal momentum. So, employing all of the taught and reinforced physical, mental and conceptual techniques MACW and others have mentioned, the director should establish some basic and very simply verbal and visual cues that are shorthand for all the collaborators. Those could include:
*Director using both index fingers that go opposite directions from the belly line upwards and downwards to remind singers to float their timbres higher while simultaneously remaining grounded in solid, physiologically healthy vocal production.
*Visual eye contact towards "sections" while director's index finger lightly taps on his/her own ear meaning "1. You're not listening to everything around you; 2. fix it now."
*Conduct between the confines of one's own torso, and try to have one's conducting gestures both consistent and minimalist that any deviation from that indicates a "get back to basics" moment immediately in the singers' minds.
*Do not relent to increasing the accompaniment volume to remedy or mask poor intonation.
*Work gently and efficiently with older or uncompliant singers to seel them once and for all on the ultimate beauty and success of blend and balance, neither of which can be accomplished with oversinging, unsupported singing, and wobbles that are long-lived/tolerated misconcepted vibratos.
*Vocal modeling. But make sure whomever is the model is very accurate and reliable.
*Have a lexicon of verbal instructions, metaphors, analogies, etc. that immediately identify, diagnose and then remedy basic issues that crop up.
Etc.Thanked by 1CHGiffen -
Excellent advice, Melo!
I can also attest that sign language reminders for everything from vowel formation to onset have worked very well in my experience. Sometimes pitch slippage results from vowel shift/ failing to maintain position of the vowel.Thanked by 1CHGiffen -
I believe that Chorton is mentioned because organ and instrumental pitch was different, and Chorton was for a cappella. This was true in England where low pitched mutation stops (compared to today) were added to organs and used to accompany Chorton.
Or something like that!Thanked by 1ClergetKubisz -
If you look at some urtext scores for Bach cantatas you will see (unless it has been "corrected") that the Figured Bass part for the Organ was transposed and in the "wrong key" from the instrumental Bass (Violone, Bassoon) - a second, I think, as I seem to remember a score that I had for Wachet Aut (I lost it somewhere a long time ago) where the Organ Bass was in D-flat, while the instrumental parts (& choir, obviously) were in E-flat.
As Koopman says: "Mr. Organist, will you please transpose down a tone?"Thanked by 1ClergetKubisz -
Some clarification about Chorton and Kammerton.
Chorton refers to the 'Chorus' or ecclesiastical pitch to which organs were usually tuned in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was considerably higher than the Kammerton or 'chamber' pitch, used for notating and performing most instrumental music outside the church. Kammerton was of two kinds, the high and the low, but both were below the chorus pitch, usually two semitones below Chorton (sometimes three for very old organs, which because of being tuned so often, the metal pipes had to be trimmed down, thus raising the pitch even higher than the pitch of the original installation), and Tief Kammerton ('deep' or 'low' chamber pitch) usually a semitone or two below standard Kammerton.
Depending upon the circumstances, vocal parts and organ scores were sometimes notated at Chorton and other times at Kammerton, and often the organist was expected to transpose organ parts down to match Kammerton. This is especially true of many Bach cantatas and other choral works, where Kammerton was used for notating woodwind and string parts (at their natural pitch), while organ, vocal, and brass parts might or might not be written transposed down so that the organ Chorton would match the performance Kammerton (when not written as transposed, it was expected that the organist, singers, and brass players would do the transposition themselves). In Bach's day, A above middle C was pitched at about a'=416 for Kammerton and a'=466 for Chorton (about half a step below and above a'=438). Many surviving baroque woodwinds, string instruments, and harpsichords, as well as several baroque horns and trumpets, seem to have been constructed for Kammertonis is why much early music (including vocal music) is performed today at a'=415 to a'=418, with due consideration to the disparate situation with regards to notating organ, vocal, and even brass scores.
Thus it is not surprising to see performers singing certain works at what seems to be anywhere from a semitone to three semitones lower than the score would seem to indicate. Transposition was alive and well in those former times, even if instruments were not always called transposing instruments; indeed, most of them were not regarded as such, except for the organ, voice, and brass (which were equipped with a slew of "crooks" for playing music in various keys).
Thanked by 1noel jones, aago -
I will add, in re tuning, that there are certain vowels which are often placed wrongly, i.e. too far back in the throat. A big one is ah/aw. Focus the sound "forward", and add more breath, making sure that the sound 'floats'.
I work with this problem in warm-ups: when singing a major scale (work on whole/half-steps and the difference, of course) when LA, and to a lesser extent FA (the 'f' helps push the sound 'forward', whereas the 'l' doesn't), often go flat; and with an exercise on the syllable MA(H) (as in "Hi, Ma! I'm home") singing the pitches 'Sol-Fa-Mi-Re-Do'.
(I start in (middle) C#, and then go up in half-steps until the Sops & Tens (Altos & Basses drop out when too high) hit top A. I then repeat the process starting in (middle) F, and then go down in half-steps, this time singing the solfege syllables, until the (Altos) and Basses (S & T drop out when too low) hit bottom F.) -
Salieri - Very important reminder on the "ah" vowel, which is actually one of the hardest to sing (because it can be placed so many different ways). "Ah" always tends to be swallowed and flat without some extra work.
Especially noticeable when it follows a naturally tight and focused vowel like 'oo'. For example, with "cum sanctis" the 'ah' will tend flat. -
Thanked by 1JulieColl
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Tell the singers to sing higher or lower in the places !
The young goose and the old goose fly together but not in same height ;-)
Ph -
As Richard Sparks says in one of his blogs on choralist, (also found on his own blog archive) if they aren't listening, how do they all go flat by the same amount?
My first reading is that you have a score in e-flat minor (mine and both autographs are in d minor) and that Mertens sings in c-flat minor: this can't quite be correct, can it? I haven't searched yet, but is that performance online somewhere? Never mind, I was imagining you wrote "Komm süsses Kreutz"! Mertens sings KsT in 'g-sharp' minor, a perfect forth below Chorton c minor, a suitable transposition for a low voice. Or maybe that's 415 a minor ;-)Klaus Mertens even sings Komm Susser Tod a major 3rd lower than what is written (with original key in Eb on my score). -
Richard: Sometimes I think it is a miracle how it happens that they all fall by the same amount together. I think it could be a masters thesis in physics or maybe psychology. But what I find more interesting is when they don't! I've had my tenors and basses stay on pitch while the women go down (talk about a wonky experience). That's why I've thought to move the sections and see if it helps (along with all of the great advice above.)
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I should mention that top A is not the highest note I warm my Sopranos up to. That exercise I mentioned is one of the first ones that we do. I regularly warm them up to top C (as in Allegri Miserere top C) or even C#; then they can't complain that F (on the staff) is "too high".
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Nice if you have a soprano section where true sopranos, rather than much more available mezzos, dominate....Thanked by 1CHGiffen
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I've also noticed through a limited comparison of two of Bachs cantatas (one pre-Leipzig and one from the Leipzig era: before Leipzig, it is said his organ was tuned at Chorton, while at Leipzig, it was tuned at Kammerton), it appears that Bach alters the vocal writing with the pitch level, so that the music still works for the voices without going too high or low for subsequent voice types. This is of course all evaluated through the lens of our modern pitch standard of A=440hz. I would imagine that a more in-depth study and comparison would yield similar results. In essence, the musicians are still performing the work in the same key that we see, but they heard what we would call a half tone lower (for Kammerton) or higher (for Chorton). This of course is really only useful for those considering Historically Informed Performance, but it also puts into perspective (though some on this forum have already observed this) that much of our modern hymnody is written with the modern pitch standard in mind. This pitch standard as far as I have been able to discern was not conceived with vocal music in mind, but for the brilliance of sound in instrumental music, specifically strings in the orchestra. The problem here is that the key doesn't really matter to the instruments (and yes, I am aware that some keys are better/worse for specific types of instruments, or that certain keys "feel better" to the performer. I also can attest that no consideration is shown for this, as in instrumental circles, we are expected to play what the composer wrote, at least technically, which doesnt preclude a tuning change) unless the tones go out of range (or for amateur performers that range may be further limited), although we also have evidence that Bach expected his string players to re-tune their instruments to match the organ and singers. Although other times, the organ and singers parts were written so that they matched the strings. Either way, everything had to match up, of course. The other question this raises is is: do modern composers of hymnody choose their keys wisely, with regard to singing ranges? Also, is the one-size-fits-all approach of congregational hymnody apropos to a standardized pitch?
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Thank you Richard for the Sparks links. I've been reading... most excellent!
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Excerpted from "Getting Tuned In to Bach" posted in Boulder Bach Beat, Edward McCue, Editor:While accomplished organists, such as Bach, could easily transpose their part in compensation for large tuning disparities, woodwind instruments and their players were less flexible. Their fingering system limited them to playing in keys with no more than a few sharps or flats, so professional woodwind players often carried two instruments, one pitched at Kammerton and another a half step lower, in order to play in more distant keys.
String instruments were also quite sensitive to the variability of pitch heights. When asked to tune up to match the organ or tune down to match the woodwinds, the responsiveness and tone of individual string instruments could change dramatically and unpredictably. As a result, the most mobile of string players in Bach’s time probably owned more than one instrument in order to accommodate both high and low pitch centers.
Therefore, whenever Bach was leading the performance of a cantata, someone was probably either selecting an alternate instrument or transposing their part. For example, vocal parts could be notated at either the Kammerton or Chorton standard, and when Bach was in Weimar, it was simpler for him to notate the voices with the organ and ask the strings to either tune high or transpose their part. In contrast, it was more common in Leipzig for Bach to write voice and string parts at Kammerton and ask the trumpets and organ to play their Chorton parts a whole step lower.
Bach was surely aware of the fact that the transposition of two or three half steps could have a disastrous effect on his singers. During composition, Bach would have carefully considered the tone qualities of the different vocal registers in order to avoid audible breaks from chest to head voice. Similarly, he would have guarded against an upward transposition that would transform a high tenor part into one for countertenor. It seems highly likely, then, that Bach had a reference pitch in mind.
Notes:
We still see vestiges of the usage of two woodwind instruments pitched a half step apart, namely clarinets in B-flat and A, as well as piccolos in D-flat and C. In the case of D-fatflat piccolos, this was just as likely due to the tendency of most marching and other wind band music to be written in keys with several flats in the key signature. It is also possible that B-flat became a standard natural tuning for the trumpet, trombone and tuba because of Chorton vs. Kammerton considerations.
While Bach was famous as an organist and church musician-composer, his output in the instrumental music realm both as composer-performer was equally vast, if not more so than in church music, so any overall "reference pitch" Bach had in mind was geared to Kammerton which would have been roughly a'=416.
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This is somewhat true; however, it is also the case that church music singers might well be required to transpose music down a whole tone to match Kammerton (if notated in Chorton) or, vice versa, to transpose music up a whole tone to match Chorton (if notated in Kammerton). And, yes, the resulting pitches would be a half tone away from our modern idea of pitch, owing to the approximate A=416 Kammerton and A=466 Chorton standards.I would imagine that a more in-depth study and comparison would yield similar results. In essence, the musicians are still performing the work in the same key that we see, but they heard what we would call a half tone lower (for Kammerton) or higher (for Chorton).
What we don't realize in this modern world of a single pitch standard is that singers (and musicians playing instruments for which transposition was not a practical problem) of Bach's time were much more adept at transposition than most modern day musicians. This is, of course, not unrelated to the insistence by some that "Doh" and "Fah" clefs of chant notation are clear enough, while the C- and F- clefs of modern notion seem like a roadblock in so many minds that can't realize these are really the same, except for the number of staff lines, and that they are equally as amenable to sight transposition to any pitch as the earlier Doh and Fah clefs are. It is nonsensical to make a mountain out of a molehill, because these are really two sides of the same coin.
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CHGiffen, that just makes so much sense. Thank you!
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Especially noticeable when it follows a naturally tight and focused vowel like 'oo'. For example, with "cum sanctis" the 'ah' will tend flat.
Often that's because the singer moves the jaw too much when enouncing the 'ah'. I've seen singers look like they're chewing cud, and they sound ........ahhh......just like cud-chewers will sound. -
CHGiffen wrote
Notes:
We still see vestiges of the usage of two woodwind instruments pitched a half step apart, namely clarinets in B-flat and A, as well as piccolos in D-flat and C. In the case of D-fat piccolos, this was just as likely due to the tendency of most marching and other wind band music to be written in keys with several flats in the key signature. It is also possible that B-flat became a standard natural tuning for the trumpet, trombone and tuba because of Chorton vs. Kammerton considerations.
My own understanding has always been that the use of C and Db flutes and piccolos arose from the relative difficulty of playing instruments with simple fingering (rather than the modern Boehm mechanism) in more extreme keys (and particular with many flats).
In my youth (over forty years ago) I played flute and piccolo in a wind band in the north of England which had a library built up since the late 19th century. The band had old scores with only Db flute and piccolo parts, more recent scores with alternative parts for both types, and modern music with parts only for C flute and piccolo. The band had an old wooden simple system Db piccolo which I taught myself to play. It was certainly easier to play in sharp keys.
I soon became quite adept at transposing up or down a semitone at sight, particularly before I managed to buy a Db flute.
I'm not aware of the Db flute or piccolo being used in orchestral music (with the exception of Berlioz, whom I believe specified the Db piccolo for its slightly shriller tone). That's not to say that 19th century flautists who had instruments of both types might not have used a Db instrument and transposed to avoid tricky fingerings in the written key.
I suspect that the use of Bb and A clarinets in orchestras also originated in the difficulty of playing in more extreme keys with pre-Boehm instruments, although I have come across references to the darker tone colour of an A clarinet. I've never seen a wind band part for an A clarinet, but then as you say wind band music tends to be in flat keys.
I don't recall ever coming across a reference to a Db oboe or bassoon - perhaps double reed players had more nimble fingers:-)
I apologise for this digression into woodwind history on a choral forum, but as a long-time lurker I could not resist responding to a comment (even in passing) about Db flutes and piccolos. -
Since this was bumped, two ideas:
1) If you have a singer that is consistently flat, or has a very weak vibrato, or other general issues, have them (outside of rehearsal, of course) sing laying on floor. I find this generally resolves most breath issues due to forcing the body to align properly. They could also double over at the waist ("do toe touches") although I find that less comfortable. I say have them do it in person, because people often don't do it at home. I just had this experience Christmas week: a new chorister didn't trust me...was having connection issues on a G-G octave leap. They laid down...boom, problem solved. Then you just have to work with aligning them when they're standing.
2) The visualization of the line helps support. Sometimes we do this by "throwing the ball" with a good follow through, for example, if an arc phrase is required. If the choir is familiar with chironomy at all, then you can also use that idea (or that of throwing something very light up in the air, like a leaf) to help with big ascending intervals. Often (for whatever reason) choral singers are very uncomfortable with their bodies, so these things force them to be "at peace"...I'm not a Dalcroze person, but some use of this stuff is really important for amateurs. -
Some of us have lovely old ladies in our choirs... we recently celebrated the 90th birthday of a soprano.Thanked by 1canadash
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My own understanding has always been that the use of C and Db flutes and piccolos arose from the relative difficulty of playing instruments with simple fingering (rather than the modern Boehm mechanism) in more extreme keys (and particular with many flats)
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I suspect that the use of Bb and A clarinets in orchestras also originated in the difficulty of playing in more extreme keys with pre-Boehm instruments, although I have come across references to the darker tone colour of an A clarinet. I've never seen a wind band part for an A clarinet, but then as you say wind band music tends to be in flat keys.
Thanks, DavidWilde. It's great to hear from someone with similar experience! Indeed, you enunciate very clearly the point I was making, in response to the following sentence from the original article:
"Their fingering system limited them to playing in keys with no more than a few sharps or flats, so professional woodwind players often carried two instruments, one pitched at Kammerton and another a half step lower, in order to play in more distant keys."
David's experience with D-flat and C piccolos parallels very much my own experience over half a century ago when I played mostly D-flat piccolo at first and then also C piccolo in high school wind band, encountering music notated for one instrument or the other much as David describes and having to sight transpose at times. I still recall playing the florid fife-like piccolo obbligato part in John Phillip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes" march on either instrument, first on the D-flat and then on the new C piccolo that the school had bought. After high school, my only flute and piccolo playing was confined to C instruments, most memorably being fifth flute and piccolo player in a performance in college of Stravinsky's "Symphony of Psalms" conducted by Robert Shaw. I was actually principally an oboe player, but not a music major, and oboists seem to have been a dime a dozen at that time in the music department—understandable, since Harry Peters, my teacher, was professor of oboe and an outstanding teacher.
With the advent of mechanically ingenious and facile fingering systems, notably the Boehm system and its derivatives, the ease of playing in all keys led to the demise of the D-flat piccolo and, to a lesser extent, the A-clarinet. To some extent, this is a loss, in that the older instruments with their simpler fingering systems which favored playing in keys with not too many accidentals were often made and adjusted to play better in non-equal temperaments without making "lip adjustments" to play harmoniously.
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I was trained as a clarinetist, so of course I've played both the Bb and A versions as well as the one in C. Good observations.Thanked by 1CHGiffen
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In the case of D-fat piccolos
I've only seen skinny ones. It's amazing the things you can learn on this forum!
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