Hi I come across a g.6 question which a "clarinetti Sib" is to be transformed into its correct pitch. I am not sure whether "clarinetti Sib"means Clarinet in Ab or Clarinet in Bb. I am obviously confused. Can someone please tell me what are other clarinets in italian (in different pitch).

And also what is a compound minor 7th?

Thanks

Sib is Bb if I remember correctly

Sib is just Italian for Bb, so it is a Bb Clarinet.

There is useful table fo the note names in the most widely spoken European languages here:

http://www.library.yale.edu/cataloging/music/keylang.htm

Compound means it's an octave bigger than it says. So you could call something a compound major 2nd, or alternatively you could call it a major 9th. Just add 7 to the number and you get it in 'non-compound' language. So compound minor 7th = minor 14th

There's no such thing as a clarinet in Ab. They come in Eb, Bb and A. The Eb has quite a piercing tone (Berlioz uses it in Symphonie Fantastique) and I believe the choice between the other two largely depends on which one is better suited to the key. There's also the bass clarinet which I think is in Bb (?) and the Lyons clarinet in C, but that's really just for teaching purposes.

You may find it useful to look at some orchestral scores in various different languages to find out what the different instruments are called in French / German, etc.

'Compound' just means add an octave, otherwise the intervals work in exactly the same way. Did you not come across that in Grade 5 theory?

The Schubert Octet has one movement for Clarinet in C, and Beethoven asks for two in his Symphony No 1. D clarinets exist and Stravinsky asks for one in "The Rite of Spring". Nearly all bass clarinets are in Bb nowadays, but one in A was made in the 19th C. and used by Wagner; at least one maker (in Canada) will make you one, but A parts are nearly always played on a Bb instrument with a low Eb.

Hi as I am revising questions for g6 I came across a very interesting term in 2007c question 5b©

The double-stopping harmonic interval of a major 6th...

What is double stopping??

Playing two notes at once on a string instrument, by bowing two (adjacent) strings at the same time.

Thanks very much,

The other question is , does anyone know what a augmented unison is?

"the melodic interval of a chromatic semitone (augmented unison) in a string part..."

Thanks

Unison means 2 notes the same

Augmented means a semitone larger

...So augmented unison could be D and D#

Hi I have another question,

About triads in minor key,

which system should be always adopted?

I read in p.5 of harmony in practice that "the minor scale can appear in various forms: harmonic, melodic ascending and descending... because of this, each degree of minor scale has two triads, depending on 6th and 7th degrees of the scale are lowered or raised"

So when harmonising a melody (say bach chorale), which minor system should we use?

Is it that no matter which system, the V is always in major (in major or minor), since the 3rd is the leading note?

Thanks

Usually the harmonic form would be used (hence the name). Melodic minor chords such as the minor supertonic triad and the major subdominant triad are most often used when one of the voices is ascending the melodic minor scale towards the tonic. And if the soprano line you are harmonising has a natural sixth, you will obviously have to use a melodic minor chord (if you are staying within the key).

Oh yes there is There are lots of clarinets out there in various keys. The Ab sopranino is hte smallest clarinet seen in the front of the picture below.




Here's a good website about the various clarinets

Clarinet Family

Why is that, is that because in melodic minor, the sixth is a minor?
and what is natural sixth by the way?

It would have probably been clearer if I had said 'major 6th' instead of 'natural 6th'. In c minor, the major sixth is A (which appears in the ascending form melodic minor scale) and the minor sixth would be Ab (which is in the melodic descending and harmonic minor scales). Since the major 6th is found only in the melodic minor ascending scale and not the other two minor scales, obviously the only diatonic minor key chords which contain the major 6th will also come from this scale. So if you want to harmonise a melody note of A natural in the key of c minor, you will have to use one of these melodic minor chords.