How to play the turn in Nocturne from "Introducing the Tenor Clef for Trombone (Bassoon)"
- rjmarshall17
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Mar 07, 2022
Hi,
I have a 1968 edition of Reginald H. Fink's "Introducing the Tenor Clef for Trombone (Bassoon)". Exercise 43 (page 14) is Nocturne by Frederic Chopin. The first line contains a turn that appears to be in between (perhaps on top of) the low C eighth note and the high C quarter note. It is in parentheses so I'm not sure if it's optional (if that's what the parentheses mean), but even so, I'm trying to understand the meaning of the symbol (the sideways S - it appears to be a normal turn and not inverted). It's also a chromatic turn (I think that's the term), which means that there is a flat for the top note and a natural for the bottom note of the turn. The piece is in Eb Major, I think.
Because the turn symbol is between the low and high C, I'm not sure where it should be placed. On the one hand, even in 12/8, trying to subdivide an eighth note into five(?) notes seems extreme. So, should it be applied to the high C quarter note? If the eighth note, I have no idea what the subdivisions should be to play that correctly. The quarter note would seem easier, but I don't see an example where the turn comes before the note to which it is applied.
If I look in Arban's (Arban Complete Method for Trombone & Euphonium - 2002 Joseph Alessi and Dr. Brian Bowman edition) at exercise 26 (page 111) in the Ornamentation section, I do see turns coming after the half-notes. So it's in between notes, but clearly should be applied to the longer duration note that precedes it. And it appears that all of the other turns are on dotted quarter notes making them easier to subdivide.
Any advice on how to play this? Also, wouldn't the B (normally a Bb in Eb) always be natural in a turn because the low note should only be a semitone below the principle note? But perhaps I don't understand how turns actually work.
Thank-you,
Rob
I have a 1968 edition of Reginald H. Fink's "Introducing the Tenor Clef for Trombone (Bassoon)". Exercise 43 (page 14) is Nocturne by Frederic Chopin. The first line contains a turn that appears to be in between (perhaps on top of) the low C eighth note and the high C quarter note. It is in parentheses so I'm not sure if it's optional (if that's what the parentheses mean), but even so, I'm trying to understand the meaning of the symbol (the sideways S - it appears to be a normal turn and not inverted). It's also a chromatic turn (I think that's the term), which means that there is a flat for the top note and a natural for the bottom note of the turn. The piece is in Eb Major, I think.
Because the turn symbol is between the low and high C, I'm not sure where it should be placed. On the one hand, even in 12/8, trying to subdivide an eighth note into five(?) notes seems extreme. So, should it be applied to the high C quarter note? If the eighth note, I have no idea what the subdivisions should be to play that correctly. The quarter note would seem easier, but I don't see an example where the turn comes before the note to which it is applied.
If I look in Arban's (Arban Complete Method for Trombone & Euphonium - 2002 Joseph Alessi and Dr. Brian Bowman edition) at exercise 26 (page 111) in the Ornamentation section, I do see turns coming after the half-notes. So it's in between notes, but clearly should be applied to the longer duration note that precedes it. And it appears that all of the other turns are on dotted quarter notes making them easier to subdivide.
Any advice on how to play this? Also, wouldn't the B (normally a Bb in Eb) always be natural in a turn because the low note should only be a semitone below the principle note? But perhaps I don't understand how turns actually work.
Thank-you,
Rob
- rjmarshall17
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Mar 07, 2022
FYI, I did find another version of Chopin's Nocturne for Trombone on SheetMusicPlus (I didn't buy it), but it's in 3/4 instead of 12/8 and they replaced the lower eighth note C with four 16th notes, Db-C-B(natural)-c.