The Culmination of Clefs and the Future of Figures

The Culmination of Clefs

 

Well, Christmas has come early this year. A few months ago I started working through the Preparatory Exercises in Score Reading as an aid to learning to read the C clefs (Alto, Tenor, and Soprano specifically) and set myself the goal of reaching Chapter K by Christmas time, and I officially reached it yesterday. Hallelujah!

 

In case I never mentioned it, Chapter K is the moment when the exercises start taking the form of the Fellowship (FAGO) test question in which the organist is asked to sight read an open score in C clefs. The exercises of this book started with two staves, using two different clefs and gradually introduced the Alto, Tenor, and Soprano clefs into the staves, studying each one individually and then in combination with the others. Then a third stave was introduced using differing combinations of C clefs among them. I still recall what a headache three staves was at first, keeping up with the changing clefs in each staff.

 

After this was mastered, we moved onto four staves in a string-quartet sort of style, in which we had two Treble staffs, an Alto staff, and a Bass staff (that often moved into Tenor clef). After the difficulty of four lines at once was passed, we moved to a transitional form where Treble was on top, Alto and Tenor were in the two middle staves, and Bass was on the bottom. Most of these exercises seem to have been taken from late renaissance vocal pieces so it was very enjoyable to work on them.

 

Then we finally hit section K, where all of the exercises have the same layout: 4 staves, Soprano clef on top, then Alto clef, then Tenor clef, and Bass clef on the bottom. This is the standard layout for vocal scores of late renaissance and baroque times, the idea that each voice had its own clef that would minimize the use of ledger lines.

 

I recall attempting this section several times earlier on and those attempts ranged in quality from total failure, to extreme awkwardness. I just couldn't keep four lines continuous in my mind all with differing points of reference given by the clefs. As it stands today, I play rather cautiously but without much difficulty. With further practice over the next three years (till it's time to take the test) I should be reading it with ease. Of course, I will have to find new practice material beyond this book now, but I have a sort of plan:

 

I'll begin with taking the Chorale Harmonizations of Bach and find a copy which has them in this open score format and I'll practice sight reading at least one a day for a time until they become pretty easy. After that point, I'm not exactly sure what the best option will be; perhaps I should read through the vocal parts of some of his Cantatas as they are a much more active style than simple chorales. I do know that eventually I must find a copy of the Art of Fugue in this open score and practice reading from that; this was suggested by members of the AGO in regards to this particular test. Past sight-reading excerpts were actually from the Art of Fugue but are no longer. Still, the practice will put the finishing touches on this skill.

 

Some final thoughts on the process: I still think that slow practice, as usual, is the proper way to work on these exercises. One thing that I think took time to really assimilate into the mind was the relationships that these clefs had to each other. To think of each clef as a totally independent way of writing music was not a proper one to have, and I came to realize that each clef was actually a way of seeing the same thing from a slightly different angle. An E below middle C is still going to be in the space between two lines, whether it's in the bass clef, or the tenor. Another way of thinking about it is that these clefs cause some lines on the staff to become invisible and others to become visible. Maybe I can produce an awesome graphic of this concept some time but I have little time today. Once I become quite secure with all the exercises in the book, I can start using these clefs to work on transposition. Of course I'll still need to learn the Mezzo-Soprano and Baritone clefs, the only useful clefs remaining, but most of the work is already done. I feel like I can see and comprehend much more at a glance than I could when I started this. I think better with this skill. That alone has made the work worth it.

 

After focusing rather intently on this particular study for so long, I think it's time to start planning where that focus will drift to next, since the majority of this work is now achieved. I think that the next subject shall be...

 

the Future of Figures

 

Figured Bass, Thorough-bass, whatever you want to call it. The Associate test requires the organist to sight read a passage from figured bass to accompany a melody line played by the proctor. That's fine, as far as it goes, but the study of the figures and how to realize that bass line into music can teach a great many things about composition, analysis, and improvisation.

 

I haven't spent a great deal of time thinking about this recently but I have had some time to consider what should be learned in this practice.

 

Superficially, we are learning what the various figures mean and how to produce them as chords on the keyboard. If we dig a little deeper, we find that we are learning more than how to turn numbers into notes. In the practice books I have on the subject, we practice common cadences in all keys as well as sequences, and then we work out exercises using the figures being studied.

 

We begin with root position chords, chords that have no figures beneath them. Then we throw in first inversion chords using the figure 6, and then second inversion using 64, then the various figures for suspensions, then the seventh chords and their inversions.

 

If that is all that is learned, then you are learning just a simple system of encoding a lot of musical information that's not too specific, into a small area. That's a valuable thing by itself. I'm pretty sure it's not too easy to find good continuo players these days...

 

However, I believe there is more to it. I think that Figured Bass is another way to learn and fully assimilate music theory at the keyboard, as long as you keep your eyes open. We begin to see the functions of various chords within the key, what chords follow others, how cadences are constructed and elaborated. That is to say, we are given an intermediary step towards a sort of 'reckoning' of how a chord functions in context, how it can be approached and left. This soft of subconscious knowledge will be of great help in composition and improvisation, and also in interpretation and memorization of repertoire.

 

One should keep in mind that this isn't like studying for a test; we don't verbally memorize facts, data, and relationships, we must rather form that subconscious 'reckoning' of how these ephemeral entities behave.

 

So how do we do that?

 

I believe it's pretty simple, actually. We are again heeding the previous advice of not attacking a problem too directly and simply seeking to memorize the information from our theory textbook. Our method will be simply:  Repetition    in     all keys. Repetition of what? Examples of the different functions of a chord in different situations, that is: Cadences and Sequences.

 

So, put succinctly, we will absorb subconscious knowledge of chords behaviors by:

 

Repetition of Cadences and Sequences in all keys. Cadences and Sequences are essential elements of the Common Practice period, and contain most of the regular functions of chords within a key, and we can cull examples from various Thorough-bass books as well as theory textbooks. The repetition element doubly serves to let the functional concept be fully assimilated and also to understand that relationship within all different keys. Again, slow practice and concentration on understanding the relationships of the chords within the fragment are essential. This should be followed by a faster tempo for the sake of muscle memory in the fingers. Slow practice for the mind, quick practice for the fingers. I think that for guidance in this area, we will benefit the most from a man from the period; therefore we will start our search for guidance with C.P.E. Bach with his Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments.

 

As we learn a language, so we learn music: by observation and repetition of the sounds and grammar, not just in isolation but in context. A word of caution though: one does not master a language through observation and repetition alone, but through actually speaking on your own. In the same manner, we must turn our hand to improvisation and composition at some point. We will see when that point is, after some practice with thorough-bass.