# Notation and modulation



## TJM

Hi, if there are any standard notation writers out there, I have a question I need your help to answer. Should I change key signatures when writing a modulation such as common chord or enharmonic modulation, or is that determined by how long I remain in the new key or some other factor? Thanks.


----------



## Kopachris

TJM said:


> Hi, if there are any standard notation writers out there, I have a question I need your help to answer. Should I change key signatures when writing a modulation such as common chord or enharmonic modulation, or is that determined by how long I remain in the new key or some other factor? Thanks.


AFAIK, it's usually determined by how long you stay in that key. How so, I'm not sure.


----------



## Rasa

Whatever is the most convenient to read


----------



## AmateurComposer

Rasa said:


> Whatever is the most convenient to read


I agree. However, unfortunately, what is convenient for one reader is not necessarily convenient for another. Furthermore, there are certain conventions; otherwise, for example, why is it OK to use the treble clef for cello music but not for bassoon music?


----------



## Rasa

It is used, from time to time, but it not often because it's an inconvenient part of the bassoon's range.


----------



## AmateurComposer

Rasa said:


> Whatever is the most convenient to read





Rasa said:


> It is used, from time to time, but it not often because it's an inconvenient part of the bassoon's range.


Convenience of reading or convenience of performance? Logically, in an inconvenient part of the bassoon's range (inconvenience of performance, I presume) it makes more sense to improve the convenience of reading in order to make it easier for the player. However, convention does not necessarily follow logic.


----------



## PetrB

It is how long you remain in the new key, and more to the point, if the modulation is theoretically 'temporary' or more long lasting.

'Whatever is convenient' should be tempered to the standards of conventional skills expected of professional players. An exception might be if you are composing specifically for far less advanced students, say, children, beginners, etc. After that level, the convention also has it that those still-learning but more advanced players also have to learn to cope with professional reading standards, including reading equally well in all keys.

Cb major and G# major, for example, are Not 'Theoretic Keys." They are not used as set signatures because they include double flats or sharps, but are found in modulation and are written in those keys: examples of this are peppered throughout late romantic music, especially. (Chopin was impeccable in his notation of modulations, temporary modulations and 'theory-grammar correct' enharmonic notation.)

For instrumentalists, again, check the professional standard - any decent orchestration book. 'Cellists read Bass, tenor and soprano clef _routinely,_ and it is just as common for other instruments, say Bassoon, to either be notated 8va when it climbs into the upper registers, or to jump to treble. All standard for the last one-hundred years, and however you are writing, you are 'a contemporary' composer


----------



## AmateurComposer

PetrB said:


> For instrumentalists, again, check the professional standard - any decent orchestration book. 'Cellists read Bass, tenor and soprano clef _routinely,_ and it is just as common for other instruments, say Bassoon, to either be notated 8va when it climbs into the upper registers, or to jump to treble. All standard for the last one-hundred years, and however you are writing, you are 'a contemporary' composer


I believe that you mean treble, since the soprano clef has not be in use for many, many years.


----------



## PetrB

AmateurComposer said:


> I believe that you mean treble, since the soprano clef has not be in use for many, many years.


yes of course - caught in the SATB thinking mode.


----------

