Brass tablature
Brass Tablature is a rather rare form of music notation that applies to all brass instruments, but is most commonly found written for trumpet[citation needed]. It consists of lines with partials, and numbers representing valve or slide positions.
Examples
The basic setup is shown here, with names of open notes for each partial on the left and rhythm or rhythmic notation above. The bottom line, indicating first-partial
1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a 9:D6______________________ 8:C6______________________ 7:B♭5_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 6:G5______________________ 5:E5______________________ 4:C5______________________ 3:G4______________________ 2:C4______________________ 1:C3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Numbers are used to represent fingerings. For trumpet may be seen true fingerings (0 or any combination of 1, 2, or 3) or, more commonly, positions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). Trombone tablature will always have slide positions. Here is an example of a two octave C major scale for trumpet:
1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a 1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a 9:D6________________________________________________________________ 8:C6________________________________________________4___2___1_______ 7:B♭5_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 6:G5_________________________________________3___1__________________ 5:E5_________________________________3___1__________________________ 4:C5_____________________4___2___1__________________________________ 3:G4_____6___4___3___1______________________________________________ 2:C4_1______________________________________________________________ 1:C3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Three-valve instruments and trombones without valves have seven possible configurations or positions. Four-valve instruments, tenor
Tablature Number | Notes for transposing instruments | Notes for concert pitch B♭ instruments | Non-compensating valved instrument fingerings | Trombone slide positions |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | C | B♭ | 0 | 1 |
2 | B | A | 2 | 2 |
3 | B ♭ | A♭ | 1 | 3 |
4 | A | G | 12 or 3 | 4 |
5 | A♭ | G♭ | 23 | 5 |
6 or /1 | G | F | 13 or 4 or /0 | 6 or /1 |
7 or /2 | G♭ | E | 123 or 24 or /2 | 7 or /2 |
8 or /4 | F | E♭ | 14 or /1 | /4 |
9 or /5 | E | D | 124 or /12 | /5 |
10 or /6 | E♭ | D♭ | 234 or /23 | /6 |
11 or /7 | D | C | 134 or /13 | /7 |