Reading Tenor Music (Six Packs)

[AdamJ]

I've never read tenor (6) music before. Is the second spock written a step above where the spock is written for quint music?

[MikeN]

As a general rule, yes. I've usually seen it with the 4 main toms on F-A-C-E and then the spock drums on G and B above the staff.

Though some folks do it on the lines with E - G - B - D - F, which would make the sextet the A above the staff.

Mike

[AdamJ]

As a general rule, yes. I've usually seen it with the 4 main toms on F-A-C-E and then the spock drums on G and B above the staff.

Though some folks do it on the lines with E - G - B - D - F, which would make the sextet the A above the staff.

Mike

G being the right spock, and B being the left one right?

[Percussion827]

Usually, the way I read and write tenor music is making sure that all my tenor players knew that the right spock drum was the higher pitched of the two and the left one was a little lower, this way you can write for 6 tones and make sure that the tenors know what's going on.

So to reiterate: if the way that the music is notated is A above the staff, top line F, D, B, G, Bottom Line E. You know that the "A" is the right hand spock and the Top line F is left spock and then the subsequent main 4 are noted in the rest of the staff accoringly.

[Slow Adam]

People who write tenor music on the lines should be tarred and feathered.

[MikeN]

Yeah - I tried that, then got too many complaints, so I switched to the spaces.

Mike

[Percussion827]

If the need is warranted, then I'll adjust and change it to g-above staff, e, c, a, f, d-below staff.

Then again, if you all still think I should be tarred and feathered, that's your prerogative.

[Slow Adam]

How long have your players been reading tenor music, and do they plan on marching somewhere else in the future? Putting drums 1,2,3,4 anywhere other than E,C,A,G is a bad move, and will cause confusion down the road, as it is pretty much the standard in the marching percussion world.

If you really want to limit the vertical space the two spock drums are taking up you could put the higher one on the A line above the staff...just don't use the D below staff for drum 4.

[TAFL]

How long have your players been reading tenor music...

...just don't use the D below staff for drum 4.

If they can read music at all, they can adjust to what's presented to them. I had to read music for triples using different formats and then switch to reading for quads--and also encountered different formats there. Lines, spaces--they all work.

I can say that the quint parts I write as I score are written using the D space below the staff and the F, A, C, and E spaces. I've even thought of using the C line below the staff and then the E, G, B, and D lines. It's all good.

[Percussion827]

Adam, I can understand your concerns. However, I am speaking from a person who tries to make the grand score easier to understand for everyone. I can relate to using FACE for the main 4 drums and then use the two spaces above the staff for the spocks. However, TAFL does bring up a good point.

Then again, I'm not a big percussion writer as of yet and haven't really written for 6 pack tenors, mainly quints, in which case I use the main 5 lines in the staff, which makes sense to ME. Maybe not to YOU, but it makes sense to the writer. If someone wants me to change it to go along with the "way it's usually written" then they can take the music and write it down the way they feel like it. Sometimes molds are meant to be broken.