Hacker News Reader

It's true that jazz charts are unlikely to use tenor clef. Nonetheless, it remains career limiting for a trombonist to be unable to read clefs.

Commercial players are likely to use the skill for transposing Bb treble lead sheets, or playing in a pit. Tenor clef shows up in modern musicals regularly.

Not to mention being shunned from quartet or choir opportunities that are the basis of networking in the industry.

View on HN

Transposing is an important skill for all instruments. It's true that trombonists get some cases for free if they learn the tenor and alto clefs, but it's possible to learn it without knowing the C clefs.

And even trombonists have to learn how to handle sharps and flats in chromatic passages, so there's a lot more to transposing than using a different clef.

> Tenor clef shows up in modern musicals regularly.

This I didn't know, thanks!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com