There were lots of new and little used pieces at tonight’s CSWO rehearsal so a lot of sight reading to do. It wasn’t quite as daunting as it would have been a couple of years ago but I wouldn’t claim that I nailed everything. One thing I’m getting better at is reading tuba parts, where I have to cope with the fact they are written at pitch instead of an octave higher. The latter is standard for electric bass, partly because you’d need a lot of ledger lines to get down to the low E (already below the bass clef) and lower notes on extended range basses.

However, it was one of those tuba parts that caused me to come most unstuck tonight, on a Philip Sparke piece called a Yorkshire Overture. Sparke writes great music but with lots of details and that, combined with the mental gymnastics of transposition meant I did get lost for a while (although I’m pleased that I managed to eventually get back on the moving train!). That will be one for some homework.

Next week we’ll start drilling through the set for our next concert, including some of those pieces, in more detail but I have to say that, even when I don’t keep up all the way through, I do now find myself tending to enjoy the occasional reading rehearsal.