I've spent a lot of time mentioning problems. Tonight I find myself with a lot of free time on my hands, late at night, and I'd like to share just one really positive experience.

In another thread, in another forum, I mentioned pieces that are hard to read but not so hard to play.

Last week, as an experiement, I played the Bach C# Prelude, Book I WTC, into Finale.

Then I transposed it to Db. (Actually, this is not really transposing but rather an enharmonic renotation…)

I showed a student a print out of just one section, in both keys, and gave her a third printout, also in Db, but with no key signature, with only accidentals. I then asked which looked easiest.

She looked at the version with the accidentals and immediately assumed it was most difficult. But then we examined some lines that had less accidentals than the number of flats in the key signature, and she found that the version with the accidentals might be a bit easier for a very inexperienced student.

Then she was shocked to find out that the C# version, with key signature, was a total nightmare in at least a couple measures, and that allowed me to point out why later composers usually chose Db for the major key but C# minor for the parallel minor.

Finally, she decided on the version with the Db key signature, standard notation except for the fact that it was printed out in the enharmonic key, as the most practical.

I was delighted to then see her read through part of it, although at a very reduced tempo, with pretty good accuracy. I will see her tomorrow, and if it goes really well, we will complete the basic work in two weeks and then be free to do some really fine polishing by week three. I told her not to do much work yet, since we had not decided on fingerings, but suggested that she write in her initial fingering solutions for us to examine together.

That lesson was a breakthrough. Until very recently she has been an average student, a really nice person but never fully committed towards really nailing things down. Everything has been a bit under tempo. But in the last month or so, it is as if everything just came together for her. Suddenly everything seems to be coming together at the same time, as if the improvement in reading, practice methods and desire to get into the music more deeply is taking effect "globally".

I don't think I'll ever lose my enthusiams when I see a student "get it".

Do any of the rest of you have stories you'd like to share about things that have gone especially well recently?

Interesting ... as a student I personally find it harder reading flats rather than sharps. When my teacher would say "did you look at Db major scale this week" I would say ... "no, C# major" (just to be cheeky). I think I find it trickier because I learned #'s first ... then got introduced to b's much later.

Gary:

You are more dedicated than I am. I own the Peters edition of WTC-I, and it contains both the C-sharp major version and the D-flat major version of Prelude No. 3. I agree with you that D-flat major is much easier to read. I prefer flats over sharps, anyway. The tone quality just sounds different for me (weird...). I'm teaching that piece right now for the third time. I absolutely love that piece.

Of course, being the sadist that I am, I make my students read the C-sharp major version :p

Actually, notation fascinates me. The fact that someone else has transposed this (and I knew I had seen it) does not teach me anything.

I can't tell you how many times I have notated things, just for my own exploration, and "fixed" things that seem illogical or counter-intuitive. It's one thing to assume that great composers knew what they were doing and that they always chose the best solution. It's another to find out, for youself, that they really DID, which in most cases turns out to be so.

In other words, after having "fixed" things, in almost all cases I end up "fixing them back". I end up agreeing with the composer. (In many cases this means that although I continue to think that composers often pick less convenient solutions, usually there is some important concept that is lost if those solutions are changed.)

For the prelude the importance of the original key is that we can see how the approach to major and parallel minor evolved, so that Db was almost universally used for the major, while C# minor was almost universally used for the parallel minor. It's also a very important part of learning to be able to make the switch, mentally, between two enharmonic keys. Otherwise we theoretically would be in deep trouble if we lost the handy but unusual Db major version!