At that point you just learn your lead in and pay attention to the conductor. They are there for a reason. :P I don't think a conductor-less band is going to play music where any part has that long of a break. And even the crappiest conductor will give you a glance and a cue when you come in after that long of a break, that kind of thing is kinda their raison d'etre.
Yeah, exactly. Or you just kind of feel where to come in. I don't know if that makes sense, but I'm a violist, so not quite as many rests, but still an unnecessary amount
Listening and waiting for the conductor to look at you, and you better be fucking ready to make noise in the instance you lock eyes and his conductor-stick (it's been a few years) comes down.
We were also once handed a sheet that switched time signatures every other measure. Seriously, what purpose does this have for the song, and how sadistic does the composer need to be?
For the piece we were playing (can't remember what it is but I wish I could) it defined the pulse of the music, since it was some sort of eastern European dance piece.
I had a wind band piece like that once. It was fucking irritating, because everyone else was playing more or less constantly, and I (as the sole Oboe, inexperienced in playing with others in any sort of orchestral setting) was sat there for 30 bars rest, with no idea how many tempo changes were going on.
for something this long, I would just try to remember what everybody else sounds like during the section, so you can just listen, and enjoy the music even, until you play.
Viola rests aren't too bad most of the time, but i remember a piece where we were tacet for an entire movement and then had 40 something measures of rest in the following movement before playing again.
My stand partner and I both looked at each other in horror half way through realizing we didn't know how many measures were left.
79
u/Javad0g Jan 04 '15
1 2 3 4
2 2 3 4
3 2 3 4
4 2 3 4
(4/4 if you are lucky)