My (alto) student remarked this evening, “Tenor parts are weird.”
The correct response is, “You’re right. And alto parts are weird too, right? But they’re weird in the way you know.”
If you’re an alto, alto parts are normal-weird. But tenor parts are just weird. If you’re a tenor, it’s the opposite.
It’s how I know I’ve written something I like – that the parts all feel normal-weird to their sections.
Normal-weird isn’t always what you want. It’s good to venture out past the usual. But for most of the writing I do for ensembles, normal-weird is a great place to start.