Transposing Instruments
You have seen re-writing music between clefs; usually known as transcription (rewriting music in a different clef, but keeping it at the same pitch). For example, music for the viola is written and read in the alto clef, and so we must transcribe melodies for the viola into that clef. You’ve also seen transposition by octave, on the same clef and between clefs. The following section deals with the practicalities of transposition for instruments where the given note and the played note have different names. This is extremely common and is an everyday skill for any musician working with instruments.
WHY DOES TRANSPOSITION EXIST? Through various historical incidents and fashions, the music for certain orchestral and band instruments are today written at a transposed interval. The story behind this is interesting, but we will cover it in class later if time permits. It is something that just is the way it is – some instruments are written in Concert Pitch, and some are written at a transposed pitch. It’s important that you learn the transposition intervals, however. You should memorise the following:
Transposing instruments always have a key in the name, for example a Clarinet in B . To work out the interval of transposition, you insert this key into the following sentence: “If I write you a C, you play me a “. In the above example, you would say “If I write you a C, you play me a B “.
All instruments transpose downwards except the piccolo and certain special/unusual instruments. Instruments in C do not transpose – the interval of transposition is a unison.
Complete the following table:
Name of Instrument Written note Sounds as
Clarinet in B C B below
Clarinet in A C
Trumpet in B C
Trumpet in C C
Bass Clarinet. Same for C B below plus an octave (Tenor) Saxophone in B
Now complete the same table but on the stave:
Name of Instrument Written note Sounds as
Clarinet in B
Clarinet in A
Trumpet in B
Trumpet in C
(French) Horn in F
(Alto) Saxophone in E
Bass Clarinet / (Tenor) Saxophone in B
Why do you think the last example uses the bass clef?
However, when transposing music for a particular instrument, it is not only the note C that we have to transpose – it is everything!
A better way of looking at transposition is not so much the names of the notes as the interval of transposition.
Using the above stave examples, calculate the transposition intervals of the given notes and complete this new table:
Name of Instrument Interval of Transposition
Clarinet in B Major 2nd
Clarinet in A
Trumpet in B
Trumpet in C
(French) Horn in F
(Alto) Saxophone in E
Bass Clarinet. Same for
(Tenor) Saxophone in B
What this means is that, for a Clarinet in B to play a given piece of music, every note must be written a Major 2nd above its sounding pitch. For example, if we need the following melody played:
Then we need to write the following notes for the clarinettist to read:
Observe how every note is written exactly a Major 2nd below each given note in the original melody.
Practise some transposition – re-write the given extract for the following instruments:
Trumpet in B
Clarinet in A
Horn in F
Tip: note how the last note of the exercise is an F-double-sharp! Remember that, when transposing, the interval of transposition must remain constant. This means that you must carefully count your lines and spaces and use the appropriate enharmonic note names to correctly specify the written note.
I can just feel the fear already…
You need to just get cool with two things: (1) enharmonic notes and (2) ledger lines. Seriously, you are all matrics now and you know how these things work, so it’s just a matter of practice. Don’t approach them from a place of fear but rather imagine that you have been trained for this and now you have the opportunity to demonstrate what you can do. Transposition is marked note by note, so you must just relax and answer note by note. Literally: one note at a time.
But wait, there’s more. Naturally, it works both ways…
Yes, it is equally common for us beastly teachers to ask you to re-write something at concert pitch (in other words, the true pitches. i.e. C is C, D is D etc) which has been written for a transposing instrument. Obviously, the procedure now works in reverse – i.e. you must now transpose the notes DOWN by the transposition interval.
Practise by transposing the following given melodies into CONCERT PITCH.
Written for Horn in F:
Written in Concert Pitch:
Written for Clarinet in B :
Written in Concert Pitch:
Still to come: transposing with a Key Signature, transcribing between 2 transposing instruments, transposing clefs, octave-transposing instruments