MUSICAL READING AND WRITING

FOR TRANSPOSING INSTRUMENTS

By :
José Rodríguez Alvira

If we ask different instruments to play the note C we could realize that not
all instruments produce a C when playing a C. This may surprise you, but
the reality is that if we ask a B-flat clarinet to play a C we will actually hear
a B-flat.

The B flat clarinet, as well as other instruments, are called transposing

instruments because the notes they produce are higher or lower than
the written notes. Hence the name transposers since they transport the
music they play to another key.

In this article we will study the characteristics of the main transposing

instruments, how to read music written for them and how to write music
for them.

Characteristics of the main transposing instruments

What note does a transposing instrument produce if we ask it to play a

C? That depends on the instrument. In many cases the name of the
instrument tells us this. For example, the Bb clarinet produces a Bb when
playing a C. The clarinet in A, produces an A when playing a C.

In the table below we can see the main transposing instruments. In the 2nd
column we indicate the written note and in the 3rd you can see the real
sound that the instrument would produce when playing this note. In the
Transport column you can see the range that the instrument transports.
Note that this interval can be ascending or descending:

actual note
Instrument written note Transport
produced
 4th fair
Flute in G
falling

5th fair
English horn
falling

2nd day major

Clarinet in B flat
falling

minor 3rd
Clarinet in the
falling

minor 3rd
Clarinet in E flat
upward

bass clarinet 9 na major

(sib) falling

soprano
2nd day major
saxophone
falling
(sib)

alto saxophone 6th eldest

(My b) falling

tenor saxophone 9 na major

(sib) falling

Baritone 6th major

saxophone + 1 octave
(My b) falling
2nd day
Trumpet in B flat greater
falling

5th fair
French horn in F
falling
Reading music written for transposing instruments (I)

When reading music written for a transposing instrument we must keep in

mind that the actual notes produced are not the same as those that
appear written. In order to determine the real note we must know the
interval carried by the instrument. Let's take the B flat trumpet as an
example.

In the table in the previous section we saw that the B flat trumpet carries
a descending 2nd . This means that whatever you play will sound a lower
2nd D major . If the trumpeter reads a melody in C major , the effect will
be that we will hear the melody played a 2nd C major lower, that is, in B
flat major.

For example, the following melody played by a trumpet in B flat:

It would sound like this when played:

If it were played by a horn in F, which carries a descending 5th , the

resulting key would be F major and we would hear the melody a lower 5th :

Writing music for transposing instruments (I)

If we wanted both a clarinet and a flute to play this melody in unison:

We must transpose the clarinet part an ascending 2nd day in order to
produce the desired notes. A clarinetist could do this on the spot by
reading the C key fragment in the 3rd line and using a D major key
signature (a ascending 2nd D major). In the same way, the composer or
arranger could read it mentally this way when writing the part for the
clarinet:

TRANSPOSING INSTRUMENT

In music , the expression transposing instrument refers to an

instrument for which the pitch of the sounded note does not correspond
to the pitch of the written note.

If you compare the pitch of the sound emitted by a string instrument with
the pitch of the written note, you will see that in the case of the violin , the
viola and the cello they always coincide. Not so for the double bass ,
whose sounds are so low that writing them with their real height in the
bass clef would almost always require the use of additional lines, that is,
they would almost always fall below the staff , making reading
uncomfortable. That's why the double bass part is always written an
octave higher than it sounds in reality. The guitar is also transposing,
because it sounds an octave lower than what is written.

Content

 1 Wind instruments
o 1.1 Clarinet family
o 1.2 Saxophone family
o 1.3 Wind-metal family
o 1.4 Oboe family
o 1.5 Flute Family
o 1.6 Recorders
 2 Armor
 Wind instruments

Most transposing instruments belong to wind instruments , both

woodwind and brass . The general rule is that in the same family of
instruments ( clarinets , saxophones , etc.) the same written note
corresponds to the same finger position, even if it sounds different.

This allows a player to move from one instrument to another in the family
without having to memorize any fingering changes. The use of
transposing instruments facilitates execution in keys with several flats or
with several sharps , as explained below.

clarinet family

The case of the clarinet serves as an example. Its family is made up of

numerous instruments, almost all of them transposers. The soprano
clarinet , which is commonly used in symphony orchestras and jazz , is
tuned to B♭ (flat).

This means that when your score indicates a C the sound is a Bb. In
symphony orchestras the clarinet in A is also used. The choice of one
clarinet or another is already indicated by the composers themselves,
who indicate which instrument they want and, in some cases, where to
move from one instrument to the other. The C clarinet, not a transposer,
is rarely used.

There are higher clarinets, in D and E♭. Also more serious: the alto in E b,
the bass in Bb, the double bass in Bb, the bassetto horn in F.

saxophone family

In the case of the saxophone , the family is double. On the one hand, the
saxophones of the marching bands alternate the Bb with the Eb:
sopranino in Eb, soprano in Bb, alto in Eb, tenor in Bb, baritone in Eb,
bass in Bb, double bass in Eb. The saxophones that Adolphe Sax
invented for the orchestra replaced the Bb saxophone with the one tuned
in C (not transposing, except for octaves) and the Eb with the F. In
Ravel's Bolero , for example, the alto saxophone is tuned to F and the
soprano to C, although nowadays Eb and Bb saxophones are common.
Wind-metal family

Also the trumpets , flugelhorns and cornets are tuned in Bb or Eb; the
French horns or horns are in F/Bb (there is a key that allows the
instrument to function as if it were a double).

oboe family

In the oboe family, the contrabassoon sounds an octave lower than what
it reads (it is a case analogous to that of the string double bass); the
English horn is in F and the oboe d'amore is in A.

Flute Family

The piccolo, ottavino or piccolo is a transpositor. It sounds an octave

higher than what is written. Other types of orchestral flutes are
transposing: the alto flute in G sounds a fourth lower than the soprano
flute in C and the bass flute in C sounds an octave lower.

It is seen, then, that the wind family is especially rich in transposing

instruments and that in most cases the keys that can be played most
easily are those with flats. For this reason, works for symphonic band are
always written or adapted for that range of tonalities.

recorders

The recorders are a special case. Although the family alternates tunings
in C and F, they are not transposing instruments (except the octave)
because it is customary for there to be a correspondence between the
written note and the issued note. It means that when a recorder player
changes instruments, for example between soprano and alto, he must
take into account the name changes that the finger positions undergo.

Armor

The staves of transposing instruments have different key signatures than

non-transposing instruments. For example, a score in the key of Eb Major
will have three flats in the key signature of a non-transposing instrument
and only one in that of a Bb transposing instrument.
 This is because the transposing instrument already provides two of the
three required flats.

Transposition (music)

In music , the word transposition designates different notions:

Content
 1 The transposition in harmony
o 1.1 Transcription of modes
o 1.2 Transposition at first glance
o 1.3 Transposition on ancient instruments
o 1.4 Transpose function on modern keyboards
 2 Transposing instruments

3 external links

The transposition in harmony

The process of writing or playing a piece of music at a lower (lower) or

higher (higher) pitch than the original is called transposition. In popular
music, the verb "transport" is sometimes mistakenly used instead of
"transpose."

Often a song must be transcribed to a higher or lower key, for the singer
's comfort.

Schubert sometimes mocked the versions of his songs, which he

composed for contralto (the woman's deep voice) or mezzo soprano
(since he disliked the too bright voice of sopranos ). On one occasion,
after a concert, he turned to his arranger and asked: "Whose shrill little
song was that?"

Transcription of modes

A piece written in one of the ancient modes may appear, for example, in
the "transposed Doric mode", that is, with the intervals corresponding to
the Doric mode, but beginning with a different sound of D (which is the
bass note of the doric scale).
Transposition at first glance

From the Baroque until the mid-20th century, the transposition at first
sight of more or less simple scores was a practically mandatory item in
learning an instrument, especially the piano.

The student resolved this technical difficulty by training in reading the

clefs at different pitches: instead of only knowing the treble clef in the
second line and the bass clef in the fourth line, the student also had to
learn to read the clef at first sight. of C in the fourth line (also called the
tenor clef, which is sometimes used by the cello , bassoon ,
contrabassoon , and trombone ) and in the clef of C in the third line (used
by the viola ).

In this way the first line (counting from the bottom up) that corresponds to
the D in the key of C in the fourth line, is equivalent to the E in the treble
clef, the F in the key of C in the third line and the G in the bass clef.

This gave the musician great training to visualize different note

nomenclatures on the same staff, a basic skill to transpose at first glance.

It is said that Ferenç Liszt at the age of thirteen could read in any key all
the works of the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann
Sebastian Bach .

Transposition on ancient instruments

Until the middle of the 20th century there was a mechanical device in
some grand pianos and pipe organs , which allowed the player to
transpose: he played the keys normally (as they were written) but the
lateral transfer of the keyboard allowed the mechanism to sound strings
(or tubes) lower or higher. The mechanism only allowed transposition to a
few semitones.

Transpose function on modern keyboards

Since the end of the 20th century, practically all electronic keyboards (
organs , synthesizers and electronic pianos ) have a transposition
function (transpose) that allows the keyboard to sound in other keys .
Some allow only up to one octave lower or one octave higher (by
semitone jumps), but others allow up to two octaves up and down.

Transposing instruments
Main article: Transposing instrument

Certain instruments that produce a sound different from the written note
are called transposers. For example, an English horn plays a lower fifth
than what is written: in this way, if the horn player reads a G 3 , he will
press the combination of keys that, for example on an oboe (which is not
a transposing instrument) would generate the G 3 , but instead the
English horn will emit a C 3 . So in the orchestration manuals it is said that
C. YO. transposes to a lower fifth.

Explained another way: an instrument is said to be a transpositor when it

is customary to write its scores so that the lowest note of the instrument
(whatever it is) is written on the C of the score. For example, the lowest
note played by an English horn is the F on the piano. If the cornist plays
fa-sol-la-fa, fa-sol-la-fa, la-sibemol-do, starting with its lowest note and
going up, in the score he will write do-re-mi-do, do-re -mi-do, mi-fa-sun. If
the oboe player wants to play in unison with the horn player (or an octave
up or down), he can play the same notes that he hears, but when he
writes them on a sheet of music he will write down F-G-La-F. When the
two read the same score in which do-re-mi is written, the oboist actually
plays do-re-mi, but what the cornist plays sounds a fifth lower, fa-sol-la.

In practice, almost all instruments are transposers, only some of them

(such as the double bass) transpose to a lower or higher octave, which
makes it much easier to read (as if no transposition were made). Among
the few instruments that are not transposers at all are the piano and the
oboe.

Are there difficult chords in the song? Is the melody too high or low and
not easy to sing? This java applet helps you transpose music and
transform each chord to the desired key. Applet transposes each current
chord (the tonic, the dominant, the subdominant, the minor chords in the
second, third and sixth key) and an optional chord.

 Choose the original key in the " from " fields and the new key in the
" to " fields.
  You should see most of the original chords in the left column and the
corresponding new chords in the right.
 You can present the given chord by clicking the key.
 The last line serves to transpose the eligible chord.

The original key is usually determined by either the first or last chord of
the song.

WIND INSTRUMENT

Wind instruments or aerophones are a family of musical instruments

that produce sound by the vibration of the column of air inside, without
the need for strings or membranes and without the instrument itself
vibrating by itself.

The winds can be of various types and may or may not be used in the
symphony orchestra , regardless of their value. For example, the
harmonica is not a common instrument within a symphony orchestra.

Content
 1 Transposing instruments
o 1.1 The scores of the transposing instruments
o 1.2 Instruments and their transposition
 2 Sound generation
 3 Usual classification of wind instruments from an informal point of
view
 4 Formal classification of wind instruments
 Transposing instruments

The common practice in the study and performance of wind instruments

has given rise to certain customs that are intended to try to facilitate the
learning or reading of written music for many of them. The name
"transpositors" applies to a set of wind instruments in which the note that
is read and played refers to a certain position of the keys or holes of the
instrument rather than a sound. Among different instruments of the same
family, the same positions receive the same names and are written the
same in their respective scores. However, the sounds produced by these
positions played by the player on different instruments are different
sounds on each one. This makes reading easier as long as the scores
they have to read are adequately prepared for them specifically.

The term "transposing instruments" reflects a point of view according to

which the instrument can be considered to be producing a note other
than the one being played because the instrument "transports" or
"transposes" the note being played, to a sound with a name different from
that of the position of the keys or holes with which said sound is being
produced. The interval that separates the two notes is called the
"transposing interval of the instrument." Thus, the position of the keys or
holes receives one name and the sound receives another, located a
certain interval above or below. The interval from C to the actual note that
sounds when the position being played is C is the instrument's
transposing interval.

The player of a transposing instrument does not necessarily have to be

aware of this transposing interval, at least when playing solo and
particularly those who begin with the instrument. Furthermore, the
realization that the note they are producing is not the same as the one
they are trying to play can produce unnecessary confusion in the first
years of study.

When a transposing instrument reads a piece in conjunction with other

instruments, if one of them (such as the piano) is not a transposing
instrument, the pianist's score has the notes of the wind instrument
written at their actual pitch to avoid a discrepancy of sound between what
you read and what you listen to.
 This instrumentalist must take this into account when indicating to the
player of transposing instruments the name of a note in his score, since
he must apply to this note a transposition in the opposite direction to the
interval of this instrument, so that it agrees with the note that he is
reading. .

The transposition interval of the instrument is part of its full name, so for
example the "clarinet in A" is distinguished from the "clarinet in B flat"
because its transposition interval is different.

The scores of the transposing instruments

For the system of transposing instruments to be advantageous according

to the purpose that has been described, it is essential that the score be
specially prepared for each particular instrument, according to its
transposing interval. The score of an instrument must be transposed or
transposed an interval equal to and opposite to that of the instrument.
Thus, for example, the score of a clarinet in B flat (whose transposition
interval is a major second down) will be transposed or transposed a
major second up, so that the positions that the instrumentalist plays
produce the desired sound after the double ltransposition: that of your
score and that which the instrument applies.

The desired sound is "Do" The score has been shifted up a major
second, indicating "D" The instrument is in B flat and applies a
descending major second interval The sound obtained is "Do".

When a composer has to create a score (for example: orchestral) in

which transposing instruments intervene, concert tuning is normally used,
which is what applies the real names to all the sounds. The conductor's
score may be in concert tuning (to correspond to the actual sounds) or in
transposed tuning for each instrument (to make it easier for musicians to
instruct them in the same notes as their respective parts).

Instruments and their transposition

Transposers are members of the saxophone family, clarinets, trumpets,

horns and trombones, and the English horn.

The oboe, bassoon and flute are not transposers, and the tuba is not
usually a transpositor (although its tuning is denominated with a
transposition interval). In these instruments the note that is read is a
position that produces a real sound with the same name.

There are families that have an instrument that they transport, such as
the oboe (the only one in their family that they do not transport), although
as a rule they do not transport it. There is also the clear example of the
bassoon; Both bassoon and contrabassoon are tuned to C, however
there is one instrument, the bassoon, that plays high F (now out of use).

Sound generation

Gisle Johansen , tenor saxophone .

A wind instrument can consist of one or several pipes. A column of air is

formed inside the tube, which the musician makes vibrate by blowing
through a mouthpiece or a reed placed at the end of said tube. In the
case of the accordion and harmonium , the player's breathing is replaced
by a bellows of different types.

The pitch or pitch of the note is determined by the length of the tube,
which determines the length of the vibrating air column.

The scale of different heights ( notes ) is obtained:

 Shortening the sound length of the tube by means of holes opened

along it. In this case, what is shortened is the "effective" length of
the tube, not the actual one. For example, the flute and other
woodwind instruments.
 Shortening or lengthening the sound length of the tube by means of
valves or pistons that connect additional segments or "handles." For
example, the French horn and other brass instruments, except the
trombone.
 Lengthening the tube by means of a sliding mechanism (such as the
rod trombone ).
  Causing the air column to generate different high harmonics . For
example, the natural trunk

These methods are combined in instruments, for example: The trumpet

has pistons that add handles to the tube, but often there is a special key
that works like the stem of a trombone. Furthermore, for each position of
the pistons a very extensive series of harmonics is obtained. This means
that the same notes can be produced (with slight differences) according
to one method or another, as a different harmonic number by also varying
the position of the pistons. The choice of a particular combination
depends on the exact sound you are looking for and also on the comfort
that allows you to play a certain passage more or less easily.

"The Orchestra of the Opera" by Edgar Degas , 1870 .

Usual classification of wind instruments from an informal point of
view

Wind instruments fall into three categories:

 Brass instruments or "metals" are called that because they are

made of metal. They are also called mouthpiece instruments
because they have a characteristic mouthpiece in their embouchure.

 Wooden instruments or "woods" are called that because they are

made of wood. The vast majority of current wooden instruments use
plastic resins, in part or in whole, which gives them beneficial
benefits.
  Organs : It is a category that usually includes only the organ ,
although instruments such as the Organito or others that no longer
exist today such as the Calliope or the Hydraulis could be included.

This division lends itself to confusion, as it classifies within wooden

instruments some that are currently made of metal. However, these
instruments maintain their sound and their timbral characteristic, which is
why they continue to be typified more by their sound than by their
material.

Formal classification of wind instruments

The most widespread formal classification is that of Curt Sachs and Erich
von Hornbostel, from 1914. Wind instruments are called "aerophones"
and are subdivided into the following groups:

 Bevel instruments : all flutes (such as the transverse and the

recorder or beak) and the bevel organ pipes belong to this group,
although a section is reserved for the latter later on.

 Single reed instruments : clarinets and saxophones, as well as all

their variants, belong to this group.

 Double reed instruments : this group includes oboes and bassoons,

as well as those of their family such as the English horn or the
shawm.

 Embouchure instruments : includes those commonly called "brass

wind", that is, trumpet , French horn , trombone , euphonium , tuba
and their counterparts such as the serpentón or the cornetto .

 Instruments with air tank : These instruments can be of two types: 1-

with tubes (pipe organ), or 2-without tubes (accordion).

There are 5 points:

A)  Vibratory characteristics of wind instruments Every wind instrument

is provided with a special device that vibrates the air that is blown in.

B) In most instruments, such a device is associated with a tube, the air

inside it vibrates when the vibrations of the blown air are communicated
to it.
C) The devices used to obtain the vibration of the air that is blown are:

C.1) Mouth devices, this consists of an opening. It can be beveled and

lateral (example: flute). Essential elements are: a conduction that
channels the air and forces it to exit through a narrow slot called lumen.
An affiliated edge very close to the slot that produces the vibration of the
air when it breaks against it.

It can be of 3 types: simple free, simple  C.2) Swing-tongue and double-

tongue device. The reeds are flexible slats of cane in some cases and
metal in others, which are held at one end.

a) simple free: Example: harmoni and accordion. It covers openings that

are slightly larger than itself, so it moves in and out.

b) simple flap: It covers an opening somewhat smaller than it, and

therefore collides with the edges of said opening in each vibrating
movement.

c) double reed: It consists of 2 sheets separated from each other enough

to be able to vibrate. The blown air causes the reed or reeds to vibrate.
This vibration alternately opens and closes the passage of air, which
gives rise to its vibration.

mouthpiece: small container with a curvilinear shape  C.3) Mouthpiece

device against which the exerciser presses his almost closed lips that act
as if they were tongues. It gives rise to the vibration of the blown air, and
as a consequence, that of the air inside the tube. (There are 2 vibrations)

D) The tubes to which the described devices are associated are,

depending on the instruments: rectangular, conical, cylindrical, or with a
conical and cylindrical part.

E) The tubes can be open or closed. The difference is that the former
have free air passage through the opposite end of their inlet, and the
latter have it covered. Such a difference influences several aspects of
your vibrational system.

the winds of the instrument