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Example 6.3.

Your garage band would like to feature a solo by a friend who plays the alto sax. Your songwriter has written the solo as it sounds on his keyboard, so you have a C part. Alto sax is an E flat instrument; in other words, when he sees a C, he plays an E flat, the note a major sixth lower. To compensate for this, you must write the part a major sixth higher than your C part.

Figure 6.22.

(a)

(b)

In the top line, the melody is written out in concert pitch; on the second line it has been transposed to be read by an alto saxophone. When the second line is played by an alto sax player, the result sounds like the first line.

Example 6.4.

Your choral group is performing a piece that includes an optional instrumental solo for clarinet. You have no clarinet player, but one group member plays recorder, a C instrument. Since the part is written for a B flat instrument, it is written one whole step higher than it actually sounds. To write it for a C instrument, transpose it back down one whole step.

Figure 6.23.

(a) Melody for B flat clarinet

(b) Melody transposed for C instruments

Exercise 6.4.3. (Go to Solution)

There's a march on your community orchestra's program, but the group doesn't have quite enough trombone players for a nice big march-type sound. You have extra French horn players, but they can't read bass clef C parts.

Figure 6.24.

Trombone line from a march

Playable Keys

Transposition can also make music easier to play for instrumentalists, and ease of playing generally translates into more satisfying performances. For example, someone writing a transcription for band of an orchestral piece may move the entire piece from a sharp key (easier for strings) to a nearby flat key (easier for winds). A guitar player, given a piece written in A flat for keyboard, will often prefer to play it in A or G, since the fingerings for chords in those keys are easier. Also, instrumentalists, like vocalists, have ranges that need to be considered.

Example 6.5.

Your eighth grade bassoon player would like to play a Mozart minuet at a school talent show with a flute-playing friend from band. The minuet is in C, but the melody is a little too low for a flute, and the bassoonist would also be more comfortable playing higher. If you transpose the whole piece up a minor third to E flat major, both players can hit the lowest notes, and you may also find that fingerings and tunings are better in the flat key.

Figure 6.25.

(a) An excerpt from a Mozart Minuet in C. The upper part is too low for a flute player.

(b) Both young instrumentalists would be more comfortable playing in this key.

Exercise 6.4.4. (Go to Solution)

You've brought your guitar and your capo to the sing-along because you'd like to play along, too. Going through the music beforehand, you notice that your favorite song is in A flat. The pianist isn't prepared to play it in any other key, but you really don't like those thin-sounding chords in A flat. You can use your capo to raise the sound of your instrument (basically turning it into a transposing instrument in C sharp, D, D sharp, or even higher), but the less you raise it the more likely you are to still sound in tune with the piano.

Figure 6.26.

Chords in the key of A flat major are not ideal for guitarists.

Transposing at Sight

Transposing at sight means being able to read a part written in one key while playing it in another key. Like any other performance skill, it can be learned with practice, and it is a skill that will help you become an extremely versatile instrumentalist. (Vocalists transpose at sight without even thinking about it, since they don't have to worry about different fingerings.) To practice this skill, simply start playing familiar pieces in a different key. Since you know the piece, you will recognize when you make a mistake. Start with pieces written in C, and play them only a half step or whole step lower or higher than written. When this is easy, move