 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Rae
Date: 2001-12-16 15:35
Okay, I think that I understand transposeing a little bit better now. But, I wanted to post this as a new topic, that way it would be on the 1st page of the bulletin board. So, if the note is natural, then you just move up a step and if it is sharp or flat than you add 2 flats to the key sig. and those flats always cancel the sharps???? I have no idea, I'm just guessing here. So if that is correct then how can a concert B flat become a C. I am so confused! My director tried to explain this to me on Friday, but I still don't understand. Does this mean that I am a total dumb bell? PLEASE HELP, AGAIN!!!
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-12-16 15:36
Rae wrote:
>
> Okay, I think that I understand transposeing a little bit
> better now. But, I wanted to post this as a new topic, that
> way it would be on the 1st page of the bulletin board.
Please don't do that again for that reason. If you have a new question (as you do) please just ask the question in the title.
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Author: William
Date: 2001-12-16 16:12
To transpose a C part to Bb clarinet, you need to move each note up a whole step, which is also two half steps (one whole step=two half steps). To help visualize this, make a quick study of your piano keyboard. The distance from key to key is a half step (chromatic). If you skip a key, then that is a whole step (diatonic). To "sound any note on the piano keyboard on your clarinet, you must play the note two half steps (a whole step) above. Example: To play piano Bb (concert Bb) you must play two half steps above the black Bb key, which if you count carefully--Bb to B to C--will be C natural. So the piano Bb becomes a C on your clarinet. Try this with other notes and I think you will understand. Bottom line--to sound a concert note on your Bb clarinet, you must play the note two half steps (one whole step) higher on your clarinet than the concert note you are trying to sound. Piano C--clarinet D; piano F--clarinet G; piano Eb--clarinet F, "etc,etc,etc!!!!!"--the King from The King and I. Good Clarineting, and transposing.
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Author: ~ jerry
Date: 2001-12-16 19:14
What are concert notes? Would that be music written for piano? Is piano music written using only treble cleff?
How does one transpose music written for piano.............as simpley as described in the previous "Transposing" post?
While on the subject_______
Is there a simple computer program available for transcribing .......say, piano (or other misic) to clarinet?
~ jerry
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Author: diz
Date: 2001-12-17 04:00
Jerry - you might just find something like Mosaic (Mark of the Unicorn) helpful, bearing in mind it's written only for Macintosh computers (it's a wonderful, and intuitive music notation package). It's transpose dialogue is a sinch to use. Also, Finale works too, but I find it a little tricky to use.
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Author: Jim E.
Date: 2001-12-17 04:17
Jerry,
Piano music is written (usually) on a grand staff (a pair of staves) using both the treble cleft (usually for the right hand) and the bass cleft (usually played by the left.) Instruments in concert pitch (C) include all keyboard and mallett instruments, flute, oboe, bassoon, recorder, strings, (and everything I've forgotten!)
Almost all notation software makes short work of transposition, but there is a major catch to it, the piece must first be entered into the program, a potentially laborous process, especially with a complicated work. The result though is a professional looking printed product, a definite advantage to someone like me whose music manuscript is as unreadable as his handwriting!
A digital piano, keyboard, or organ usually has a transposing feature and can do it without any attention from the musicians. My son and I played a few pieces for my Sunday school class to get them in the holiday spirit this morning, me on clarinet, and he on organ. We set the switch on the Allen organ to transpose down one step, and then played normally from the same piece of music. The Allen did all the work. The kids seemed to enjoy it!
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2001-12-17 14:49
Rae - Since no one has corrected your assumption of signature change on transposing from C to our Bb, the simple way to read-transpose is "play one note higher and ADD 2 Sharps, or Subtract 2 Flats from the written signature" [not vice versa] . This works also for transp. from F [french horn] to Eb [alto cl] . Our local church musical directors, with orchestras, have the transposing software for choir-orch. use, ask yours. Luck, Don
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Author: Emms
Date: 2001-12-17 17:24
The clarinet itself is a transposing instrument. It is in the key of Bb. Basically when you finger a C on the clarinet, you actually are playing a Bb (as on piano or any instrument in the key of C (listed above in Jim's writing). Because the clarinet already plays in the key of Bb, when you play with, say a flute, the flute has to play 2 flats more to get to the same key as the clarinet.
If you think about the clarinet playing a C, but actually producing a Bb, the flute has to play Bb to play the same note as the clarinet. So, the flute always has to play a tone lower than the clarinet to actually play the same sounding note
Noteworthy is a good music writing program. You can type in the correct notes - gets faster with practise, and then transpose to any key you like.
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Author: Todd W.
Date: 2001-12-17 20:37
Rae --
This can be a confusing subject when it's encountered for the first time. There is a lot of good information above. Let me see if I can summarize some of it.
When there is a WRITTEN note (let us say C) and you play it with the fingering for your instrument, if the note SOUNDS the SAME as the written note, then your instrument is a CONCERT PITCH (or "C" ) instrument. Examples are piano, flute, and oboe.
If the note SOUNDS DIFFERENT from the written pitch, then you have a TRANSPOSING instrument.
The Bb clarinet is a transposing instrument. When we see a written C, and play the fingering for C, the note SOUNDS as Bb. The sound is one whole step lower than the written pitch.
Therefore, if we want the SOUND of the played noted to be the same as the WRITTEN note, we need to think (and finger) the note that is one whole step higher than the written note. For example, to have a written C sound as C, we need to finger/play a D. For an Eb to sound as written, we need to play F. For a G# to sound as written, we need to play A#.
If we want to RE-WRITE a concert instrument part (say the flute part) so that we can play it without having to transpose as we go, then we will still need to write each note one whole step higher. For example, let's take a part written in the key of C (for simplicity, we will only consider major keys), which contains no sharps or flats, and think of transposing the C scale:
C D E F G A B C
We would re-write it:
D E F# G A B C# D
Note that the re-written passage contains two sharps. The key of D contains two more sharps than the key of C. So if we didn't want to have to add a sharp sign in front of every F and C in the re-written passage, we could just change the KEY SIGNATURE. Then when we saw an F or a C in the re-written part, we would play F# and C#.
Similarly, if the original part was written in the key of Eb, which has 3 flats, the scale:
Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb
would become:
F G A Bb C D E F
The clarinet part is now actually in the key of F, which has one flat, and we can use that as the key signature. All the A-flats and E-flats would be written without the flat sign in front of them, since they are now A natural and E natural in the new key.
So, it's in changing the key signature that the "add 2 sharps, or subtract 2 flats" rule comes into play.
To restate:
If you're transposing "on the fly" playing a Bb clarinet and reading a concert key part, you need to think and finger the note that is one whole step higher than the written part.
If you're re-writing the part, you need to write the note that is one whole step higher than the original part; but if you also change the key signature (by adding two sharps or subtracting two flats), then you can avoid writing in so many sharps and flats, as the key signature change will account for most of them. (Accidentals--sharps and flats that are not in the key signature--will still be accidentals in the new part. For example, an Ab in a concert part written in the key of C will become a Bb in the re-written part which will be in the key of D.)
I hope this is helpful.
Todd W.
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