 The Fingering Forum
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Author: Caren
Date: 2003-01-29 23:55
I hope this doesn't open up a can of worms, but I'm wondering...Bari and alto saxes are said to be Eb instruments, and tenor/sop. sax, trumpet, clarinet, etc. are said to be in Bb, (please let me know of other instruments that are in different keys), but my question is this: I still don't understand how they get the Eb and the Bb, and what they are used in relation to. I understand the whole 'up a whole step' transposition stuff, but I still don't understand where the Bb and the Eb (and other keys for other instruments) come from. Is it a certain concert pitch? Can someone please explain this?
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Author: Dark Luke
Date: 2003-01-30 00:12
Bb instrument = you play a written C on that instrument, it'll make a sound of Bb.
Eb instrument = if you do the above in this instrument you get an Eb sound.
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Author: Theboy_2
Date: 2003-01-30 00:45
there is lots of other instruments pitched in different keys. Clarinet there is 3 that i know of A, Bb, Eb and. Sax Bb, Eb, F, and C. Trumpet, well there is tons, A, Bb, C, Eb. but i don't know how to answer your question on instrument keys.
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Author: Gnomon
Date: 2003-01-30 07:19
Dark Luke's answer is right. Each instrument has a note that the player calls C. On saxophones and clarinets, for example, it is the one where the thumb and first three fingers of the left hand cover holes while the right hand is unoccupied.
If this note sounds as a concert pitch Eb, then the instrument is called an Eb instrument.
Saxophones comes mainly in Eb and Bb varieties, but there is also such a thing as a C Melody saxophone, which sounds in C.
Clarinets come in:
Ab (Italian sopranino)
Eb (normal sopranino, alto, contra-alto)
D (special sopranino for orchestra)
C (for early classical music)
Bb (soprano, bass)
A (orchestral soprano)
F (known as a Basset Horn)
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Author: finlandia_flautist
Date: 2003-01-30 08:06
i hope i don't stuff anything up here but the way i think of it now is that when i play C on my flute and someone else plays a C on some weird non-C instrument (all those that were mentioned) then their C will sound like the flute's Eb or whatever keyed instrument it is. so that way i think that all the other instruments are 'wrong' because they don't sound like C when they play C. what i don't understand is why they can't make them all in C?
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Author: Carolyn
Date: 2003-01-30 11:50
I think that's been explained many times before, in great detail...you might want to look at older posts.
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Author: Gnomon
Date: 2003-01-30 11:52
>>what i don't understand is why they can't make them all in C?
There are some good, but not very good, reasons for having instruments transposing rather than making them all play in C.
For example, the clarinet which comes in Bb, A and Eb versions (plus a whole lot of others which are very rare). If each of these was made to play in concert pitch, then you'd have to learn three different sets of fingering, one for each different type of instrument. Instead, a clarinetist can just learn one and be able to play all the others, relying on the music publisher to do all the work of transposing the music.
But why is Bb the standard?
That's purely for historical reasons. The C clarinet was once much more common than it is now and was the standard. We could now rename the fingering on a standard Bb, so that the note which sounds Bb was called Bb, and all the others accordingly, but why bother?
Even flautists occasionally encounter transposing instruments. The alto flute is transposed by a fourth. I'm sure you'll be glad when the time comes to play one that you don't have to relearn the fingering.
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Author: sÖmeone
Date: 2003-01-30 15:23
theres are a lot of reasons for that
another one is concerned on the scores
if all instruments would be in c the scores will be hard to compose and your score will look miserable due to all the key signatures and stuff
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Author: Dee
Date: 2003-01-30 22:16
One reason to not rename the fingerings on say a Bb clarinet is that all woodwinds are similar (but not identical) in fingering so it makes it easier for doublers who might play several instruments.
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