A musical instrument which sounds at a higher or lower pitch than that at which its music is notated. There are various practical and historical reasons for this, the main one being to regularize the fingering of wind instruments, so that a player can change from one size (and pitch) of an instrument to another, without having to adopt a different fingering system. In the modern orchestra the main transposing instruments are as follows (sound level above/below written pitch is shown in parentheses): piccolo (one octave above), cor anglais (a perfect 5th below), clarinet in A (a minor 3rd below), clarinet in B? (a major 2nd below), horn in F (a perfect 5th below), trumpet in B? (a major 2nd below), celesta (one octave above), and double bass (one octave below).
A transposing instrument is a musical instrument whose music is written at a pitch different from concert pitch. The difference between a transposing instrument and a non-transposing instrument is only in whether or not the music is written at its sounding (concert) pitch.
Transposing harmoniums or electronic keyboards with a transpose function can also play a different set of pitches from what is notated, but these are not usually called transposing instruments. The instruments discussed in this article, on the other hand, have set pitches but merely do not read their music at concert pitch. Some instruments belong to a family of instruments of different sizes (and, therefore, sounding at different pitches), such as the clarinet or the saxophone family. For example, the note that is written as middle C for the alto saxophone and the tenor saxophone is fingered the same on each instrument, but the alto's sounding pitch (E♭) will be a fourth higher than the tenor's (B♭). If an instrument has a range that is too high or too low for their music to be easily written on bass or treble clef, the music may be written either an octave higher or lower than it sounds, in order to reduce the use of leger lines. Instruments that “transpose at the octave” are not playing in a different key from concert pitch instruments, but sound an octave higher or lower than written. Because of tone quality issues, some C (concert pitch) instruments — saxophones in C (the C melody and C soprano) and the C soprano clarinet, for example — have declined in popularity in favor of the currently more standard versions (B♭ soprano and tenor sax, E♭ alto and baritone;
Families of instruments
Transposing instruments are often members of a family of instruments that are identical in every way but for their size. It is desirable for these instruments all to have the same fingering for each written pitch, so that a player who wishes to switch between different instruments in a family does not have to learn new fingerings for each one.
Instruments that transpose this way are often referred to as being in a certain key, such as the A clarinet (clarinet in A), or the F horn (horn in F). Specifically, the given key tells which note is the sounding pitch when the player reads a note written as C. A player of a B♭ clarinet who reads a C on the music will sound a B♭, while an F horn player will read the same note and sound an F. For example, clarinets come in various sizes and hence pitches (A, B♭, C, E♭), but the music is transposed appropriately for each size of instrument so that the player can maintain the same fingerings for the same written notes. For reasons of timbre or to minimize switching between different instruments, expert clarinet players sometimes use a different instrument than their part calls for — usually substituting the B♭ for the A or vice-versa — transposing the parts at sight instead. contrabass clarinet in B♭) some members of the oboe family (oboe d'amore in A, cor anglais in F) the saxophone family (either B♭ or E♭) most brass instruments, notably the trumpet and horn. As a result, all horn music was written as if for a fundamental pitch of C, but the crooks could make a single instrument a transposing instrument into almost any key. While an F tranposition became standard in the early 19th century, composers differed in whether they expected the instruments to transpose down a fifth or up a fourth, especially when written in treble clef.
There are a few families of instruments which have instruments of various sizes and ranges, but whose music is rarely or never transposed. The higher members of the family (soprano and above) transpose at the octave, as do the bass instruments (bass and great bass).
Transposition at the octave
Some instruments transpose at the octave in order to make their music easier to read. These constitute a special case among transposing instruments since their written C, for example, still sounds as a concert C, just an octave away from the written pitch. They are therefore in the same key as concert pitch instruments, but their music is notated an octave higher or lower than concert pitch.
Music for the contrabassoon and the double bass is written on the bass clef, one octave higher than concert pitch. If these instruments did not transpose at the octave, many of their pitches would have to be written with leger lines above or below the staff, making reading comparatively cumbersome.
Tone and sound quality
It was found that sometimes instruments sounded better when built in certain keys. This is also true of the B♭ trumpet, as well as several other instruments, such as the French horn and the trombone (which, outside the United Kingdom Brass band tradition, is not treated as a transposing instrument, although its basic overtone series is B♭ or E♭). If it is a transposing instrument, the note written as C sounds as the note of the instrument's transposition - on an E♭ alto saxophone, that note sounds as a concert E♭, on an A clarinet, that note sounds as a concert A.
Brass instruments, when played with no valves engaged (or, for trombones, with the slide all the way in) play a series of notes which form the overtone series based on some fundamental pitch. Trombones are an exception - they do not transpose, instead reading at concert pitch, although tenor and bass trombones are pitched in B♭, alto trombone in E♭.
In the cases above, there is some reason to consider a certain pitch the "home" note of an instrument, and that pitch is usually written as C for that instrument.
It is interesting to note that, with the exception of the bass trombone, all of the instruments in United Kingdom brass band music (including cornet, flugelhorn, tenor horn, euphonium, baritone horn, tenor trombone, and even the bass tuba) are notated in treble clef as transposing instruments in either B♭ or E♭.
On the conductor's score
In conductors' scores, most often the music for transposing instruments is written in transposed form, just as in the players' parts;
List of instruments by transposition
Instruments in C (15ma) — sounds two octaves above what is written Glockenspiel Instruments in D♭ (high) — sounds a minor ninth above what is written Piccolo in D♭ Instruments in C (8va) — sounds an octave above what is written Piccolo Celeste Soprano (descant), sopranino, bass, great bass recorder Tin whistle Xylophone Instruments in B♭ (high) — sounds a minor seventh above what is written Piccolo trumpet (may also be tuned to A) Instruments in A♭ (high) — sounds a minor sixth above what is written A♭ piccolo clarinet Instruments in E♭ (high) — sounds a minor third above what is written E♭ soprano clarinet Sopranino saxophone Instruments in D (high) — sounds a major second above what is written D soprano clarinet D trumpet (may also be tuned to E♭) A selection of Instruments in C (unison) — sounds as written; these are non-transposing instruments Piano Vibraphone Flute Oboe Bassoon Alto trombone Tenor trombone when written in tenor or bass clef Bass trombone Euphonium or baritone horn when written in bass clef Tuba Violin Viola Cello Instruments in B♭ — sounds a major second below what is written B♭ soprano clarinet Soprano saxophone Trumpet Cornet Flugelhorn Instruments in A — sounds a minor third below what is written Oboe d'amore A soprano clarinet A Trumpet Instruments in G — sounds a perfect fourth below what is written Alto flute so-called Turkish clarinet Instruments in F — sounds a perfect fifth below what is written English horn Horn Basset horn Instruments in E♭ — sounds a major sixth below what is written Alto clarinet Alto saxophone Tenor horn Instruments in C (8vb) — sounds an octave below what is written Guitar Bass flute Double bass Bass guitar Contrabassoon Instruments in B♭ (low) — sounds an octave and a major second below what is written B♭ Bass clarinet Tenor saxophone Euphonium when written in treble clef (British brass band music) Baritone horn when written in treble clef (British brass band music) tenor trombone when written in treble clef (British brass band music) Instruments in A (low) — sounds an octave and a minor third below what is written A Bass clarinet (obsolete) Instruments in E♭ (low) — sounds an octave and a major sixth below what is written E♭ Contra-alto clarinet Baritone saxophone E♭ Tuba when written in treble clef (British brass band music) Instruments in B♭ (super low) — sounds two octaves and a major second below what is written B♭ Tuba when written in treble clef (British brass band music) B♭ contrabass clarinet Bass saxophoneNote: Many instruments read different clefs upon different occasions, also brass instruments can often be written as transposing instruments in various times depending on the ensemble (usually in B♭ or E♭ plus adjusting for the octave of the instrument).
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