The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Music Theory

230 Par t 6:Arranging

Of course, you can save yourself a lot of time and trouble by just telling the

drummer how many measures there are in each section of your song and letting

him (or her) make up his (or her) own part. That’s particularly common when

you’re arranging for a rock or jazz band.

Transposition

Many instruments read one note and play another—at least compared to con-

cert pitch (the actual notes as played on a piano). For example, a trumpet reads

a C but sounds a B
. These so-called transposing instrumentsneed to have their

music transposed to a different key to play in the same concert key as all the

other instruments.

Let’s take the trumpet again. Because the trumpet always sounds a major second

lower than written, you need to write the trumpet part a major second (two half

steps) higherthan the pitch you actually want to hear. So if you want the trum-

pet to play a concert C, you have to write a D; the trumpet reads D, sounds C,

and everything is right with the world.

You learned about transposition back in Chapter 14, and you’ll need to apply

those skills here. That’s because there are a lot of instruments that don’t play in

concert key; all the following instruments need their parts transposed.

Most transposing instruments fall into three groups, and are named according

to how they relate to C:

◆B
instruments, like the trumpet, sound a major second below their writ-

ten pitch. That is, they’re written a major second above the concert pitch.

So if one of these instruments plays a C, it comes out sounding as B
in

concert pitch.

◆E
instruments, like the alto sax, sound a major sixth below (or a minor

third above) their written pitch. That is, they’re written a major sixth

above the concert pitch. So if one of these instruments plays a C, it comes

out sounding as E
in concert pitch.

◆F instruments, such as the French horn, sound a perfect fifth below their

written pitch. That is, they’re written a perfect fifth above the concert

pitch. So if one of these instruments plays a C, it comes out sounding as F

in concert pitch.

The following table details which instruments fall into which group:

Transposing Instruments

Transposition Range Sounds Instruments

B-flat instruments Major second lower Bass clarinet (actually a

than written Major ninth lower)

Bass saxophone

Clarinet (B
)