#Transpose in finale notepad code#

Thus, if I want to hear a C, I must write a D (a whole step higher) if I want to hear an E, I must write an F#, and so on. For Bb trumpet, then, the player plays everything a whole step lower than written. Bb is a whole tone (major 2nd) lower than C. You will know what that interval is by taking the key of the instrument and calculating the interval from C.įor example, let’s take trumpet in Bb.

#Transpose in finale notepad code#

You don’t need to know some dark secret code to do this-just some information about the instrument, some basic knowledge of melodic intervals, and some simple arithmetic.Įach of the different keys (Bb, Eb, F) requires writing the part at a different interval from the actual pitch desired. The most common transposing instruments likely to appear in church orchestras are the following: The player was expected to insert the correct piece of tubing, thus “transposing” the sounds from the written key of C to whatever actual key was called for. The player’s part, however, was usually notated in the key of C with instructions like these at the beginning: “Horn in F,” “Trumpet in Bb,” “Horn in Eb,” and so on. They would pull one out and replace it with another between movements as the key of a piece changed. French horn players were known to have a rack standing next to them with several “crooks” (pieces of tubing) of different sizes hanging from it. In order to play in different keys, one either used a different instrument altogether, or replaced one piece of the instrument’s tubing with another of a different length, thus changing the foundational (fundamental) pitch of the instrument. Each player could only play in one key, using breath and embouchure to play the various overtones naturally occurring within that key. The use of transposing instruments or, more accurately, transposing notation, dates from a time when only natural tones were available-until around 1800-largely before instruments had valves. The reasons for this practice are both traditional and historical. There are also certain instruments whose parts are written an octave higher (string bass) or an octave lower (piccolo), but these are not “true” transposing instruments-so we won’t worry about them right now.

Most of these instruments come from the woodwind and brass families. Simply put, a transposing instrument is one for which music is notated at a higher or lower pitch than the actual sound. And that’s actually not as complicated as it seems. The answer is you need to provide her with a transposed part. Instruments that have their notes written differently than they actually sound? Up a step? Down a fifth? What’s that all about?ĭon’t panic! If you’re one of those worship directors who is primarily a vocalist or pianist and you must deal with a trumpet player who wants to play on Sunday but says she “can’t transpose”-this article is for you. For singers, violinists, pianists, and flute players, on the other hand, it may seem like some strange secret code. For trumpet, clarinet, and French horn players, transposing is a normal part of playing their instrument.