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Transposing a score

Transposition is a function very much used in music. The principle is to move a melody or a whole passage with accompaniment, higher or lower in pitch. The passage sounds then higher or lower than the original but keeps its original structure. The transposed melody is recognized but identified as higher or lower than the original tone.

Transposition is much used in the case of transposing instruments. These instruments have the particular characteristic that when a note of a score is read and played on them, the resulting sound is a note which is different from the note on the score. For a B flat clarinet, if the score shows the C note, the player activates the C keys on his instrument, but the final sound is a B flat!

Complicated? Indeed. It adds a complexity.

Useless? Yes and no. The advantage is to use the same keys for several instruments of the same family, considering the structure of these instruments, which are wind instruments (clarinet, trumpet, saxophone…). According to the complexity introduced, it was just moving a difficulty to another field. It is therefore subjective and relative. In any case, this situation is commonly accepted by everyone and it would be difficult to change it: all the concerned musicians should learn new note conventions, all written scores should be modified and all music courses about these instruments should be adapted. Thus it is humanly impossible. So we keep it...!

The result of such a system is that when you write for a B flat clarinet, as you hear one tone lower than what is written, the musician must read a score that is written one tone higher, in order to adjust and stay in harmony with the other instruments. There is where the transposition function is very much used.

How do you transpose with Pizzicato? There are two possible methods.

The first method is to select the measures to be transposed. If you want to transpose the whole score, you can select the Select all item in the Edit menu. Then select Edit, Transpose... A dialog box lets you to choose the transposition interval and type of interval. See the following lesson for more details: www.arpegemusic.com/manual34/EN460.htm To better understand the interval types, read the following page: www.arpegemusic.com/manual34/EN450.htm

Let us take an example. You have a score for violin (which is not a transposing instrument) and piano. But you want the melody to be played with a B flat clarinet. The piano score does not have to be changed, but the melody will have to be transposed one major second higher for the B flat clarinet.

By using this transposition method, the key signature (flats or sharps at the clef location) remains unchanged. Thus some notes will bear accidentals. For example, if you have a part in C major, transposing it one tone higher will give a part in D major and thus both F and C notes will have sharps on them. You can then change the key signatures (with 2 sharps) in Pizzicato and the individual sharps will be cleared and set to the key signature.

The second method changes the key signature and transposes the whole score directly. Let us take the example of a horn in F. When it reads a C, this instrument produces an F note (a fifth lower than C). If you have a score for cello (which is not a transposing instrument) and want to make it play with a horn in F, it should be transposed a perfect fifth higher. A piece written in major C will have to be transposed in G major, therefore with F# at the key, in order to compensate for the natural transposition of the horn. You can apply a change of the key signature with the Pizzicato key signature tool and select the new key signature in the menu (G), which will add a sharp to it. Check the box "Transpose notes" and Pizzicato will transpose your score.

According to the interval of the transposing instrument, it is possible that you must modify the octave with the first method, because Pizzicato will transpose the notes to the nearest octave.