What is concert pitch, and why and how do instruments transpose?
Brad Harrison Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t1FNTQHpAc

Transkript (automatisch erstellt)

0:00 concert pitch and transposing instruments everything you need to know so you don't fail music class in seven minutes if you're playing the piano and
0:06 you're asked to play a C you just play a C but if you're playing the trumpet we have to have a talk so why is a C on the piano different from a C on the trumpet
0:14 the alto sax or the English horn it all has to do with transposition there are two basic categories of instruments as far as transposition is concerned there
0:21 are concert pitch instruments also known as non transposing instruments and transposing instruments for non transposing instruments the sounding
0:28 pitch is the same as the written pitch if you ask for a C you'll get a C in fact concert pitch instruments are said to be in the key of C but transposing
0:36 instruments are different they're sounding pitches different than the written picture that appears on the page and the amount of differs changes
0:42 depending on the specific transposition of the instrument transposition is almost like those secret codes you did as a kid where each letter the alphabet
0:48 is shifted or transposed so a is B and B is C and so on and use that code to decipher a message for example the clarinet and b-flat when a c is written
0:56 on music for clarinet the sound that will actually come out is a b-flat the sounding pitch is a major second lower than the written pitch of course this
1:03 affects all the notes for clarinet they all come out a major second lower than rim b-flat is a common transposition other b-flat instruments include tenor
1:10 and soprano saxophones most trumpets cornets and flugelhorns and bass clarinet another common transposition is a flat E flat instruments include alto
1:18 and baritone saxophone as well as some trumpets and clarinets when an e-flat instrument plays a c' written on the page the sounding pitch is a flat nearly
1:25 any transposition as possible though some are more common and some are extremely rare but they all work the same way the sounding pitch of a written
1:32 C is the key of the instrument at this point you may be wondering why why do some instruments transpose at all why not just have instruments to find their
1:39 fingerings and notations so they match with concert pitch it does seem like a crazy idea at first and there's no one reason why instruments transpose some of
1:47 the transpositions that became common had more to do with pure dumb luck of history rather than logic or ease-of-use but the system does have some distinct
1:54 benefits for example there are many types of saxophones ranging from very low instruments to very high but the fingerings are always the same a written
2:01 C is the same on all saxophones even though the pitch that comes out is different if you play one saxophone you can theoretically pick up any saxophone
2:08 and play a very different role in the bandwidth-limited physical or mental adjustment this system wouldn't apply string instruments which look similar
2:14 but all have completely different fingerings similarly clarinets in the key of A are sometimes used instead of the more common B flat clarinet to put
2:21 music into much more desirable keys here's an excerpt of the Mozart clarinet concerto it's not a simple piece but compared to this more sharps double
2:29 sharps and generally just more difficult neither is particularly easy but one is clearly preferable also the larger bass clarinet and smaller a flat clarinet are
2:37 useful for expanding the range of the instrument while maintaining a consistent set of fingerings much like the saxophone trumpet players use
2:43 instruments in different keys for a slightly different purpose an experienced trumpet player will have almost the same range on their upper
2:48 register no matter what trumpet they play though they will lose the ability to play lower when playing smaller instruments however intonation and
2:55 agility may be much more desirable on a trumpet in a different key for a specific piece of music think of the last time you moved a large piece of
3:02 furniture and thought this isn't so heavy it's just awkward playing a smaller trumpet can make a piece less awkward even if it's still physically
3:08 demanding most of the time in a band or Orchestra transposed music is provided for every instrument so everyone can just play what's on the page and there
3:15 are no problems but confusion can still occur with so many different transpositions in the same ensemble that's why we usually default to
3:21 speaking in concert pitch especially when speaking to a group of musicians for instance the conductor might say let's warm up with a C major scale and
3:28 everyone is expected to know what that means for their own instrument so what's the rule how does everyone know what to do to play the right music it's
3:35 basically a fill-in-the-blank scenario the first blank is the transposition you want basically what's the key of the instrument in your hand the second blank
3:42 is the transposition you have concert pitch or possibly some other transposed part compare the keys in the two first blanks as if they were notes to get the
3:49 third blank that will be the interval you need to apply to the music you have to get the music you want let's try a few examples if you play a b-flat
3:56 instrument and want to play concert pitch music then you want music for your B flat instrument but you have music and concert pitch remember concert pitch is
4:04 said to be in the key of C the interval of B flat to C is up a major second so to play concert pitch music on your B flat instrument transpose it up a major
4:13 second for example if a B fly instruments ask to play a scale in C major they have to transpose it up a major second and play a D major scale on
4:20 their instrument let's try another if you play an E flat instrument and want to play to pitch the first plank is the music
4:25 you want Eve lat and the second blank is the music you have see comparing those two notes we see that it's either a minor third down or a major sixth up
4:33 both will work and you'll get essentially the same answer just up or down the octave one might make more sense depending on the range of the
4:39 instrument and the music involved so to play a C major scale in concert pitch you have to play it down a minor third or a major sixth up which would be a
4:46 major on your instrument and he may choose to play it low or high finally let's try F if you play an F instrument and you want to play concert pitch music
4:54 fill in the blanks with F and C notice that that's a perfect fourth down or a perfect fifth up so a C major scale in concert pitch would be a G major scale
5:02 on your instrument and you can play it down here or up here this also works if you want to know what concert pitch is for music that's already been transposed
5:09 for instance music for a flat alto sax the first blank is C because you want concert pitch but you have a flat music the interval of C to E flat is up a
5:18 minor third so transpose your E flat music up a minor third and you'll get concert pitch and this formula can also be used to
5:25 play music transposed for one instrument on another transposing instrument for instance what if you want to play music written for the horn and app but play it
5:32 on a B flat trumpet as always start with the transposition you want B flat then fill in the pitch of the transposition you have half it's a perfect fourth down
5:40 so read the horn part a perfect fourth down and you'll be playing the same music there's a final group of transpositions that only deal with
5:46 octaves with these instruments if you ask for a C you'll get a C but in a different octave for instance both upright and
5:53 electric basses transpose an octave they sound an octave lower than they are written guitars are the same but they do it in trouble clef rather than bass clef
5:59 some vocal parts for tenors are also written this way because tenors like to think they're special the piccolo flute sounds an octave higher than written as
6:06 does the xylophone the glockenspiel which is a real instrument no matter how made up the name sounds plays two octaves higher than the truth is there
6:13 are a lot of different transpositions and it's tough to memorize them all but generally you don't have to if you happen to play a transposing instrument
6:18 you should make it a priority to be very comfortable with transposing concert pitch to your instrument as well as the other way around if you're a composer or
6:24 educator you'll probably want to be familiar with common transpositions even if music notation software does all the heavy lifting for you for the rest of us
6:31 transposition is a part of musical life and it's useful for everyone to be at least somewhat familiar with the rules and concepts and that's transposition
6:37 be sure to LIKE comment share and subscribe for more videos thanks for watching
6:44 [Music]