Clef Transposition
I play a Tenor saxophone, that means I'm using a transposing instrument! That also means the sheet music I play is "not in concert"
But what if I want to play directly from a concert sheet? If I play a C, I would get Bb... of course, I could just play a D to get C but... really are we going to transpose every single note one by one?
Enter clef transposition. Instead of trying to calculate each note one by one, we transpose the whole bloody clef into another.
Of course, the price to pay is that now you need to learn new clefs but... hey, we're always trying to learn new things right?
Anyway, going directly to an example, try playing a "regular" sheet music (aka concert pitch sheet music) using your tenor saxophone and playing it in alto clef (Alto clef is the one with the pretty symbol pointing towards the center / third line). Also then add 2 sharps to the key signature. (Because we need to compensate converting the 2 Bflats into no accidentals)
What? You're using an alto saxophone? Okay try playing a "regular" sheet music using your alto saxophone and playing it in soprano clef. Also, add 3 sharps to the key signature. You should now sound correct.
Eh? You say you can just transpose the sheet music in a software? Well, yes, but I don't pay for a subscription on musescore because im cheapo, also most classical sheet music is in scanned format so...
Also there's real books in a lot of jazz bars. Go learn clef transposition lad.
Either way, here's a quick table of what clef you would use for some common brass instruments:
| Instrument | Reading from.. | Read as | Key signature Modification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bb | Concert (Treble) | Alto | +2 Sharps |
| Eb | Concert | Soprano | +3 Sharps |
| Bb | Eb | Mezzo Soprano clef | -1 Flats |
You can also use it if you are playing on an Alto Recorder if you dont wan't to learn a "second set of fingering" and instead want a reusable skill.
| Instrument | Reading from.. | Read as | Key signature Modification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soprano Recorder | Concert | Treble | None! |
| Alto Recorder | Concert | Mezzo Soprano | -1 Flat |
Clef Transposition Table
These are all assuming you are playing from a transposing instrument trying to read a concert pitch (good ol' treble clef) sheet
Flat signature instruments
| Instrument key | Modification | Read as Clef |
|---|---|---|
| Gb | + 6 Sharps | Mezzo Soprano(Sharp)* / Baritone (Flat) Clef (Play F# get C), Play F get B |
| Db | + 5 Sharps | Tenor Clef (Play B get C) |
| Ab | + 4 Sharps | Bass Clef (Play E get C) |
| Eb | + 3 Sharps | Soprano Clef (Play A get C) |
| Bb | + 2 Sharps | Alto Clef - (Play D get C) |
| F | + 1 Sharp | Baritone Clef (Play G for C) |
C Instruments
| Instrument key | Modification | Read as Clef |
|---|---|---|
| C | nil | Treble clef |
Sharp signature instruments
| Instrument key | Modification | Read as Clef |
|---|---|---|
| G | - 1 Flats | Mezzo Soprano Clef - Play F get C |
| D | - 2 Flats | Tenor Clef - Play Bb get C, Play A get B |
| A | - 3 Flats | Bass Clef Play Eb get C, Play D get B |
| E | - 4 Flats | Soprano Clef clef - Play Ab / G# get C, play G get B |
| B | - 5 Flats | Alto Clef - Play Db get C, play F get E |
| F# | - 6 Flats | Mezzo Soprano / Baritone Clef* - Play Gb get C, play F get B |
The * indicates the "true" clef that it should be read as to keep each clef unique. +6 sharp and +6 flats are the "same" thing.
What about transposing concert pitch Bass clef?
Bass Clef transposition
| Instrument key | Modification | Read as Clef | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gb | + 6 Sharps | Soprano Clef | |
| Db | + 5 Sharps | Alto Clef (Play C# get D) | |
| Ab | + 4 Sharps | Baritone Clef (Play Gb get D) | |
| Eb | + 3 Sharps | Treble Clef (Play B get D) | Maybe I should have learned alto sax instead... |
| Bb | + 2 Sharps | Mezzo Soprano Clef - (Play E get D) | Good news is, Mezzo Soprano clef is also used to translate Alto sax into Tenor sax |
| F | + 1 Sharp | Tenor Clef (Play A get D) |
C Instruments
| Instrument key | Modification | Read as Clef |
|---|---|---|
| C | nil | Bass clef |
Sharp signature instruments
| Instrument key | Modification | Read as Clef |
|---|---|---|
| G | - 1 Flats | Soprano Clef |
| D | - 2 Flats | Alto Clef (Play C# get D) |
| A | - 3 Flats | Baritone Clef (Play Gb get D) |
| E | - 4 Flats | Treble Clef (Play B get D) |
| B | - 5 Flats | Mezzo Soprano Clef - (Play E get D) |
| F# | - 6 Flats | Tenor Clef (Play A get D) |
Extending this technique to transposing any clefs.
So from transposing the bass clef, we found that there is a very specific ordering.
Order- Towards flat instruments:
- Treble, Baritone, Alto, Soprano, Bass, Tenor, Mezzo Soprano, Treble, Baritone, Alto, Soprano, Bass, Tenor, Mezzo Soprano, Treble, Baritone...
- We can memorize as "Trouble to Sobas Time".
- Trou: Treble
- B: Baritone
- Ble to: Alto (imagine blto, hey im the one that made this mnemonic, you can always make your own one)
- So: Soprano
- Bas: Bass
- Ti: Tenor
- Me: Mezzo Soprano
So if we want to convert to clef transposing any other types..
We slot the concert pitch clef into the middle into C. Let's use Alto Clef
C Instruments (from Alto Clef)
| Instrument key | Modification | Read as Clef |
|---|---|---|
| C | nil | Alto clef |
Then we slap on the other six clefs in the same order.
Flat instruments (from Alto clef)
| Instrument key | Modification | Read as Clef | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gb | + 6 Sharps | Baritone | |
| Db | + 5 Sharps | Treble | |
| Ab | + 4 Sharps | Mezzo Soprano | |
| Eb | + 3 Sharps | Tenor | |
| Bb | + 2 Sharps | Bass | Oooh, maybe I can go read some Viola songs! |
| F | + 1 Sharp | Soprano |
Beautiful.