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New page: A '''transposing instrument''' is any of those instruments whose score notation is written at a different pitch to the actual “sound” of the instrument. The various members of the [[cl...
A '''transposing instrument''' is any of those instruments whose score notation is written at a different pitch to the actual “sound” of the instrument. The various members of the [[clarinet]] [[flute]] [[saxophone]], [[horn]] families, trumpets and cornets, kettledrums, and the [[double bass]] are all considered “transposing instruments”.
It is so to allow a performer to play any of a particular family of instruments in the correct pitch without having to mentally transpose the written notes as he plays. A concert flute and an [[alto flute]], for example, which are of different pitches, can be played using exactly the same fingering. The player of the alto flute, which is pitched a fourth below the standard concert flute, can play his instrument using notation that is written a fourth above the actual pitch of his instrument. He can play either instrument to a written score without having to think about it. It is up to the composer to get it right.
[[Category: Musical Instruments]]
[[Category: Musical terms]]
It is so to allow a performer to play any of a particular family of instruments in the correct pitch without having to mentally transpose the written notes as he plays. A concert flute and an [[alto flute]], for example, which are of different pitches, can be played using exactly the same fingering. The player of the alto flute, which is pitched a fourth below the standard concert flute, can play his instrument using notation that is written a fourth above the actual pitch of his instrument. He can play either instrument to a written score without having to think about it. It is up to the composer to get it right.
[[Category: Musical Instruments]]
[[Category: Musical terms]]