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Transposing Eb Bari Sax to Bassoon

5.9K views 28 replies 14 participants last post by  Travsax  
#1 ·
So just for fun, me and my friends are doing a quartet thing, with a trumpet, alto (me), clarinet, and bassoon. We are playing stuff arranged for sax quartets, trumpet is playing soprano part, clarinet is playing tenor part, and bassoon is playing bari part. However, I need to transpose the bari part to bassoon. I know bassoon is in c so to transpose bari to bassoon I would just go down a minor third for each note. However, bassoon reads bass clef, so how would I efficiently go about changing the clefs? I can read bass clef, but changing each note would be tedious. For changing the key (keeping the same clef) I am planning on just writing it into Flat notation software and then using the transpose feature. I don’t think Flat can also change clefs for you too. Let me know. Thanks.
 
#3 ·
Super easy, barely an inconvenience. Just read the treble clef as is and pretend it’s bass clef and add 3 flats. For example, let’s say you have a treble clef bari part written in G (one sharp) and see the note low C below the staff. You read it as an Eb if you treat it like bass clef. Adding 3 flats puts you in the key of Bb (flats cancel out sharps).
 
#4 · (Edited)
So if the bari part is in A (3 sharps), then I would just add 3 flats, making it in the key of C? So the bassoonist would read the part in treble clef pretending its bass clef, and it would be in the key of C? Pardon mistakes, my music theory is something I am still working on.

And in the other song we are playing, the bari part is in C, so I would just add three flats making it into Eb? And the bassoonist would read it as if it is bass clef.

The songs we are playing are Bom-omb Battlefield and Tank! respectively.
 
#7 ·
So if the bari part is in A (3 sharps), then I would just add 3 flats, making it in the key of C? So the bassoonist would read the part in treble clef pretending its bass clef, and it would be in the key of C? Pardon mistakes, my music theory is something I am still working on.
Yes - and BTW you may want to have the clarinet cover the soprano parts and trumpet cover the tenor parts as they will probably match up a bit better.
 
#22 ·
Just for the record - Euphonium and Tenorhorn are similar in many ways - but Euphonium gets a bassclef part in C and tenorhorn a trebleclef part in Bb - at least in my region. The logic behind seems to be that Euphonium is regarded as a small tuba and tenorhorn as an instrument for aged trumpet players who need an instrument with less demanding embouchure.
 
#29 ·
I think that your Tenorhorn maybe what is referred to as a baritone horn in the United States. Although there’s an argument about whether an American baritone horn is truly a baritone horn, or is simply a three-valved euphonium. Parts for it are usually available in both concert bass clef and treble clef in Bb. I played baritone horn growing up, but only learned concert bass clef.
 
#24 ·
However, I need to transpose the bari part to bassoon. I know bassoon is in c so to transpose bari to bassoon I would just go down a minor third for each note...
No. If you're transposing by a minor third, then you need to go up, not down. Think of it like this: Eb is higher than C, so the Eb parts have been written a minor 3rd lower than concert pitch to correct for that, so you need to go back up a minor 3rd again to cancel that out. If the bari sax part is in the key of C, the bassoon will be in the of Eb.

However, bari sax is a major 13th lower than concert pitch, so actually, baritone sax parts have already been transposed up a major 13th. So really, you're transposing down a major 13th (since bassoon is written at concert pitch).

As others have said, as it happens, switching the clef from treble to bass has the effect of transposing down a 13th anyway, so you can use that trick - but (as others have also said), watch out for the accidentals. Hopefully the software can do that for you to avoid that pitfall.

Bassoon uses the bass, tenor and treble clefs. You could ask your bassoon player what their preferences are, so you can decide when to switch clef.
 
#26 ·
No.

If you read the original post, you'll see that the OP is trying to do the inverse of what's described in your link. I.e., to read a treble clef part written for bari sax on bassoon (an instrument that normally reads music notated in concert-pitch bass clef).
 
#28 ·
OK point taken...

The title is:
"Transposing Eb Bari Sax to Bassoon"
which reads like someone who wants to play a bassoon part on the BS, which would be more common than the other way around.