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.
Transposing Eb Bari Sax to Bassoon
Saxquisite
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Keilwerth saxes (S/A/T), Selmer clarinets (S/B), Altus Azumi flute
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All the instruments that you listed read bass clef in concert key. That is, when reading bass clef, they are not transposing instruments.
The "Bb" in those cases means something different. It refers to the fundamental note that is sounded in first position (trombones) or when no valves are depressed (tubas and other valved instruments).
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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.
I don't follow... clarinet plays lower than trumpet. Not by much, but the lower part of the clarinet's range is much more accessible than the lower part of the trumpet's range. In any case, if you want to play the tenor parts at the correct pitch, both instruments will come up short. However, either of them could play the parts an octave higher by just reading the tenor parts.
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.
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I haven't done this for a while, but my memory is that you ad 3 sharps not flats. A quick check on line confirms this:
Reading Bass Clef parts for an Eb treble clef instrument — Church Orchestra Music
Reading Bass Clef parts for an Eb treble clef instrument — Church Orchestra Music
Keilwerth saxes (S/A/T), Selmer clarinets (S/B), Altus Azumi flute
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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).
You add 3 sharps to to get from concert pitch to the key the bari plays in, yes. But the OP is doing the opposite.
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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.
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.
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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.
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