# Score reading



## jani

So i have no problem of reading scores with Pianos,violins, violas,cellos etc...
But when it comes to instruments like Clarinet were you have to transcribe it i get confused!

For example
I wrote an E for oboe and then i copied it to
Eb Clarinet stave but it seems like the E on Eb clarinet would be C# on Oboe.

I wrote an E for oboe and then i copied it to
Bb Clarinet stave but it seems like that the E on Bb clarinet would be F# on oboe.

I wrote an E for oboe and then i copied it to
A Clarinet stave but it seems like that the E on A clarinet would be G on oboe.








So could you recommend me a Book/website/video which would help me with score reading etc...


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

A lot of books on orchestration and a lot of books on music theory should set you straight.


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## Abracadabra

Because I play Bb and Eb instruments in addition to instruments that are in concert C, I'm doing transpositions all the time. There are many ways to do it, but I've found the following very useful. It get's you quickly oriented I think.

These are my own charts and method, so beware of potential errors in my graphics. 

But I'm pretty sure they are correct, I've been using them for quite some time and I haven't run across an error yet.

To begin with start with a standard graphic of the Wheel of Fifths oriented for concert C (i.e. with C major at the top of the wheel)










Around the outer circle you have the major keys, around the inner circle you have their relative minors.

This is really the only chart you need but I've made up some special charts for Bb and Eb just to show you better what I'm taking about.

Let's do Bb first.

To transpose to Concert C from a Bb instrument, you need to move up a whole step (or two semitones). That should be obvious because if you play a C note on a clarinet it's going to come out of the instrument as a Bb. Therefore if you want to actually play a concert C note, you're going to need to play a D note on the Bb instrument. (hopefully that made some sense)

So now look at the following chart (this is my Bb Wheel of Fifths)










This is the same chart as before with the Bb instrument in the outer most circle. Now you can just glance at this circle and make the transpositions. In other words, if you want to play a concert C on a Bb instrument you need to play a D note, if you want to play a concert G you'll need to play an A note, etc.

However, if you look more closely you'll also notice that for Bb instruments it just amounts to playing the note that is the relative minor key just to the right (counter-clockwise) position of the major key note you want to play. So once you know this you don't need a special chart. Just using a standard Wheel of Fifths chart you just play the relative minor note to the right (or counter-clockwise) position of the concert note that you want.

And now let's look at Eb instruments and see how they are even easier.










Here I've done the same thing. I've placed the notes you must play on an Eb instrument around the outermost circle. However, looking more carefully you'll quickly see that these are precisely the same notes as the relative minors of the major keys. So to transpose into Eb you just use the relative minor note.

You'll have to figure out where an A clarinet would be on the Wheel of Fifths. Since I don't have an instrument that in the key of A I never bothered to figure it out. But I'm sure it's very simple, and once you orient it with the wheel of fifths you'll know how to use the Wheel of Fifths to transpose for A instruments too.

In fact, if you memorize the Wheel of Fifths and the relative minor keys, then you can do this from memory without even needing a chart. Because you only need to remember a standard Wheel of Fifths, and just know how these other instruments relate to it.

Eb is really easy because it just amounts to using the relative minor notes.

Bb is just offset counter-clockwise by one position.

Once you figure out where other instruments are, they will be easy too. In fact, if you print out the above graphics and just cut out the outermost ring, you can just spin it around to line up with whatever instrument you need to transpose for. The order of the notes in the outermost ring never changes. All that changes is how they line up with a Concert C Wheel of Fifths. So you could actually make a little paper "calculator" where the outermost wheel is free to spin around. Just line up the C on the outermost wheel with the concert note that the instrument actually plays when it plays a "C" note (i.e. the actual note that comes out of the instrument when a C note is fingered on the instrument) and bingo, you've got it set for the entire transposition. On an A-Clarinet, you'll have to line the C on the outermost circle up with the major concert A note on the wheel of fifths. Then all else will be determined.

Hope this helps. :tiphat:


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## jani

I think i got it! Thanks!


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## Romantic Geek

Easiest way to think about it: transposing instruments (say Trumpet in Bb) when they play "C" it will sound like Bb (or whatever note the instrument is "in").

Therefore if a Horn in Eb plays "C," it sounds like Eb.
If a clarinet in A plays a C#, it sounds like A#/(Bb)
If a saxophone in Eb plays Gb, it sounds like A. 

That's the easiest way of me to think about it.


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## PetrB

Just learn the interval of transposition for the transposing instruments, as Romantic Geek advocates -- there are not really that many.

Samuel Adler: The Study of Orchestration. One of many good books on orchestration.

Some chop-shop music chops have charts of all the transposing instruments, if you need 'a crutch.'

Pedantic note - instruments which play at an octave displacement from where written, BassViol, piccolo, Celeste, etc. are NOT TRANSPOSING instruments. an octave displacement is 'just' a displacement of the same pitch. A transposition is from one pitch to another.

[That set of offered up circles of fifths is mind-bogglingly cumbersome, bulky, and unnecessary.]


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