On a piano, a written C sounds as a C. On a B♭ clarinet, a written C sounds as the B♭ a whole step below. The note on the page and the note in the air are different, and that gap is what transposing instruments are about.
The reason is practical. Families of instruments share fingerings: a saxophonist can switch between alto, tenor and baritone and read the same written notes with the same fingers, even though each instrument sounds in a different key. The music is written for the hands, not for the sound.
So when a part is written at concert pitch (the actual sounding notes) and handed to a B♭, E♭ or F instrument, it has to be rewritten. Write it up by the instrument’s interval, and when the player reads it, the right pitches come out.
Transposition chart for band and orchestra instruments
Use this transposition chart to turn a concert-pitch part into one a transposing instrument can read: move every note up or down by the interval shown, and the key signature with it. To go the other way, from a written part back to concert pitch, move by the same interval in the opposite direction. The presets apply these intervals for you, octave included.
| Instrument | Written vs. concert pitch | Concert C is written | Concert B♭ major is written |
|---|---|---|---|
| C instruments: piano, flute, oboe, violin, trombone | No change | C | B♭ major |
| B♭ clarinet, B♭ trumpet, B♭ soprano sax | Major 2nd above | D | C major |
| B♭ tenor sax | Major 9th above (octave + major 2nd) | D | C major |
| E♭ alto sax | Major 6th above | A | G major |
| E♭ baritone sax | Octave + major 6th above | A | G major |
| F horn, English horn | Perfect 5th above | G | F major |
| A clarinet | Minor 3rd above | E♭ | D♭ major |
| Guitar, bass guitar, double bass | Octave above | C | B♭ major |
| Piccolo | Octave below | C | B♭ major |
Notice the pattern. B♭ instruments add two sharps or remove two flats, E♭ instruments three, and F instruments one. Tenor and baritone sax share a key signature with their smaller cousins but sit an octave higher on the page, because they sound an octave lower. Guitar and bass are written an octave up so their parts stay on the staff.
Starting from paper? Upload a PDF or a photo and it’s read with music recognition first, at 2 credits per page. Sheet Music Scanner does the same from your phone’s camera and adds a practice player.
Picking a key for a singer
Start with the melody’s range: its lowest and highest notes. Then find the singer’s comfortable range, not their extremes. If the song runs from B3 to E5 and the singer is comfortable from A3 to D5, moving it down a whole step fits it exactly.
Keep an eye on where the melody spends most of its time, not only the peaks. A song that sits near the top of the range for a whole chorus can tire a voice even if every note is technically reachable. Try a key, play it back, and sing along before you print. If you don’t know the song’s key yet, Key Finder can read it from a recording or a MIDI file.
Key signatures, flats and sharps
Each transposition moves the key around the circle of fifths by a fixed number of steps toward the sharp side, and each step either removes a flat or adds a sharp. B♭ instruments move two steps, E♭ instruments three, and F horn one. Concert E♭ major (three flats) becomes F major (one flat) for B♭ instruments, C major for E♭ instruments and B♭ major for horn.
Sometimes the result can be spelled two ways. Moving C major up a half step gives D♭ major with five flats or C♯ major with seven sharps. Both sound the same; D♭ is far easier to read. The transposer picks the simpler spelling by default, and Prefer flats or Prefer sharps lets you override it, since brass players and string players often have different habits.