Exercises
Develop practical transposition skills for B-flat clarinet, soprano and tenor saxophones, alto saxophone, and baritone saxophone. This quiz covers written versus concert pitch, transposing intervals, octave placement, key signatures, ensemble unisons, and short melodic passages. Questions progress from basic instrument classification to realistic score-reading and notation tasks.
Answer the questions below and check the explanation for each answer.
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The standard B-flat clarinet and soprano saxophone are both B-flat instruments. Their sounding pitch is a major second below the written pitch.
Alto saxophone is an E-flat instrument. A written note sounds a major sixth below its written pitch.
A B-flat clarinet sounds a major second below written pitch. Therefore, written D4 produces concert C4.
An alto saxophone part is written a major sixth above concert pitch. A major sixth above F4 is D5.
A B-flat part is written a major second above concert pitch. Transposing E-flat major upward by a major second gives F major.
An E-flat alto saxophone part is written a major sixth above concert pitch. A major sixth above B-flat major is G major.
Tenor saxophone is a B-flat instrument with an additional octave displacement. It sounds a major ninth, one octave plus a major second, below written pitch.
Both are B-flat instruments, but tenor saxophone has an extra octave displacement. With the same written note, tenor sounds exactly one octave below soprano.
Baritone saxophone sounds a major thirteenth below written pitch, equivalent to a major sixth plus an octave. Written C4 therefore sounds as concert E-flat 2.
Concert C4 is written as D4 for B-flat clarinet and A4 for E-flat alto saxophone. Both written notes produce the same concert pitch.
B-flat clarinet sounds a major second below the written note. A major second below written A4 is concert G4.
Alto saxophone sounds a major sixth below written pitch. Descending a major sixth from E5 gives concert G4.
Transposing written F-sharp down a major second gives concert E. The accidental must be included when calculating the interval.
Transposed notation lets players associate familiar written notes with consistent fingerings. It also allows many musicians to switch between related instruments more easily.
A tenor saxophone part is written a major ninth above concert pitch. A major ninth above G3 is A4.
Both are E-flat instruments, but baritone saxophone includes an additional octave displacement. It sounds one octave below alto when both read the same written note.
Each note in a B-flat clarinet part is written a major second above concert pitch. E-flat, F, G therefore become F, G, A.
Concert B-flat 3 is written as C4 for B-flat clarinet. For E-flat alto saxophone, it is written a major sixth higher as G4.
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