Transposing instrument

A transposing instrument is a musical instrument whose music is usually written at a pitch different from the pitch that it sounds. The difference between a transposing instrument and a non-transposing instrument is only in whether or not the music is written at its sounding pitch; there is nothing about the physical construction of an instrument that makes the difference. Instruments whose music is written exactly as it sounds are said to play in "concert pitch".

On the conductor's score

In conductors' scores, most often the music for transposing instruments is written in transposed form, just as in the players' parts; but a few publishers, especially of contemporary music, provide conductors with music which is all at concert pitch. The argument for the latter practice is that it makes the pitch relationships of the entire sound easier for the conductor to read. The advantage of traditional practice is that it facilitates spoken communication in rehearsal since conductor and player are looking at the same notation.

Related Topics:
Conductor - Concert pitch

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