Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Transposition

Can anyone expand at all on this subject, I have never been told to transpose from score not made an effort to learn it, how useful is it? It seems a difficult skill to aquire, yet there are lots of instructions and talk of it as it is easy, for example, "transposition of this study will be very beneficial", that suggests transposition is easy, and done at sight. Where can I begin to learn it, or rather how?

I would think that if you are to ever go into accompanying, or the like, with any sort of level, singing. It would be important, cause as far as I know, singers tend to want the key changed if they can't get a certain key.

It's incredibly useful if you want to learn to appreciate the structure of music and especially harmony (jazz musicians have known this for a long time).

I'm a good sight reader, if I say so myself, and I find this can be a problem in that the dot-to-finger reaction time is so fast that it bypasses any appreciation of what's actually going on in the music - transposition forces me to comprehend the notes instead of reproducing them.

Start with something simple such as a four-part hymn - preferably one that you know. Play through it several times until you get an idea of the harmonic structure. Then try playing it up or down a half step. Continue this exercise in different keys, and try some other hymns. As you get better, you can progress to more complex pieces.

Good advice from whippen boy. Also, a simple way to start transposing is to find something in eg. E major and play it in Eb major. You'd still be transposing but in a very easy way.

John

it still applies to complex piano pieces (although obviously after a long long time) then? not just hymns and accompaniments? ive heard of difficult pieces transposed at sight but didnt know how much trutyh was in it

It's not so fanciful - if someone can understand the harmonic structure at a glance (and if they're a composer as well, that will be quite intuitive), they'll be able to relate that to a different key.

ya i spose, takes lotrs of practise to understand it at a glance, and to be as technically effective in ever key

Sometimes you have to change the way your mind perceives things, in order to have a breakthrough. Transposition can be one of those things...

If I need to transpose something difficult, I no longer see notes. I see intervals. If you can recognize an interval at sight, then you just 'apply' that interval to the new key.

Thirds are relatively easy to recognize on the printed page. If you see a third and you know the bottom note is the tonic of the chord, just find the tonic of the new key, and play a third above it.

All motion is either stepwise or an interval. As long as you move the right number of steps and/or intervals, you will be able to play in the new key.

Of course, you must start off on the right notes in the new key.

The muscle memory in your fingers and your ear will help guide you to play the right harmonies.

It is important to correlate a "home pitch" (such as the tonic) on the printed page with the one in the new key. That reference will keep you on track so you don't inadvertently drift into the wrong key.

It can help if you know solfège so you can think of relative pitch names, rather than absolute ones. This is like the "moveable do" system.

This is all rather difficult to explain, but perhaps I have explained it sufficiently?

of course.
whats solfege though?

also, so you think of it more logically (or hjarmonically) than by ear alone?

This explains solfeggio/solfege pretty well:

http://www.music-university.com/solfeggio.htm

Sometimes you will find the less competent singers you are accompanying will say, "Too high -- too high!"

I find it easier to transpose down a THIRD (not a second) and use the most convenient key at this level. It is easier to transpose from sight if you are going from line notes to line notes, or space notes to space notes.

This is just a trick and not really a full transposition method.

And so you go from G major to E (or Eflat) major:
from Bflat major to G major
from A major to F major etc.

Try it out and see if it is easier than transposing down one step only.