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Transposition chart
What a B♭ clarinet, alto sax or horn player reads is not what sounds. Find your instrument, see the interval and the key signature shift, then check any note with the calculator and hear it.
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B♭ clarinet: concert pitch is a major 2nd lower than the written note. As a key: written C major (no ♯ or ♭) is concert B♭ major (2 flats). Both buttons play the b♭ clarinet sound at the pitch shown, so you can hear the gap between what is on the page and what the room hears.
The chart
“Written” is the note on the player’s part. “Concert” is the pitch that sounds, the same one a piano or flute plays.
| Instrument | Written → concert | Concert → written | Semitones | Key signature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B♭ instruments | ||||
| B♭ clarinet | Sounds a major 2nd lower | Write a major 2nd higher | -2 | Add 2 sharps (or drop 2 flats) |
| B♭ trumpet | Sounds a major 2nd lower | Write a major 2nd higher | -2 | Add 2 sharps (or drop 2 flats) |
| Soprano sax | Sounds a major 2nd lower | Write a major 2nd higher | -2 | Add 2 sharps (or drop 2 flats) |
| Tenor sax | Sounds a major 9th lower | Write a major 9th higher | -14 | Add 2 sharps (or drop 2 flats) |
| Bass clarinet | Sounds a major 9th lower | Write a major 9th higher | -14 | Add 2 sharps (or drop 2 flats) |
| Euphonium (treble clef) | Sounds a major 9th lower | Write a major 9th higher | -14 | Add 2 sharps (or drop 2 flats) |
| E♭ instruments | ||||
| Alto sax | Sounds a major 6th lower | Write a major 6th higher | -9 | Add 3 sharps (or drop 3 flats) |
| Baritone sax | Sounds a major 13th lower | Write a major 13th higher | -21 | Add 3 sharps (or drop 3 flats) |
| E♭ clarinet | Sounds a minor 3rd higher | Write a minor 3rd lower | +3 | Add 3 sharps (or drop 3 flats) |
| F instruments | ||||
| Horn in F | Sounds a perfect 5th lower | Write a perfect 5th higher | -7 | Add 1 sharp (or drop 1 flat) |
| C instruments (concert pitch) | ||||
| Flute | Sounds as written | Write as sounding | 0 | Same as concert |
| Oboe | Sounds as written | Write as sounding | 0 | Same as concert |
Key signatures: concert key to written key
If the band plays in the concert key on the left, this is the key each part is written in.
| Concert key | B♭ parts | E♭ parts | F parts |
|---|---|---|---|
| D♭ major (5 flats) | E♭ major (3 flats) | B♭ major (2 flats) | A♭ major (4 flats) |
| A♭ major (4 flats) | B♭ major (2 flats) | F major (1 flat) | E♭ major (3 flats) |
| E♭ major (3 flats) | F major (1 flat) | C major (no ♯ or ♭) | B♭ major (2 flats) |
| B♭ major (2 flats) | C major (no ♯ or ♭) | G major (1 sharp) | F major (1 flat) |
| F major (1 flat) | G major (1 sharp) | D major (2 sharps) | C major (no ♯ or ♭) |
| C major (no ♯ or ♭) | D major (2 sharps) | A major (3 sharps) | G major (1 sharp) |
| G major (1 sharp) | A major (3 sharps) | E major (4 sharps) | D major (2 sharps) |
| D major (2 sharps) | E major (4 sharps) | B major (5 sharps) | A major (3 sharps) |
| A major (3 sharps) | B major (5 sharps) | F♯ major (6 sharps) | E major (4 sharps) |
| E major (4 sharps) | F♯ major (6 sharps) | C♯ major (7 sharps) | B major (5 sharps) |
How to read it
To find the concert pitch of a written note, move it by the interval in the first column: a B♭ clarinet reading C sounds B♭. To write a concert-pitch part out for the player, go the other way: a concert C becomes D for a B♭ clarinet and A for an alto sax.
Tenor sax and baritone sax sound an octave lower than the soprano and alto, which is why they show a ninth and a thirteenth; bass clarinet and treble-clef euphonium also sound a ninth lower. The E♭ clarinet is the one that sounds higher than written, by a minor third. A euphonium part in bass clef is at concert pitch. Flute and oboe read at concert pitch, so they are in the chart only for comparison.
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Transposition chart · scorelens.app/tools/transposition-chart