The Instrument Transposition Chart I Always Wanted
If you’re a performer, conductor, composer, or music student who has to deal with the headache of transposing instruments - I’ve got a brand new resource for you today.
It’s no surprise that transposing instruments are notoriously difficult to understand. The math of compensation is a bear, and that doesn’t even include the notoriously confusing language that goes along with transposition (“it transposes down a perfect fifth? is that written or sounding? so, I need to go down a fifth? I want to punch whoever came up with this.”)
Not only that - in school, I had to learn the ballpark ranges of every instrument. Here’s the thing, it’s difficult to keep memorized - not to mention, we learned the ranges for professional orchestra players. But in my actual work, I usually write for younger ensembles and I need to know their ranges too. It’s another thing that takes a bunch of time and effort to look up.
For the last decade or so, I’ve been compiling a crude version of this on my desk on various scraps of paper so that I don’t have to endlessly google the answer - or flip through an orchestration textbook - only to have to try to decipher what they mean. Now, I’ve completed this “Instrumental and Vocal Ranges and Transpositions” chart as a comprehensive desk reference guide for all musicians.
The chart is divided by instrument family , with 44 instruments total. For each instrument the chart includes:
Ranges for Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Professional Players
Transpositions for each key, and a direct comparison to the concert pitch
Other notes about writing or reading parts for that instrument
Some great applications for this chart:
Writing and arranging for any ensemble that uses staff notation
Study guide for music students who are first learning about the idea of transposition
Educators who are teaching about transposing instruments
Score study for conductors who are using transposing scores
Analysis for music theorists (or music theory students) who are studying scores
Performers who play transposing instruments - especially younger performers
I think you will find this chart to be a priceless addition to your collection, improving your work flow - it has certainly improved mine.
As an aside, if you’ve been considering enrolling in my beginner composition course “Start Write Now”, this chart is included for free when you enroll. Just saying.
To get your copy of the chart click the link below.
further reading
