Music confusion! help plz?

Question:I play flute and sax and I know that you play the G major scale for sax when you do a Bb scale. I know how all that works with some other instruments too. the thing is, is that how do you figure out other scales? If the band director tells us to play a C Major chord, what scale do you have to play for an Eb Saxaphone? Anything will help! thankyou!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I play flute and sax and I know that you play the G major scale for sax when you do a Bb scale. I know how all that works with some other instruments too. the thing is, is that how do you figure out other scales? If the band director tells us to play a C Major chord, what scale do you have to play for an Eb Saxaphone? Anything will help! thankyou!

lots of interesting methods offered here. My 2-cent for a couple easy ways to do this transposition. Trust me, and see if this works for you - I do this all the time as a contra-clarinet player since my parts are almost always not intended for me.

Eb instruments (Eb sop clarinet, Alto and Bari sax, Alto and Contra Clarinet, Eb Horn, some tuba parts, etc...) are pitched such that in order for you to sound the same as the C instruments you must transpose.

If the piano (or flutes or oboe or tuba) plays a C, the alto sax (and other "eefers") will need to play an A to sound the same pitch. If the piano is playing a Bb, the eefers must play a G. I think you've got that part. ?

Now, if we look at the major scale in C, an A is the 6th scale step. c d e f g A b c -- if we look at the scale in Bb, the G is the 6th scale step. bb c d eb f G a bb same patern for every single key. In F, f g a bb c D e f we'd play in D -- in G, g a b c d E f# g we'd play in E. That's the basis of the transposition right there. It's always true, from concert pitch to Eb, play in the key of the 6th.

A quick way to get this pitch (instead of going up the scale) is to start at the top of the scale and go down three. If he says "Bb major" then think a Bb major scale from the top and go down Bb A G -- G is the starting pitch. This only works if you know all of your scales. ?

"There must be an easier way" you say... well, there is. If you look at the example in C major. If we write a C in bass clef it goes on the second space from the bottom. If we then ignore the clef and pretend it's in treble clef - that same note becomes an A. hmmmmm (we still have to change the key signature to the 6th of the original key by adding sharps or flats) This means that you can transpose music written in concert pitch in bass cleff at sight for Eb simply by reading it as if it were in bass clef and changing the key. This is an incredibly useful skill to have. Only works if you also read bass clef.

People who play guitar (and therefor know chords very well) use a method involving chord thirds. Bb is the 3rd of a G minor chord and C is the 3rd of an A minor chord. This way, if F major is called for, you consider 'what minor chord is F the 3rd of?' and play D major. Only works if you know all of the minor chords very well.

The other way to learn all of these is simply to memorize them by rote memorization (the way you know that Bb concert means to play G major) -- I've always preferred the bass clef transposition method but I read bass clef fluenty.

Add three sharps subtract three flats, or anything that *adds up * to that. Bb has 2 flats, right? Take away the two flats - add one sharp (total of a 3-step move) and you get G major! Let;s do another one. Band is playing in C. No flats to take away - so gotta add 3 sharps - key of A! One mo' time - Band is playing in F - one flat. Take it away - add TWP sharps (total of three degrees away) and you get 2 sharps - key of D.

How are your theory skills?

The Eb sax is written a major 6th above the note that is sounded. So when the band is playing a concert Bb scale, the notes on the page are a G major scale.

To get the correct written pitch for the saxophone start on the first note of the scale. Count up six notes. That is the note you use to start your scale.

If the teacher wants you to play a concert C major scale you count up six notes to A and play an A major scale on sax.

I'm a flute/sax-er too!
Alto is a minor third down from concert pitch, so if you take any note to start a scale (in your case C, go down 3 half-steps and you get A! (B-Bb-A)). You can use that technique to transpose anything into concert pitch on alto!