To transpose Alto sax music to Tenor sax you transpose UP a perfect 4th. A up to D is a perfect 4th (5 half-steps). To sound in Concert Bb, you will play in G major, etc.Ĭompare, Concert C major = Alto A major or Tenor D major. To be in Concert C major, you will paly in A major. So to sound the note C, you play A, which is a major 6th (or 9 half-steps above). On an Eb instrument, when it plays a C, it sound the note Eb, a major 6th (or 9 half-steps) below. If your improvising then you will go with the register that best suits your needs. In real life, the tenor will sound an octave lower than the actual sound so if you need the actual pitch, then you need to play that transposition up an octave. If the piano music is in the key of C major then you transpose to D major in F major you transpose to G major, etc. If you need to sound an Actual C, then you must transpose UP a Major 2nd to D. On a Bb instrument, when it plays a C, it sounds the note Bb - it sounds a Major 2nd (whole-step or 2 half-steps) lower than the written note. Piano music and an C instrument plays in "Concert Pitch", in other words, the notes they play are the actual sound (ignoring octave transpositions in some cases).
But these instruments were rather maligned, probably unfailry in many cases.įirst lets talk about the piano music. Or you could buy a C Melody Tenor which plays in C, but an octave below the piano. move C up to F) to sound the same note in concert pitch as the alto. So to transpose music written for alto, pitch it 2 1/2 tones higher (i.e. Only really an issue if you're playing with others. You can play all your existing alto music on the tenor, but it will sound lower - the difference beween the tenor and the alto. Transcribing piano music down 1 1/2 tones will put the Alto an octave below the piano. Transcribing piano music up 4 1/2 tones will put the Alto into the same pitch as the piano.
So to play a real C on the Alto, you play the note 4 1/2 tones higher (or 1 1/2 tones lower) - the G. the written middle C played on the alto is the Eb below middle C. So to reiterate, transcribe piano music up 1 tone for tenor and it'll be sounding 1 octave below the piano.Īlto is in Eb, ie. So a written middle C for tenor/played on tenor is the Bb below the C below middle C in concert pitch - or on the piano. However you also need to remember that the tenor sounds one full octave and one tone below where it's written, not just one tone.
C would be written as D for Tenor, and when you play a D on the tenor, you play a real C. Tenor's in Bb, which is one tone below C, so you'd transpose piano music UP 1 Tone for the tenor - i.e.
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