Instrumentation and Transposition AP Music Theory Mr Silvagni

Instrumentation and Transposition AP Music Theory Mr. Silvagni

Instrumentation • Instrumentation refers to which instruments are used in a piece of music • It also can refer to categorization of instruments – Musical range: not only how high/low they can play, but where they’re usually played in a group setting – Timbre: what kind of sound it makes

Instrumentation: Musical Range • Soprano instruments – Flute, recorder, violin, trumpet • Alto instruments – Alto saxophone, oboe, alto flute, viola, French horn • Tenor instruments – Trombone, clarinet, tenor saxophone • Baritone instruments – Bassoon, English horn, baritone saxophone, baritone horn, bass clarinet, cello • Bass instruments – Contrabassoon, bass saxophone, double bass, tuba

• Strings Instrumentation: Timbre – Violin, viola, cello, bass • Woodwinds – Flute, recorder, alto saxophone, oboe, alto flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone, bassoon, English horn, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, bass saxophone • Brass – Trumpet, French horn, trombone, baritone horn, tuba • Percussion – Snare drum, bass drum, timpani, bells, xylophone, vibraphone, marimba, chimes

Other instrumentation terms • Register – division of the range of an instrument or singing voice • Tessitura – general range of a composition (usually vocal) or of a particular voice of a composition

Transposition • Transposition – to sound a pitch different from the one written or to rewrite music from one key to another • Not all instruments sound the pitch they read…those that do are said to be instruments in C or concert pitch • The other common pitches for instruments to be in are Bb, F, and Eb (although others do exist)

Transposition Concert Pitch instruments (C instruments) • When C is played, C is heard – All strings, percussion, and keyboard instruments – Flute, recorder, oboe, bassoon – C Trumpet (orchestral trumpet), trombone, baritone horn, tuba

Transposition Bb Instruments – sound a major 2 nd below the written pitch • When C is played, Bb is heard – Bass clarinet, Bb trumpet, flugelhorn, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone

Transposition Eb Instruments – sound a major 6 th below the written pitch • When C is played, Eb is heard – Alto clarinet, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, Eb clarinet

Transposition F Instruments – sound a perfect 5 th below the written pitch • When C is played, F is heard – English Horn and French Horn • Octave displacements – Bells (15 va) – Piccolo, Eb clarinet, Xylophone (8 va) – Bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, double bass (8 vb)

Transposition • If you are looking at the transposed part and you need to identify the concert pitch, then go down the appropriate interval to find concert pitch. • If you are looking at concert pitch, then go up the appropriate interval to correctly transpose.