Suppose you want to play a duet with your friend, who plays the clarinet (or the trumpet, or the
saxophone). If the duet is scored for two flutes, trying to play it as it is would simply not work.
The reason behind this is that the clarinet is a transposing instrument, while the flute is not. What does this
mean?
That's why we say that the clarinet is a transposing instrument in B-flat. To be more accurate, not all
clarinets are in B-flat: clarinets in other keys (in C, in A, in E-flat, just to name a few) also exist, but the Bflat clarinet is by far the most common variety.
As you may already have guessed, on such an instrument the whole scale gets transposed: a C sounds as a
B-Flat, a D sounds as a C, an E sounds as a D and so on.
You want to play a duet scored for two flutes, but you have a flute and a clarinet.
You have a flute-and-piano score, but you want to play the flute part with a clarinet.
The problem only occurs when you mix different instruments: if you want to play a flute duet with two
clarinets, the score can be played as is.
3.
1.
No changes whatsoever are to be made to the rhythms: the durations of the notes must be kept
unchanged.
Adjust the key signature. Let's say you know the order of sharps (F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#) and
flats (Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, Fb) in key signatures.
o
If the original key signature has no flats, add the next two sharps.
o
If the original key signature has just one flat, change it to an F# key signature.
o
If the original key signature has at least two flats, remove the last two flats.
Sounds too complex? If you prefer you can simply use the following chart:
Before
After
Before
After
Fix any extra accidental. You are almost done! Now you only need to search the original music for
extra accidentals, and to translate them according to the following table:
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
C#
D#
Cb
Db
D#
E#
Db
Eb
E#
Fx
F#
Eb
F#
G#
Fb
Gb
G#
A#
Gb
Ab
A#
B#
Ab
Bb
B#
Cx
C#
Bb
That's it! Now the part can be played on a B-flat clarinet (or trumpet, or saxophone), and it will sound fine
even when played together with a C instrument like the flute. Remember, the flute must play the original
version, not the modified one!