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veery715 · 07-09-2008, 03:37 PM

The diatonic scale w/o flats or sharps - do,re,mi,fa,sol,la,ti,do, is taught (or used to be) in early elementary school music class where it is sung. This scale is easy because its key signature has no pitch modifying characters. This is where learning to read music begins for most of us.
Toss in the trumpet. For various reasons previously referred to, the modern day orchestral/band trumpet is a Bb instrument. Since most folks come to the trumpet from having learned music in a singing class, that approach to learning in an empty key signature environment is made possible on the Bb trumpet by transposing the music up a whole step to get the same uncomplicated diatonic scale beginning on "C".
This approach is commonly applied to most other instruments which don't have concert C as their native key. And this approach is adopted by almost all western music publishers, where ensemble parts are extracted and transposed so the players won't have to do it. Once again this is essentially a practice in the music education environment - concert bands, youth and HS orchestras, quartets and quintets and the other "tets", and the like.
Once a musician moves into the institutions of higher learning and the professional world which follows, he or she will quite often encounter music written in concert key and will be expected to do their own transposition.

07-09-2008, 03:37 PM	#13 (permalink)
veery715 Mezzo Piano User Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Ithaca NY Posts: 586	Re: Why is trumpet music transposed?? The diatonic scale w/o flats or sharps - do,re,mi,fa,sol,la,ti,do, is taught (or used to be) in early elementary school music class where it is sung. This scale is easy because its key signature has no pitch modifying characters. This is where learning to read music begins for most of us. Toss in the trumpet. For various reasons previously referred to, the modern day orchestral/band trumpet is a Bb instrument. Since most folks come to the trumpet from having learned music in a singing class, that approach to learning in an empty key signature environment is made possible on the Bb trumpet by transposing the music up a whole step to get the same uncomplicated diatonic scale beginning on "C". This approach is commonly applied to most other instruments which don't have concert C as their native key. And this approach is adopted by almost all western music publishers, where ensemble parts are extracted and transposed so the players won't have to do it. Once again this is essentially a practice in the music education environment - concert bands, youth and HS orchestras, quartets and quintets and the other "tets", and the like. Once a musician moves into the institutions of higher learning and the professional world which follows, he or she will quite often encounter music written in concert key and will be expected to do their own transposition. __________________ Music = Love Trumpets: Lawler Bb / Olds Recording / Schilke B2 Selmer Rad 2 / Yamaha 8310Z Holton MF ST 550S / Stage 1 California C Easyplay mini-trumpet (????) / Chinese Special / Benetone 1934 Cleveland (HN White) 603 Silver Plate w/ Gold Bell Kanstul ZKT 1525 Flugelhorn Cornets: Conn 36A / King Super 20 Master Olds Ambassador / Conn 18A King HN White 1904 Bb+A / Ohio Regent Soloist Conn 16E Eb/F Mellophone Piano, keyboards, vibes, congas, guitars, yada yada