Transposing instruments

Dorico Elements Help

Product
Dorico Elements
Version
5.1
Language
English
Document type
Webhelp
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While most instruments produce notes at concert pitch, transposing instruments produce a note that is different to the one that is written. Common transposing instruments include clarinets, horns, trumpets, saxophones, and the cor anglais.

When a Clarinet in B plays a C, the sound produced is a B, one whole step (tone) below. When a Horn in F plays a C, the sound produced is an F, a fifth below.

Octave-transposing instruments include the piccolo (sounding an octave above written), glockenspiel (sounding two octaves above written), and guitar and double bass (both sounding an octave below written).

Dorico Elements stores all note information in concert pitch and automatically transposes notes as appropriate for the transposition of the instrument. This means notes, key signatures, and chord symbols are automatically changed in transposing layouts compared to non-transposing layouts. You can also change instruments at any time, and the music is adjusted automatically to ensure the correct pitches are shown.

You can also change the octave of individual clefs and whether Dorico Elements respects or ignores clef octave indicators in each flow independently.

Note

According to convention, octave-transposing instruments always show transposed pitches, including in concert pitch layouts and without requiring clefs with octave indicators.