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Music transposition from alto to tenor

SAXPA

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Wakefield,West Yorkshire
Hi all

Have just bought my first Tenor (YTS 25) to be delivered by end of week(can't wait) ,I have been playing alto for about 18 months, so all the music I have is for alto, question is I'm looking for a program that will allow me to scan my sheet music, run it through the program and transpose it for tenor,does anyone know if such a thing exists,I have done a little bit of research and it seems likely that such a program exists but all info gained seems somewhat conflicting and a little flaky,two programs keep coming up Sibelius and Finale anyone any experience of these please.

Cheers Mick :):)
 
Hi

I am told PhotoScore works but it isn't cheap... you could buy a lot of music books for £199 . .

Of course it could be a good exercise in transposition to write out transcriptions by hand . . . :)
 
If you had the time to put the alto score into MuseScore, it will do the transpositions for you, but you'd have to put the dots in manually first.

I assume you have some backing tracks you need to play along with, as it should sound OK just to play alone anyway.
(shouldn't it? - it's a perfect 4th down from alto to tenor...isn't it? or am I just sooo wrong here??)
 
Thanks Filton

Your certainly right about buying lots of books for that sort of money,think the old pencil and paper will be coming out....:thumb:
 
Thanks Mandy

It seems a bit long winded to have to type it all in first,and no i don't think you are wrong that's the way I will be doing it, will probably be able to do it faster that way, pencil and paper again lol....:thumb:
 
A combination of Photoscore and Sibelius works very well, but you need to be doing a lot to justify the expense.
 
Sibelius will do this - scan and transpose, but it ain't cheap unless you are in full-time education.
 
On the topic of Musescore, it also transposes the chords, if they are entered correctly.

Just discovered if you are uncertain of how to enter a chord, i.e. C minor Major 7, cntl-k to enter chord C, then highlight chord, right click and select Harmony Properties. Now select the chord you need, e.g. mMaj7.
 
If you had the time to put the alto score into MuseScore, it will do the transpositions for you, but you'd have to put the dots in manually first.

I assume you have some backing tracks you need to play along with, as it should sound OK just to play alone anyway.
(shouldn't it? - it's a perfect 4th down from alto to tenor...isn't it? or am I just sooo wrong here??)

4th up.
A written C on the alto part becomes a n F on the tenor
 
A combination of Photoscore and Sibelius works very well, but you need to be doing a lot to justify the expense.

While Finale claims it can do it but it never worked with me.
I even saved a Finale part as jpg, tried to scan it back, and Finale couldn't understand himself.
 
Better for all concerned if you buy sheet music in Bb...................!

Quite a few music books (Jamey Aebersold and others) have the written music already transposd for you so that the backing track works for all. The Creative Saxophone series include two CDs (Alto & Tenor) so you can play the same notes on each instrument!

Either way, you will soon master it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF3Z8uNXPkk&feature=related
 
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4th up.
A written C on the alto part becomes a n F on the tenor

not wishing to appear really ignorant....but doesn't the tenor sound lower than the alto? so how does it become a 4th UP?

and way off topic I know, sorry.
 
Some music books from the Hal Leonard range are written for both Eb and Bb along with C. Don't forget you can play Bb from an Eb sheet music unless you wan to play the backing track. In which case some CD players or various software programs will change the key for you. Much cheaper than the other alternative ;}
 
not wishing to appear really ignorant....but doesn't the tenor sound lower than the alto? so how does it become a 4th UP?

and way off topic I know, sorry.
The written part needs to be a fourth up to sound the same when you play it on tenor (at least, I think that's what he meant).
 
not wishing to appear really ignorant....but doesn't the tenor sound lower than the alto? so how does it become a 4th UP?

and way off topic I know, sorry.

Written middle C on alto is the Eb below middle C in concert pitch.

To play Eb concert on tenor, you play an F.

Tenor is an octave and a tone below concert.

So written low F on Tenor is Eb below middle C in concert pitch.
Tenor sounds lower than alto so you need to transpose UP to get the same note in concert pitch.
 
not wishing to appear really ignorant....but doesn't the tenor sound lower than the alto? so how does it become a 4th UP?

and way off topic I know, sorry.

I think what your after is the fact that tenor is lower than alto you have to go up the scale on the tenor to sound in tune with the alto hence the perfect 4th up the ways
 
Sibelius and Finale are both good programs. I bought Finale upon recommendation of the music store salesman only to find that Sibelius is somewhat more "user friendly" and is the program that my director uses (*sigh.) I have since learned to use Finale but knowing what I know now, I would have started with Sibelius. I do know that both will transpose your score once it is downloaded. I have to do it the old fashioned way; note by note!
 
Thank's to all for your advice and info ,considering the quantity of transposition needed and the cost of programs I will definitely be doing it with pen and paper.... I didn't realise it would be so expensive to do what seems such a simple thing for a computer.
STILL CAN'T WAIT FOR MY TENOR TO COME THO..... WHOO HOOO.
Then the GAS will kick in, mouthpieces,reeds,ligatures oh such fun to be had.....:thumb::happydance:
 
Written middle C on alto is the Eb below middle C in concert pitch.

To play Eb concert on tenor, you play an F.

Tenor is an octave and a tone below concert.

So written low F on Tenor is Eb below middle C in concert pitch.
Tenor sounds lower than alto so you need to transpose UP to get the same note in concert pitch.

It took me a while to work it out.... :confused: but I was giving it some thought while driving out to pick up my daughter yesterday, and eventually I had a light-bulb moment, while waiting at the level crossing for the train to go by..... :)))

Anyway, I understand now, thank you all :welldone
 
Thank's to all for your advice and info ,considering the quantity of transposition needed and the cost of programs I will definitely be doing it with pen and paper.... I didn't realise it would be so expensive to do what seems such a simple thing for a computer.
STILL CAN'T WAIT FOR MY TENOR TO COME THO..... WHOO HOOO.
Then the GAS will kick in, mouthpieces,reeds,ligatures oh such fun to be had.....:thumb::happydance:

To be fair, the packages are comprehensive music editing / engraving / production suites, which much take a lot of development work. However, I'm of the opinion that if they reduced the prices to say £75 they'd probably sell 5 or 10 times as many copies
 
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