Backing Tracks Sheet music key and iRealPro?

[cappers]

I would be grateful for suggestions.

Started on Georgia a while ago. The band's sheet music for tenor is in G major. I think the original version is F major which transposes to G major for Bb tenor.

On iRealPro if I select Bb instrument and G major key it show the chords for F major. When I select F major the chords match the sheet i.e in G major. So it looks like iRP does the work.

Setting iRP to concert pitch C and it shows the chords in F major but change key to G major and all is correct.

So is there a 'correct' way or horses for courses?

Cheers.

 

[wakyct]

(edit: I replied thinking my chart was in C but of course it's in F as well).

I use iRP the first way, with my instrument (Eb) selected. We change keys a lot depending on singers so we're often not in the original key of the song.

 

[cappers]

Thanks. Setting instrument pitch to Bb, iRP automatically t/p the F to G.
So in general, keep it in Bb and select the concert key to get the correct t/p.
Makes it easier for key changes as you said

 

[mizmar]

I think keeping it in the "original" key and using transpose avoids surprises / confusion later, should you change instrument, or share or such. Also, if you want to switch to a backing track, maybe in a different key. Etc.
But, of course, if it's a one off for practice, there are iReal police!

 

[mizmar]

IReal is a great source of confusion, for me.
Sometimes I've downloaded something and faffed around getting the key right ... Only to remember the transpose setting - which it remembers across pieces.
Today I was wondering why I appeared to be behind the display, till I remembered I had Bluetooth ear buds in and not wired earphones.
Old age, eh.

 

[hedgehog]

I also go the first route. iRP is a fun and useful thing but this translation aspect can be confusing to me. OTOH, it can't hurt to have to stop for a moment and think about what it's doing and then have the insight.

 

[skeller047]

Today I was wondering why I appeared to be behind the display, till I remembered I had Bluetooth ear buds in and not wired earphones.

I use this app all the time with ear buds. I use my ears to tell me where I am, not my eyes…. If I get lost, which happens when I’m thinking too much, I just stop playing until I get oriented again.

Regarding transposition, I always read in concert pitch, especially a chord sheet. This is because I will often play a tune on both alto and tenor. And if I have to look at a lead sheet, it’s almost always in concert pitch. I mostly play small group jazz these days, I haven’t had a reading gig in years (although I sat in with a couple big bands earlier this year, and can still read just fine).

But @cappers got it right, set the key in concert. The transposition function applies to the display, but internally the app is always thinking in concert pitch.

 

[mizmar]

I use my ears to tell me where I am, not my eyes

Sure.. I try to be disciplined!
Today I was checking alignment between a dots arrangement and iReal...

 

[wakyct]

Regarding transposition, I always read in concert pitch, especially a chord sheet. This is because I will often play a tune on both alto and tenor. And if I have to look at a lead sheet, it’s almost always in concert pitch. I mostly play small group jazz these days, I haven’t had a reading gig in years (although I sat in with a couple big bands earlier this year, and can still read just fine).

I'm curious if you've always done it this way. 99% of what I've read so far has been transposed to my alto. But I'm taking a class this quarter where the teacher often just hands out concert key arrangements. It's a little disorienting but not as difficult as I thought it might be (for harmony -- sight reading is another story).

 

[skeller047]

I'm curious if you've always done it this way. 99% of what I've read so far has been transposed to my alto. But I'm taking a class this quarter where the teacher often just hands out concert key arrangements. It's a little disorienting but not as difficult as I thought it might be (for harmony -- sight reading is another story).

Since I was a teenager. When I was a kid, there was no Real Book, fakebooks were copied and/or created by hand. I remember copying a friend’s book, transposing for alto as I went. He told me just to copy the charts in concert key and work them out as I memorized them. I took his advice, which was good because I added tenor a couple years later.

I took up the tenor to play in a funk band, and we just learned tunes by taking them from the record. We always talked about the songs in concert key. The other horn was a trombone, so I had the only transposing instrument in the band.

In college, most jazz players read from lead sheets in C. This is still true today. When the Real Book came out a few years later, it was ONLY available in C. Of course, for more formal arrangements, or larger groups, transposed parts were created. But for jams or improvised music, parts in C are the norm. It’s a valuable skill to learn to transpose at sight.