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Topic: How to transpose into a different key instantly? (Read 3105 times)

zasinzebra

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Posts: 1

How to transpose into a different key instantly?

on: April 30, 2020, 07:08:59 PM

Hi Everyone,

I am trying to learn how to be able to transpose music into a different key, either at sight or from memory.

There was a story I read in which a young Liszt met Beethoven, Beethoven asked him to transpose a Bach fugue "at once". Either Liszt had already worked this out previously, or was able to figure it out on the keyboard. While Liszt was a genius, surely there are some mental methods that could be employed to facilitate this.

Some I've brainstormed:
- Identify the chord structure transpose that to a new key, but this doesn't seem to work well for passage work.
- Identify the scale degree of each note, map it back to the new key (e.g. G is degree 5 in C major, new Key is B major, degree 5 is F#), but this seems inefficient
- Train yourself "see" notes as different notes
- Focus on the intervals between notes
- Playing by ear
- Combination of multiple methods

My plan is try to practice some of these on some easier Bach works in C major like Prelude 1 and Invention 1, but does anyone have any better suggestions on how to go about this?

Sorry if this question has already been answered elsewhere, I checked the search bar and search engines.

Thank you

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dogperson

Sr. Member
Posts: 1559

Re: How to transpose into a different key instantly?

Reply #1 on: April 30, 2020, 08:53:46 PM

What worked for me was playing around with hymns: identifying ying the chord structure and then transposing them to different keys. Probably simple pop would work as well. I’d start with relatively simple music and then increase the difficulty as your skills increase.

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quantum

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Posts: 6272

Re: How to transpose into a different key instantly?

Reply #2 on: April 30, 2020, 09:03:32 PM

Hi, and welcome to Pianostreet!

Start with easy music, as it can get overwhelming if you are new to this. The approach can differ depending on the style of music and transposition. There are also techniques that can be employed for specific types of transposition. For example: when sight transposing a concert pitch score on B-flat clarinet, I often like to read the treble clef as alto clef.

Start with transpositions that you may commonly encounter. +/- one or two semitones.

For practice repertoire you can begin with:

Hymn/chorale tunes in unison (monophonic texture). Play melody both hands in unison. Play octaves if you so desire. You might also want to do this as LH solo.

Opera vocal score piano reduction (homophonic texture). There can be a lot of repetitive accompaniment patterns. It can allow you to build ability in looking ahead, since there is a lot of time spent repeating patterns. It also enforces being mindful parts that you do not play on the piano.

Early Baroque keyboard music or easy Bach (polyphonic texture).

Four part hymns and chorales (homorhythmic texture). Start with hymns, then when comfortable move on to the Bach chorales.

Open vocal score, hymns and chorales (homorhythmic texture). Start with 4 staff, treble and bass clefs. Then you can move on to doing the same with C clefs.

Open vocal score, Renaissance (polyphonic texture). Start with a modern score with treble and bass clefs. Move on to reading with each part on its own C clef. For example, music of Palestrina, Josquin, Lassus, and Victoria.

For a challenge you could do, Bach BWV 1080 in open score.

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Made a Liszt. Need new Handel's for Soler panel & Alkan foil. Will Faure Stein on the way to pick up Mendels' sohn. Josquin get Wolfgangs Schu with Clara. Gone Chopin, I'll be Bach

timothy42b

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Posts: 3414

Re: How to transpose into a different key instantly?

Reply #3 on: May 01, 2020, 02:47:55 PM

Quote from: zasinzebra on April 30, 2020, 07:08:59 PM

Hi Everyone,

I am trying to learn how to be able to transpose music into a different key, either at sight or from memory.

Are you familiar with the C clefs? It's sort of a capital B with double vertical, and the notch points at middle C. You move the notch to transpose, so you end up with 7 familiar clefs. Even adding one or two instantly gives you a method to transpose. You sort of have one C clef now though you call it a G - middle C is an octave below 3rd space.

I'm primarily a brass musician and we have to be familiar with treble, transposed (Bb) treble, bass, tenor, and alto clefs, and with the addition of mezzo soprano we can read off a French horn part.

I don't know that many pianists do it this way, but apparently my mother did, as she seemed to be fluent doing this kind of thing on multiple instruments. (Alas, didn't think to ask her until long past too late.)

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Tim

keypeg

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Sr. Member
Posts: 3924

Re: How to transpose into a different key instantly?

Reply #4 on: May 02, 2020, 02:09:31 PM

I used to transpose accidentally. My whole relationship to music was via the movable Do solfege I'd been taught in a primary grade. If the music is diatonic, then Do is Do, Re is Re, Fa is Fa, always the 2nd degree (Re), 4th degree (Fa) up from the Tonic along the notes of that scale. You just hear it. If the chords are simple, I ii IV V etc. you hear that too. I could easily play in the wrong key and only noticed when there seemed to be a crazy number of black keys that weren't there before.

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