Hello, who is taking their grade 5 theory exam? I can do pretty much everything else but i am having difficulty with transposition Can anyone offer advice thankyou

There are various ways. The easiest is to write down the scale of the original key. Directly underneath write down the scale of the new key - make sure you get it right! Then simply look at the name of the original note on your chart and below it will be the name of the new note. Of course accidentals are bound to be used somewhere too. Great!

I am doing Grade 5 theory on Sat too and also I find transposition difficult - at least to get started in - once I am going I am usually fine!!! I agree with John that you need to find the key of the given piece and then work out what key that becomes once you transpose it (eg E flat maj will become A flat maj, if going down a perfect 5th). that then gives you a start on transposing each note one by one.

However, as John rightly said there are always extra accidentals and you then have to work out what to do with these in your new note. I have found it not helpful to think "oh there's my original note sharpened, I need to sharpen this lower one" - this has led me into making mistakes as the note in the new key may be a sharp already and so I have forgotten to double sharp it..... so I personally think in terms of "raise that note ..... lower that one". But this is only the way my brain works!!

what throws me completely is when they say DO NOT use a key signature but add necessary sharps or flats. I have to be SO SO careful with this. For me I do things the same way - work out what key sig and write the new one down in pencil at the side of the page. then I write what the sharps or flats of that key sig are, again in pencil. As I work through my new line of music i keep referring back to the key sig notes to see whether they need accidentals. As before, then the extra accidentals also need consideration.

I am dreading this question too (plus the composition one which I am really uncreative with!!). I did a past paper last night and couldn't even work out the original key. what a disaster!!!

I hope this helps and if anyone thinks I am doing this the wrong way or has a quicker way, then please let me know!!!!

By the way, i forgot to say I double check at the end and spot check as many notes as I can to make sure they are correct.

Good luck

Elizabeth

I ask my students to name the original key and the new key in order to get the new key signature correctly. After that, simply move every note by the interval of transposition. If you treat the transposition example like an interval exercise, then it is easy to get every note, including the accidentals, correctly.

I have a related question for everyone:

What happens if a candidate misread the instruction and transposed the given melody in the wrong direction? Let's say that the interval of transposition is supposed to be down a minor 3rd but the candidate transposes everything up a minor 3rd. Would the candidate receive a zero if every note is correct but in the wrong key?

I have these guidlines which are apparently based on guidlines to examiners:

TRANSPOSITION Correct notes are all that is required. Ignore all dynamics and other performance directions. However, penalise missing ties, dots after notes, and other rhythmic mistakes by up to 2 marks (total).

Out of 10 marks, deduct 1 for the first appearance in any bar of a note that is wrong according to the candidate’s key signature; but show some leniency over the constant recurrence of the same note throughout the piece. Enharmonics should normally be accepted, except where an over-complicated line results. Also:

(i) Mark out of 7 if the key signature is incorrect but the transposition is to the correct interval,
(ii) Mark out of 6 if the transposition is to an incorrect interval/at the wrong octave, (iii) For a hybrid answer [a cross between (i) and (ii)], assess under each heading and award the better of the two marks.
(iv) Award a minimum of I if the key signature is correct.


It seems as though they are more generous with marks than I would be...... for me wrong is wrong.

I remember reading somewhere that they would get a few points if the examiner was nice but not many, maybe one or two.

Hello sbhoa,

How did you obtain the marking guidelines? Does the Board publish any guidelines for studio teachers?

I got them from a teacher friend.

Thankyou Elizabeth good luck for you to:)

Thanks for everyones help i feel alot more confident cheers

No help to offer beyond what's been given here (I'm vaguely used to transposition as a Horn player), but another one in the Grade 5 theory boat! There are about three of us doing it including me from my school. I got to miss a few lessons to do theory work today, and did a past paper which I got 93 on (some stupid mistakes and I got a 15/15 for the composition which is probably a bit subjective, but I'm happy). Good luck to everyone taking it and don't panic!

I'm doing G5 theory on saturday too!!!!

My piano teacher says when it comes to transposition you should check it vertically and horizontally. vertically because you work out the interval (eg - perfect 5th = 7 semitones) and transpose each note down 7 semitones. i usually draw out a keyboard to work it out!!!
then you check it horizontally - you see in the printed copy the interval between each note (eg - f,g = 2 semitones) and you see if it's the same as the corresponding notes once you've transposed down.
Where are you sitting it???

good luck!!!!!

Hi,

Need help in Grade 5 transposition.

How do we determine the key of the question, if we are required to write the new key signature?

I find almost all questions come with LOTS of accidentals. I doubt a Grade 5 can manage to find the 'correct' key..? My way is to ignore ALL accidentals, if it's given 4 flats, I will treat it as A flat major (always major).

Do I have the correct concept? Please advise.

You may be asked to write with or without key signature.
If it's with key signature then transpose this in relation to the KS written in the original rather than try to work out what the key might be from the accidentals.

This is the way I do it (no doubt there are other methods, but this works for me):


Look at the key signature of the original extract that you have to transpose. Treat it as a major key, ignoring all the added accidentals elsewhere in the piece. Transpose the tonic of that key up or down as dictated by the question and use the key signature of the new tonic for your transpose passage.

eg Passage with 3 flats (Eb major) - you are required to transpose down a perfect 5th. Perfect 5th down from Eb is Ab so new key signature is 4 flats.

Then, transpose all the notes by the right interval - again, ignoring accidentals for now (or else you may get tangled up in enharmonic equivalents and so on) - concentrate on moving the dots by the right number of lines and spaces.

Finally, check each pair of notes (the transposed and the original version) and make sure that they are the required interval apart and adjust accidentals accordingly. Some notes that had accidentals in the original may not require them in the new version and vice versa, so you really do need to check every note.

Ta-da, job done.