During the interval at last night's village concert band rehearsal I had a quick look at the sousaphone player's music for the last piece and saw it was in the key of Bb. My cornet part was in G, so I thought to myself 'my part adds 2 sharps to this one, my instrument is Bb therfore theirs must be concert pitch (same as when transposing a piano melody to Bb trumpet).'

When I asked the sousaphone player about this he said no, the pitch of his instrument is Bb - the same as mine. When I asked why we din't have the same key signature I didn't get a very satisfactory reply.

From what I could see the Eb bass was playing the same part, and when I asked him if he was transposing he said no, so I don't know what was going on there either.

Does anyone out there have the answer?

Regards,

Mark.

Maybe he was just pretending to play...lol, how can people play those things...hmm...

Hi Mark
Sounds a bit strange to me

Were they playing off bass clef parts (concert pitch), or treble clef parts (transposing)???


Ray

So the piece was in concert F major, if you were in G major on a Bb instrument.

If the sousa part was in Bb major, then his instrument is in G. (as a written C for a G instrument sounds a concert G, so a written Bb sounds a concert F).

by concert pitch I mean play that note on the piano, and by written I mean the part in front of the player of a transposing (not in C) instrument.

clear as mud? good

Hi hornplayer

don't think you would get a sousaphone made in G:it would probably be in Bb or Eb.

Orchestral and concert band players of tuba (equivalent to a sousaphone) normally play in concert pitch from the bass clef eg if they see a written C they will play a C which will sound a C in concert pitch

Brass band tuba players normally play off treble clef parts and have different written parts for Eb tubas and Bb tuba.
If they play a written Middle C (normally their lowest open harmonic) they will sound in concert pitch an Eb or a Bb (below the bass clef range of a piano)

Parts specifically for Eb tuba, treble clef, are uncommon, in my experience. More usually they play from a bass clef, concert pitch part labelled "bombardon". Typical brass band players, accustomed to treble clef, then add three sharps and pretend that it really is treble. Accidentals sometimes cause confusion, but a good ear will sort that out.

All this transposing nonsense makes me dizzy....

Please excuse me, but I made a mistake in my opening statement on this topic.

The sousaphone part (bass clef, marked 'Basses') in in the key of F (not Bb).

I'll get my coat.

Mark.

Don't forget your specs!!!!

You can borrow mine anytime!!