A transposing instrument is a musical instrument that does not play the notes you might think it will play. But all the notes differ from the real notes by the same musical interval. So a song played on the transposing instrument will sound familiar, but played in a different key. That is because the transposing instrument is tuned above or below what the usual notes would be, and always above or below by the same number of notes on a scale. The usual notes are called "concert pitch". Most non-transposing instruments, like pianos, are tuned to play in the key of C.
When writing music for a transposing instrument, or teaching how to play the notes, the entire series of notes is written and described as notes moved up or down a number of semitones. For example: playing the note that is called "C" on a B flat clarinet, produces the note that is called "B♭" when played on a piano. All transposing instruments such as "horn in F" or "alto saxophone in E♭" mean F and E♭ in normal notes ("concert pitch"). The note "C" as written and played on the horn in F will sound like an "F" , and the same "C" written for the alto saxophone in E♭ will sound like "E♭".
Woodwinds, especially the recorder and clarinets, are transposing instruments. Saxophones and most brass instruments are transposing instruments.
The use of transposed notation (writing notes higher or lower than they really are) probably started with the slow changes in how to make instruments. There was a "clarinet in C" when Mozart was alive, but was later replaced by the larger, richer sounding "clarinet in B♭". There was no change to how clarinet players had to move their fingers. That helped players change from the older instrument to the newer instrument. Maybe learners of the modern day instrument in B♭ could re-learn how to use their fingers, so they could play with normal notes. But all written music would have to be transposed back to "concert pitch".
Instruments such as horns and woodwinds have a natural harmonic series, so it is easier and louder to play in certain keys. So that needs to be remembered when writing music for these instruments. Also, these instruments can only be played in tune in certain keys, because of a problem with something called "". Which keys will work depends on which key the instrument was tuned for.
Having transposing instruments makes it possible for pipes to play in several different keys. The fingering can remain the same. Only the key the music is written in, the notes that harmonize with that key, and timbre (what the note sounds like, not just which key it is) change as the different sizes of instrument are used. A cor anglais is like an oboe but a fifth lower (Five notes of a scale. A written C sounds like an F). Any oboe player can play the cor anglais, reading the music and playing with normal oboe fingering. It will automatically sound a fifth lower. Compare this to recorders which are not transposing instruments. On a descant recorder, the note played with three fingers of the left hand (1-2-3-0-0-0) is a G. To play a G on a treble (alto) recorder the fingering is 1-2-3-1-2-3. This can be confusing at first, but with practice players can get used to changing between the different sizes of recorder.
Professional clarinet players will need two clarinets: a B flat and an A clarinet. Some clarinet cases are made to hold both instruments. Some clarinet players also play the bass clarinet. This is also in B flat, but sounds an octave lower than the ordinary B flat clarinet. There is also an E flat clarinet which sounds a minor third higher than written.
Saxophones transpose into different keys according to their sizes. Brass instruments come in several different keys. It is always important for a player to come to a rehearsal or concert with the correct instrument. Often brass players become skilled at transposing. That means, if their music is written in the wrong key for the instrument on which they are playing, they can still play it in the right key.
Transposition (music)
Transposition or transposing in music means playing or writing music in a way that makes it sound higher or lower. This can be done by playing or writing the music in a different key, or by playing or writing it up or down an octave, without changing the key.
Transposing is a useful skill for people who play an instrument, especially the piano, organ, or some other keyboard instrument. If a pianist is accompanying a singer and the song is a little too high for the singer’s voice, it is very useful if he is able to transpose it down so that the music sounds in a lower key. For example, if the music is written in the key of C major, it could be transposed down a whole tone so that it sounds in B-flat major.
Most electronic keyboards and organs these days have buttons which can set notes to transpose automatically. This can be very useful, although it may be confusing for people with absolute pitch.
It is a good idea for people who play keyboard instruments or other kinds of transposing instruments to practise transposing. There are two ways to do this:
Transposing by intervals is the a better way of transposing, but when people transpose they sometimes also transpose the notes the first way, one by one.
There is another possibility which sometimes works: by thinking in a different clef. For example, someone who is used to reading music in the alto clef, such as a violist, can transpose up a tone from music written in the treble clef by imagining it was written in the alto clef and playing an octave lower (a note on the middle line in the treble clef is a B, but in the alto clef it is a C). They could also imagine the new key signature of 2 sharps – it becomes a C sharp.
It is very important to understand key signatures in order to be able to transpose. This is why it is so useful to practise scales.
Erinyes
The Erinyes (or Eumenides) were the goddesses of revenge in Greek mythology. They are also known as the Furies. These three female divinities were named Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera.
The Erinyes were born from Mother Earth and the blood of Uranos. They avenged family crimes such as matricide and patricide. They also tormented evil men in the "Hell" of the underworld, Tartarus.
The Erinyes forever followed a person who did a crime. They even could make the person go mad. They are often shown with snakes on their heads, blood coming out of their eyes, and looking horrific.
A well known story about the Erinyes is that of Orestes. Orestes' mother Klytaimnestra, and her lover Aegisthos, killed Orestes' father Agamemnon. The god Apollo told Orestes to kill the murderers of his father, which he did. Orestes was then pursued by the Erinyes for his crime. With the help of Athena and Apollo Orestes went to a court in Athens. It was decided that Orestes acted correctly and nobody should hurt him. Even the Erinyes accepted the decision, and from then on they were also called Eumenides, which means "the kind ones", because they could also let people go in peace if their crime was done for a good reason.
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a term mainly used for the geographic region surrounded by the Indian Ocean: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The subcontinent was once part of Gondwana, the ancient southern supercontinent. Geologically, the origin of the Himalayas is the impact of the Indian tectonic plate travelling northward at 15 cm per year to slowly hit the Eurasian continent, about 40-50 million years ago. The formation of the Himalayan arc resulted as the lighter rock of the seabeds of that time were easily uplifted into mountains. An often-cited fact used to illustrate this process is that the summit of Mount Everest is made of marine limestone.