Re: score transposition problem

[David Kastrup]

Marc Hohl <address@hidden> writes:

> Am 13.04.2011 09:56, schrieb Janek Warchoł:
>> Hi,
>>
>> 2011/4/13 Marc Hohl<address@hidden>:
>>> Am 13.04.2011 06:15, schrieb Tom Cloyd:
>>>>
>>>> I want to arrange a Bach chorale for guitar. My score for the
>>>> chorale is a nightmare. I can barely read bass clef, and can do
>>>> that in my mind, but the scores for soprano, alto, and tenor all
>>>> use C-clefs, and in a way that each score must be read in a unique
>>>> way. I've never before seen a score like this. The notes fit nicely
>>>> on the staff, but I cannot read them without a lot of mental
>>>> gymnastics.
>>>
>>> Well, you describe how to proceed: just input the notes as if they were
>>> written on G clef.
>>>
>>> Your "f" is actually written f'' and should sound like an "a", so just add
>>>
>>> \transpose f'' a { \myMusic }
>>>
>>> and it should work out of the box. The same holds for the C clefs, of
>>> course.
>> Actually, it doesn't. It's because \transpose is chromatic, and the
>> staff itself isn't. Compile the following:
> Ah, I see :-(
> Well, it looked so simple ...

It usually is.  You need to change the key appropriately as well to have
the half steps occur in the right places.  This works for in-key notes;
accidentals need to be reinterpreted accordingly to have the same amount
of "sharpening" or "flattening" as the original.

As an example: say you have a score written in alto clef in g\major
which you want to move to treble_8.

The base note of g\major looks like being an f, so you change your clef
in hand-writing to treble_8, and the key from one sharp to one flat.

Any accidentals in the score that change meaning due to this key change
have to be reinterpreted accordingly.

Now you are ready to play the score (transposed by one note), or to type
it in, and submit it to \transpose f g.

-- 
David Kastrup