Editing Transposing instrument (section)

{{Short description|Musical instrument for which notated pitch differs from sounding pitch}}

[[File:Transposing examples.jpg|thumb|400px|right]]

A '''transposing instrument''' is a [[musical instrument]] for which music notation is not written at [[concert pitch]] (concert pitch is the pitch on a non-transposing instrument such as the piano). For example, playing a written [[middle C]] on a transposing instrument produces a pitch other than middle C; that sounding pitch identifies the [[interval (music)|interval]] of transposition when describing the instrument. Playing a written C on [[clarinet]] or [[soprano saxophone]] produces a concert B{{music|flat}} (i.e. B{{music|flat}} at concert pitch), so these are referred to as B{{music|flat}} instruments. Providing [[Transposition (music)|transposed]] music for these instruments is a convention of [[musical notation]]. The instruments do not transpose the music; rather, their music is written at a transposed pitch. Where chords are indicated for [[jazz improvisation|improvisation]] they are also written in the appropriate transposed form.

For some instruments, a written C sounds as a C but is in a different [[octave]]; these instruments are said to transpose "at the octave". Pitches on the [[double bass]] sound an octave lower than written, while those on the [[piccolo]] and [[celesta]] sound an octave higher, and those on the [[glockenspiel]] sound two octaves higher.