Editing Transposing instrument (section)

== Transposition at the octave ==
{{See also|Clef#Octave clefs}}
Some instruments have ranges that do not fit on the staff well when using one of the common clefs. In order to avoid the use of excessive [[ledger line]]s, music for these instruments may be written one, or even two, [[octaves]] away from concert pitch, using treble or bass clef. These instruments are said to "transpose at the octave"—their music is not written in a different [[key (music)|key]] from concert pitch instruments, but sound one or two octaves higher or lower than written.

[[Double bass]], [[bass guitar]], [[guitar]], and [[contrabassoon]] sound an octave lower than written. [[Piccolo]], [[xylophone]], [[celesta]], and some [[Recorder (musical instrument)|recorders]] ([[Sopranino recorder|sopranino]], [[soprano recorder|soprano]], [[bass recorder|bass]] and sometimes [[alto recorder|alto]]) sound an octave above the written note. [[Glockenspiel]], [[garklein recorder]], and [[crotales]] sound two octaves above the written note.

Most authorities include this type of notation in the definition of "transposing instruments",<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| title=[[Harvard Dictionary of Music]] |edition=second |editor-first=Willi | editor-last=Apel |editor-link=Willi Apel |year=1972 |contribution=Transposing Instruments}} According to this article, if an octave-transposing clef is used (with a small 8 above or below), the term "transposition" does not apply.</ref> although it is a special case in the sense that these instruments remain in the same key as non-transposing instruments.