The best accidental

The best accidental

Should I write F# or Gb? It depends on the context. Here are some guidelines.

In a melody

stick to the key signature where you can. Accidentals should deviate no more than a semitone from the key signature. If F# is in the key signature you can write Fx (double sharp) or F (natural) but not Fb.

Have a good excuse ready before you write a double flat or double sharp. G is almost always preferable to Fx. Use Fx in preference to G only when G# is prevalent in the melody, or you have some other good excuse.

Lean towards principal note names. Rare names like B# and Fb should be used only when there are four or more sharps (for B#) or four or more flats (for Fb) in the key signature.

In a chromatic run

run up in sharps and down in flats.

In a scale

write your accidentals so the musician recognises the scale.

In a chord

write the chord so the player will recognise it.

Give chords to players that use chords (guitarists, pianists and soloists). Don't worry instrumentalists with chords if they won't be needing them.

Guitarists and pianists map their physical position to the chord. When they recognise the chord they relax to it. Give them the chord and you give them the freedom to improvise (unless “Strict” is written or implied).

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Music Theory

• Pitch
• Chords
• Time

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"Become an arranger first, then an orchestrator, and then a composer." - Joe Paparone

Joe Paparone is an Australian music arranger of the highest international calibre. Allow him to share 35 years of real world experiences with you.

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Baby stuff

• Preliminaries
• The Grand Stave
• Scaling the heights
• Tones and semitones
• Enharmony and accidentals

Scales

• Diatonic Scales
• How to make a diatonic scale
• The 15 diatonic scales
• The magic number 7
• Diatonic 4ths and 5ths
• Tetrachords
• More in the positions

Keys

• Key signatures and accidentals
• 15 key signatures to 15 diatonic scales
• The diatonic scale on the stave
• Accidentals, the principal name
• The best accidental

Colour

• Key, colour and orchestration
• The score
• Transposition
• Good keys / Bad keys

The score

The score is read by the conductor. All notes played by all instruments are in the score.

Let's illustrate with Joe Paparone's arrangement of The Barber of Seville Overture.

Time reads from left to right.

Concert Score

“The Barber of Seville Overture” by Rossini
Arranged by Joe Paparone 1998
Concert Score excerpt

This is a concert score.

The key signature is the same for each instrument.

Transposed Score

Each instrument is written to its key.

• Trombones are in the key of E.
• Trumpets in the key of F#.
• French Horns are in the key of B.

There is no difference in sound between the concert and transposed scores. In the concert score the focus is on concert pitch, the universal sound. In the transposed score the focus is on the language of the player, the parts are written as the player reads them.

“The Barber of Seville Overture” by Rossini
Arranged by Joe Paparone 1998
Transposed Score excerpt

Woodwind instruments

“The Barber of Seville Overture” by Rossini
Arranged by Joe Paparone 1998
Concert Score excerpt

Many woodwind instruments are transposing.

Bb clarinet is transposed up a tone.

You must be careful of the clef. Clarinetists read treble clef. It is bad form to give them music in any other clef. So Bb bass clarinet is transposed up a tone for the key and an octave for the clef.

“The Barber of Seville Overture” by Rossini
Arranged by Joe Paparone 1998
Transposed Score excerpt

Strings

The string instruments in this syllabus are non transposing: harp, violin, viola, cello and double bass. Concert and transposed scores for these string instruments are the same.

Contrabass (double bass) is a special case. Contrabass is a deep instrument, so deep its best sounding range is well under the bass clef. We write contrabass an octave higher than it sounds so it may be read comfortably on the bass clef. When contrabass and celli read the same note they sound an octave apart. Have a listen to the MIDI files.

“The Barber of Seville Overture” by Rossini
Arranged by Joe Paparone 1998
Concert / Transposed Score excerpt

An octave higher or lower than written

Following is the piano keyboard and its relation to the treble and bass clefs. It is easy to see from this diagram how many notes at the heights and depths of music are not covered by the clefs.

Some instruments are naturally very high or very low. The glockenspiel pitch is much higher than the treble clef. It is written on the treble clef, two octaves under its actual sound. Electric bass and contrabass are deeper than the bass clef. They are written an octave higher than they sound.

You may like to browse our Musical Instruments Reference.

Hybrid Concert / Transposed score

This appears to be a concert score. Looks can be deceptive.

French horn is written in the concert key signature but not in the concert key. In this score French horn notes are transposed a diatonic 5th higher than concert without changing the key signature.

For now the tasks involved in understanding a score may seem incredibly complex, but in time you will get a feel for the instrument's keys and pitch.

Being able to tell whether notes are concert or transposed, irregardless of the key signature, is something you will pick up as you learn about chords, progressions and other music theory fundamentals. 

Transposition

These instruments play in a different key to the piano. They are transposing instruments.

• Bb trumpet
• French horn (F)
• Alto saxophone (Eb)
• Tenor saxophone (Bb)
• Cor anglais (F)
• Bb clarinet

Before you can write for a transposing instrument you need to know

• its key
• any octave shifts in the transposition
• the clef the player is expected to read.

You can look this information up in the Musical Instruments Reference. You can read more about transposition underneath.

Transposition, a simple example

Bb Trumpet part Concert pitch
Excerpt from Figlio Del Capo, arranged and composed by Joe Paparone

Bb trumpet transposes a tone above concert.

1. Transpose the key signature a tone above concert.
   Eb concert transposes up to F.
   
   
2. Transpose each note up a tone.
   C concert transposes up to D.
   D concert transposes up to E.
   Eb concert transposes up to F.

As an aid, write the diatonic scale of the concert key above the diatonic scale of the transposed key. The top row of notes transposes to the bottom row.

Concert key	Eb	F	G	A	Bb	C	D	Eb
Transposes up to	F	G	A	Bb	C	D	E	F

Bb trumpet part transposed

Transposition, a more complex example

What happens when some notes deviate from the key signature?

Bb Trumpet part Concert
Excerpt from Figlio Del Capo, arranged and composed by Joe Paparone

Write the diatonic scale of the concert key above the diatonic scale of the transposed key.

Concert key	Eb	F	G	A	Bb	C	D	Eb
Transposes up to	F	G	A	Bb	C	D	E	F

Each note transposes up a tone. B natural is not in the diatonic scale of the concert key. B natural transposes up a tone to C#.

Tip: If a note is altered from the key signature in the concert key it will also be altered from the key signature in the transposed key.

Bb trumpet part transposed

Transposition for a baritone saxophone

The baritone saxophone is scored in bass clef. It is transposed up a diatonic 13th (diatonic 6th and an octave) to the treble clef.

Eb Baritone saxophone part concert
Excerpt from Giacca di Feru composed and arranged by Joe Paparone

The concert key is C. It transposes a diatonic sixth up to A.

Concert key	C	D	E	F	G	A	B	C
Transposes up to	A	B	C#	D	E	F#	G#	A

Remember to write it an octave higher ...

... and put it in treble clef. Transposition is complete.