I know tenor clef to read piano music: add 2 flats, and shift the notes down 2 lines, I think.
Looking at this flute music, the range fits well playing the lines directly as bass clef, but what about the key ?
Trombonist ChuckW seems to have the best answer, add 3 flats. I have played tenor clef before, but want to read the music as written, no shift. I’m not very good at that.
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Schumiszt says:
Your question is rather confusing… The trombone is read in the bass clef and it plays the notes literally. The flute and the trombone have a similar range, except the trombone is about 2 octaves lower. To adapt flute music for the trombone, you’d probably want to transpose down two octaves. Depending on the flute music, if it is very high, you may want to transpose it down a couple of steps, and if the flute music is unusually low, you may want to transpose it up a couple of steps.
Unless you want to notate the trombone music in B flat, which is somewhat unusual, you will keep the key signature the same. The trombone is almost always read in C.
–Schumiszt
July 31, 2010, 11:16 pmCliff E says:
Laurence, if the trombone is a C-tuned instrument (I.E..reads staff notes as actually written with no transposition), then the answer to your question has nothing to do with the trombone as regards the new Key when reading Treble clef music as though written in Bass clef.
When reading any piece of music written in the Treble clef as though written in the Bass clef, the new Key is transposed a Major third above (or a minor sixth below) the original key. For example, if the flute music is in the Key of C major, reading as if in Bass clef will move you to the key of E major (four sharps).
Flute music written in D major will move to the new key of F# major (G flat major enharmonically). A major becomes C# major, B flat major becomes D major, etc. C minor becomes E minor, A minor becomes C# minor, etc.
By the way, this sight-reading skill is very useful when playing in ensembles with various different instruments when some accommodation is required. It is also useful when accompanying a vocalist with limited range as you are able to transpose without rewriting the score.
Cliff E. (classic guitarist)
August 1, 2010, 12:11 amChuck W says:
If you’re reading the music as if it were bass clef, you should add three flats:
4th-space C (treble) becomes 4th-space Eb (bass), and the key goes the same way.
If you’re reading the music as if it were tenor clef, you should add two flats.
4th-space C (treble) becomes 4th-space Bb(tenor), and the key follows suit.
Note that you can only use these tricks when playing by yourself – when playing with other people, you have to learn the real notes on treble clef.
August 1, 2010, 12:12 amPiano Man says:
So let me get this straight…..
you have a flute part in treble clef and you want to change it to bass clef so that a trombonist can read it??
if this is the case all you would have to do is change the clefs and move the notes down a line and a space. The key stays exactly the same because both instruments are non-transposing instruments and you do not change keys when changing clefs.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fa/Celloopenstrings.JPG/250px-Celloopenstrings.JPG
this picture shows different notes in treble, tenor and bass clef. As you can see the key does not change.
August 1, 2010, 12:26 am