I'm learning to read music and I'm looking for some sheet music to practice with.

I have a bunch of old music books lying around that came with my trumpet (which I cannot play, yet).

Obviously they're written mostly in treble clef; my question is, if I play them as if they were written in bass clef (since that's what I'm trying to learn), how will they be transposed? Will all notes still work or will flats and sharps cause errors?

Forgive me, my brain is still a little tangled after studying notes all morning.

This is not ridiculous.... I read treble clef for years before switching to bass.

It's very simple... every note you read in treble clef is transposed DOWN one line on the staff....so for example a "B" written in treble clef is a "D" in bass clef.

Really? Interesting. I thought it would have been a more significant interval, like a 3rd or a 5th.

So is there a difference in flats and sharps?

For example: I'm reading treble clef, there's a note in the first (bottom) space, I read that as an "A" (which it is in bass clef), and play it as an A, even though it's really... an F? is that right? is that going to cause problems when it comes to flats and sharps? (For example, I see a note that is meant to be a sharp, but it's on what would be B.. well B sharp is just C.. so...?? ack) Maybe I just don't quite understand yet ;)

The accidentals shouldn't pose too much of a problem. This is something that you're doing to familiarize yourself with the notes & rhythms on the page, so as long as you employ a consistent approach, then I don't think it should be too problematic.

Maybe it's just the spot on my head I got dropped on as an infant, but I can't think of it as moving one line down. :hmm:

I learned treble clef for what it is - independent from bass clef. So to me, that bottom space in treble clef always was & always will be F. I've practiced reading treble clef some and I always think of it as being treble clef. I'm not thinking as if the notes were on the next line down - I'm reading them as written, then taking them down in octaves to the range of my instrument. That seems more correct & less confusing in the long run to ME. YMMV

Wait, the books came with the trumpet, right? So, the music in the books were written specifically for trumpet, right?

If that's the case, if the trumpet is not a C trumpet, you'll need to transpose it a little more to make up for that fact.

Could he not just play it as written? Who cares what the writer's intent is - he's just trying to get his reading up to speed, right?

and I have read repeatedly that learning trumpet parts on bass is a fine way to improve soloing...

I'm with Jefenator, this "transposing one line down" trick is silly and not useful in the long run.

The C on the first ledger line above a bass clef staff is the same C as on the first ledger line below a treble clef staff. Think of the treble clef as being directly on top of the bass clef, with the C ledger line joining them in the middle.

This is better than thinking "one line down" because you are aware of the octave the note is in. E.g. the E on the lowermost line of the treble clef is the exact same E as on the second ledger line above the bass clef staff.

[edit] Oh yeah, didn't realize it's for trumpet... Then you either have to play it in the wrong key, or do some more transposing...

AFAIC if you're just practicing reading, the instrument it's written (and transposed) for shouldn't really matter.

What does matter, at least to me, is that if you're reading treble clef, line for line, trying to pretend it's bass clef, the key signatures and accidentals are going to be all out of whack. At very least that's going to make some of the melodies seem strange. At worst I'd think this could really hamper one's understanding of accidentals, which are a big part of reading IME.

Rather than rig up some system to compensate (Ignore all sharps on this line, in this sig??), I'd personally just prefer to think in treble clef which is a handy skill to have for head doubling, writing & arranging. Then of course log some more hours in your native clef. :p

That's my logic, anyway. :)

Yeah, I don't mind playing it in the wrong key. I just want to work on my reading, I don't really care about learning the songs (they're mostly just kids songs anyway).
So as long as the notes are the same it should be fine.

A
What does matter, at least to me, is that if you're reading treble clef, line for line, trying to pretend it's bass clef, the key signatures and accidentals are going to be all out of whack. At very least that's going to make some of the melodies seem strange. At worst I'd think this could really hamper one's understanding of accidentals, which are a big part of reading IME.



Ah! This is what I was asking... sorry! Heh. But yes, this is what I need to know. I guess ultimately it doesn't matter but it's good to know that this could be the case.

Thanks Jefenator.

If you can learn the one line down method, you will be learning to transpose in your head which is a habit as much as it is a skill. One of the best ways to learn this skill is to be able to recite the alphabet backward and forwards starting anywhere along it and returning to it. This familiarity of doing this will help teach your brain to pass the normal protacols it has for just starting the alphabet on A.
For example if i asked to imagine the complete alphabet as a joined circle then asked you to recite the alphabet starting at P and going through till you returned to P..could you do it straight off or would you need a little run up to it? If i asked you to do it backwards from P in the same manner could you do it?
Try starting and returning from lots of different places. As we only use A-B-C-D-E-F-G as notes you'll find that you brain will easily accommodate what your seeing and what your playing. Remember piano players read two staffs at the same time.

If you teach or familiarize yourself to this technique transposing through all the clefs becomes so much easier.