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Lesson 3.4 - Transposition




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In Grade 3 (ABRSM  and Trinity) you will have to transpose (move) a melody up or down an octave from treble to bass clef or vice versa.

For example, the following tune when transposed an octave lower into the bass clef.


...will look like this

The most common mistake in examinations is to write the tune at the wrong octave, often at the same pitch (but in a different clef) or two octaves away. The best way to make sure of getting exactly an octave apart, is to work out how far the given note is away from middle C, as in the previous lesson. In this example the first note is the D just above middle C  so when transposed down an octave, the first note will be D just below middle C.

Another mistake I often see, is that the student starts off  OK with the correct note, and then works horizontally, going up or down steps or more, to mirror the intervals in the given original melody. This is fine, but if you miscalculate just one interval on the way, it will mean all the notes following it will also be wrong. If you do use this method, CHECK your last note is still an octave above/below the given note.

Practice this topic with our workbook
"Music Theory Practice - A Complete Course"
New for 2021 


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