Warming up exercices for transposition

This exercise book aims to familiarize clarinettists with transposition’s mental
gymnastics. It is suitable for students as well as experienced musicians.
It offers « fluency exercises » that will need to be played first as they are written,
then transposed in two different ways.
To begin, make sure you identify the initial key, then the new key in order to
become aware of the accidentals that change.
We have intentionally indicated when to swap clarinets without specifying how to
proceed so as to encourage musicians to think about it.
Initially there may be some very natural hesitations, but musicians will soon get
used to the key changes.
In some circumstances, transposing on the clarinet helps achieve greater fluidity.
Transposing may also be useful when the appropriate instrument is not at hand, the
C clarinet in particular. It is equally necessary when the time provided for the
change of instrument is too short.
Finally, transposition will help with intonation in certain passages which are
sometimes written awkwardly in keys that are inappropriate for the instrument.
You will often realize that the transposed version seems more fluid. That’s the
idea! This is ideal to practice transposition while warming up!
You may find practising transposition on the same instrument more convenient and
it is fine, what matters is getting accustomed to transposing the notes.
In this exercises book, you will find the usual combinations played in orchestra:
C to B b: 1 tone higher, alto clef
B b to C: 1 tone lower, tenor clef
A to B b: semitone lower
B b to A: semitone higher
C to A: 3 semitones higher, base clef
A to C: 3 semitones lower, soprano clef
Franck AMET
Professor at C.R.R. of Paris
Assistant Professor at C.N.S.M. de Lyon