Problem transposing a lead sheet
I have a lead sheet I need to transpose from Bb major to A major. The first three jpegs attached are: a line from the score before attempting to transpose, Before; the settings I chose in the transposition dialogue, Settings; and the same line after executing the transposition, After.
As far as I can see, the only thing that's changed is some notes have been re-spelled, F natural to E sharp, for example. Key signature, chord symbols are unchanged.
The fourth jpeg, Augmented Unison, is the result of the transposition if I choose Augmented Unison as the interval, instead of Diminished Second. In this case the transposition is correct, but the note spellings are wrong, a bunch of accidental flats with a three-sharps key signature.
How do I get a reasonable transposition in this case?
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Before.JPG | 24.71 KB |
| Settings.JPG | 42.82 KB |
| After.JPG | 22.59 KB |
| Augmented Unison.JPG | 23.17 KB |
Comments
Did you try selecting the option to transpose by key rather than interval? You should be able to simply select the new key (A) and everything should work; no need to calculate the interval manually.
If you do use the interval, the correct answer here is *minor* second. A diminished second down from Bb is A#, and an augmented unison down from Bb is Bbb.
If that doesn't solve your problem, please post the specific score you are havuing problems with (always a good idea when asking for help).
"Diminished Second" is the same interval as Unison enharmonically. I believe you meant to select "Minor Second".
I don't think that the note spellings are "wrong". It is just a matter of interpretation.
Transposing down an "Augmented Unsion" will add 7 flats. Transposing up an "Augmented Unision" will add 7 sharps.
To better help you out, please upload a .mscz of problematic score (if don't want to upload all, then at least those four measures)
Edit: appears Marc submitted a post while I was typing, saying the same thing with different wording.
Edit: musescore has correct interpretation...see wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_unison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminished_second
Edit: fascinating, I've discovered something new by reading those wikipeida articles: the diminished second is only equivalent to unison in 12-tone equal temperament. However in other temperaments, they are a certain number of cents off.
Thanks Marc and Eric. Both suggested methods worked. Picking the right interval, minor 2nd instead of diminished second, and choosing transpose by key.
The problem was my understanding the transposition dialogue. It's more fully-featured than those found in other software I've used. I'd never heard of an augmented unison or diminished second before and when I saw Bb major/G minor in the transpose by key dropdown, I was asking myself, "Why would I want to transpose the tune from Bb major to G minor?" rather than recognizing MuseScore was simply acknowledging that 2 flats could be either.
Steve