Hi,
I'm transcribing a song for a musical my college is doing. My question is I'm currently in Eb but it the music goes to d minor for about 3 bars and then goes back to Eb. Should I change key sig just for three bars of music or let them read a bunch of accidentals?
Any input would be appreciated.
Change Key or read Accidentals?
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- KVRAF
- 4141 posts since 11 Aug, 2006 from Texas
From what I've seen it's a bit of personal preference on the parts of the composer and the transcriber.
The loose rule I use is try both and see which is easier to read. For example, when you switch to d minor does the piece use quite a lot of notes E and A across multiple bars? If so you'll have a ton of sharps on the piece during the key change. However, if it's only a few notes I find it easier to just have those marked as accidentals in the original key's piece.
If you're using notation software it should be quick to try out both layouts and see which one you prefer.
The loose rule I use is try both and see which is easier to read. For example, when you switch to d minor does the piece use quite a lot of notes E and A across multiple bars? If so you'll have a ton of sharps on the piece during the key change. However, if it's only a few notes I find it easier to just have those marked as accidentals in the original key's piece.
If you're using notation software it should be quick to try out both layouts and see which one you prefer.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 38 posts since 27 Feb, 2013
Thanks for your input. I did try both and with changing the key signature to d minor there were almost just as many accidentals involved because of the chromatic lines. So I guess I'm keeping it in Eb until the next Key change(which is coming up shortly). These tunes from musicals go everywhere!
Good luck, it sounds like you still have a few challenges left...-
- KVRist
- 378 posts since 18 Aug, 2014
Great tip thanks!bmrzycki wrote:From what I've seen it's a bit of personal preference on the parts of the composer and the transcriber.
The loose rule I use is try both and see which is easier to read. For example, when you switch to d minor does the piece use quite a lot of notes E and A across multiple bars? If so you'll have a ton of sharps on the piece during the key change. However, if it's only a few notes I find it easier to just have those marked as accidentals in the original key's piece.
If you're using notation software it should be quick to try out both layouts and see which one you prefer.