Transposing music from Piano to Alto Saxophone.?

Question

Im trying to transpose a song for christmas.
And It's not coming out right.

Can someone who understands music theory just spell it out in stupid person terms for me please.

Ok.
Heres the situation.

I HAVE Piano Music.
Which is in the key of C.

I WANT Alto Saxophone.
Which is in the key of E flat.

Alto's Eflat concert starts on C and is all natural.

The Songs key signature Is all natural and starts on E.0

I have absolutely no clue what to do.
What Key signature would I use for the Alto music?
How many steps up would I go?

Answer 1

you have the answer for doing this manually (pencil and staff paper)

Another option is to get a software notation program and use that to make your transposition for you. Almost all of them now handle part transpositions automatically.

I use Finale, some professionals use Sibelius. Other programs (at less cost) include Noteworth Composer and Mozart Music Processor.

Answer 2

A middle C on the piano sounds a major sixth lower on the saxophone, so to transpose any piano piece to alto saxophone, simply move everything down a major sixth, be aware of key signatures and raised leading notes. Hoped this helped

Answer 3

RE:
Transposing music from Piano to Alto Saxophone.?
Im trying to transpose a song for christmas.
And It's not coming out right.

Can someone who understands music theory just spell it out in stupid person terms for me please.

Ok.
Heres the situation.

I HAVE Piano Music.
Which is in the key of C.

I WANT Alto Saxophone.
Which is in...

Answer 4

This can be confusing to explain, so not to discount Bluespeedbird's answer, if the piano music has no flats or sharps (the key of C), then the Alto part will be in A (three sharps--F#, C#, G#). And if the Piano starts on E, then the alto part will start on C#. The alto part will always be a minor third DOWN from the concert pitch (four half steps).

Answer 5

C on the Alto Sax = Eb on the Piano.

So your music (Alto Sax)would need to be in the key of Eb or 3 flats (Bb,Eb,Ab)

So, if you want to play in the key of C (with your accompaniment on the piano) you'll need to play in Eb... (3 flats) and your start note will be G.
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Disregard the above!


The NEXT answerer is absolutely correct..... I had added a minor third instead of stepping down one! Sorry about that... Must have been thinking about my Tenor which you do have to ADD a whole tone to play along with the piano.....

Sorry about that!