transposing instrument
a musical instrument played at a pitch different from that indicated in the score.
Origin of transposing instrument
1Words Nearby transposing instrument
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use transposing instrument in a sentence
Like the clarinet, the basset horn is a transposing instrument, its music being written a fifth higher than the actual sounds.
It sounds an octave lower than the music written for it, being what is called a transposing instrument of sixteen-foot tone.
How to Listen to Music, 7th ed. | Henry Edward KrehbielFor this reason the clarinet is called a transposing instrument.
Music Notation and Terminology | Karl W. Gehrkens
British Dictionary definitions for transposing instrument
a musical instrument, esp a horn or clarinet, pitched in a key other than C major, but whose music is written down as if its basic scale were C major. A piece of music in the key of F intended to be played on a horn pitched in F is therefore written down a fourth lower than an ordinary part in that key and has the same key signature as a part written in C
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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