Transposing for Eb Sax

**Photoman** · 08-20-2013, 04:02 PM

I hope you will Forgive the complete beginners question, but I'm just getting my head around using this amazing forum.

I'm new to alto sax and I wondered if you could tell me how to transpose the tunes to Eb in simplest way, please?

So far I've been guessing the key I need to put the backing in from the first few chords, But it's a very slow process And I usually don't get it right first time.

I'm sure there's an easy way to simplify this and if you could let me know What it is I'd be very grateful.

Thanks for the great app.

Stephen

**dflat** · 08-20-2013, 04:32 PM

There are various threads if you search, here is one I found:
http://www.irealb.com/forums/showthr...ong-in-another
Does it help?

**Photoman** · 08-20-2013, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by dflat

There are various threads if you search, here is one I found:
http://www.irealb.com/forums/showthr...ong-in-another
Does it help?

It did help, quite a bit thank you! The post itself still left me a bit puzzled but the link to the user manual, in the post, was very helpful - mainly because I was blissfully unaware that there was a user manual.

It mentions the global transposition mode - which apparently is not foolproof, but it's a good starting point. As soon as my iPad is re-charged, I'll go and see if I can make it work!

Thanks for the help.

Stephen

**dflat** · 08-20-2013, 07:25 PM

Global transpose does work, but you might see inconsistencies in the enharmonics (Cb instead of B, or in II-V-I progressions for instance) but this is the case with transpose in song view also.
Remember the key you set in song view is for concert key (so the player knows what key you want to hear it in, 'sounding pitch') whereas the chords you are looking at are in the key for your alto (set in global transpose.)
If you only play alto, you probably only need to set global transpose once and leave it there.

**chekre** · 09-12-2018, 06:26 PM

just started playing alto sax, so I was wondering can I play a recently learned scale to a song on my horn to a backing track and have the song change its key to transpose correctly to my new learned scale....does that make any sense.....mike

**dflat** · 09-16-2018, 02:49 AM

Originally Posted by chekre

just started playing alto sax, so I was wondering can I play a recently learned scale to a song on my horn to a backing track and have the song change its key to transpose correctly to my new learned scale....does that make any sense.....mike

Hello Mike, to create a backing track in iReal Pro, it has to be set in the concert key (Song edit, info), which is the key you actually hear (as opposed to your transposed key of Eb for your alto sax).

Initially you will need to know the concert transposition to set the song in, using a chart such as these:
https://tamingthesaxophone.com/saxophone-transposition
http://www.beginningsax.com/Sax%20Transposition.htm

For example, if your new scale is Dorian, with Dm7 as the chord, converting to concert, the chord is Fm7 (the letter changes, the chord quality remains the same).

Create a new song, in ‘info’, set the key to F in this case (for convenience), Set, and title the song, Done. Enter a time signature, then add a few chords in a few measures with Fm7 (or whatever your chords are to be).
Save, close.
Find a playback style and tempo.

Assuming you have set global transpose* for your instrument Eb then your chords will have converted visually to D minor, with (by design) concert key shown on the right in the bottom menu; playback is in F.

You can use the built-in Chord scales library* to investigate different scales and chords to use in your practice song. For example Dorian shows you different chord qualities like m7, m9, m6/9 which can be used with the Dorian scale (in this case) so you can vary the backing chords for aural variation but still practice the same scale.

*The ? Menu has information for setting Global transpose in Tutorials, as is the Chord scales library.

You can change the concert key (bottom right) to practice the scale in different keys.

Or add to your practice song so it has the same chord quality (or equivalent for the scale) but with different chords Fm7...Cm7...Dm7...Fm7... to practice the same scale starting on different notes.

Hopefully this helps.

**Shoemake** · 05-25-2022, 09:48 AM

Please advise. I am new to iReal Pro. I have picked up my alto after a hiatus of 40 years and I do not have a music theory background. I set my iReal Pro for Eb instruments, ok, and then I want to play a tune in the key of Bb, but I can’t seem to get the key to set the iReal Pro. I basically have to try every key and sometimes none of them seem quite right. There has to be a simple way to do this. Can anyone out there give me some advice? Thank you