transposing a three-flat down a major third
I have a score that I would like to transpose down by a major third.
It has sections with diferent key signatures.
When I do that, the three-flat section gets changed to seven flats.
Even the C and the F are flatted.
B E A D G C F are all flatted.
Shouldn’t the C-flat be B and the F-flat be E ?
It makes me not do the transpose, it’s so complicated.
Comments
The section is in E-flat (3 flats) prior to transposing. After transposing down a major third the key signature will become C-flat (7 flats). This is what is expected. It is true that C-flat is enharmonic to B and F-flat is enharmonic to E, but the B's and E's are already flatted so the C's and F's are flatted to prevent needing a natural accidental on all of them. If you prefer the key of B (five sharps) then select the section and transpose it by key to the key of B.
Indeed, a major third below Eb is Cb. B is not a major third below Eb, it is a diminished fourth lower. So, better not to bother transposing by intervals if you aren't comfortable with this sort of thing - better to just transpose by key.
In reply to Indeed, a major third below… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks for helping me learn.
If after transposing a key signature has several naturals before the new signature,
How can I remove the naturals? or shouldn't I?
In reply to Thanks for helping me learn… by hill0093
The naturals are a courtesy for the musicians to point out that parts of the previous key signature no longer apply. I usually see them in scores, but they can be disabled in the Style->General menu under accidentals. The first option omits courtesy naturals.