Keeping Chords in Concert Key in a Trumpet / Sax part

• Dec 29, 2021 - 22:25

Hello,
This is an unusual request / situation. I have a trumpet player that is also a guitarist. We have a January gig and on a few tunes he'll play some lead on trumpet, but then move to guitar while someone is soloing. So to keep the tune as a "one" pager for use on a tablet, he'd like the chord changes in his Bb trumpet part to be in concert key.

We both poked at this today, but didn't find an answer. Is this even possible, or did we miss something?
Thanks very much,

Ted Maciag
Packinheatband.com


Comments

You could transpose the score once to make the chord symbols read as you want them. Then transpose back, but this time exclude the chord symbols in the transpose dialog.

Do you need chord playback to sound correct or sound at all? If not (e.g. your primary objective is notation/engraving, not playback), I can suggest:

  • Disable chord playback in Style -> Chords Symbols or
  • Use staff text for chord symbols.

If you want notation and playback working, add a non-transposing instrument (guitar or piano), add the chord symbols to it and hide it in the Instruments dialog when you are done. I use something similar for accordion lead sheet notation, hiding the left-hand bass, as per https://musescore.org/en/node/316284#leadsheet
to give a result like
https://musescore.com/riaan/comptine-apres-midi-accordion-leadsheet
I use a mix of chord symbols (with playback disabled) or staff text to the treble clef - in your case, add those to the trumpet part.
ps: since accordion is non-transposing, I could have gotten away with just the chord symbols in the treble clef, but I wanted the left hand to play back properly, which is why I went this route.

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