Hey, I'm just putting out this question, but why do we have instruments that aren't in concert pitch?

Why not just write them in concert pitch? Wouldn't it be easier?

Zoom, can you answer this question?

Alright, Thanks for the reply. I still don't understand why though...

We have instruments in different keys because of instrument evolution.

Way back in musical times instruments were made in different pitches for a variety of reasons. Mostly because they just were and we did not have great communication between regions and countries.

Instruments evolved and certain consensuses( consensi) were made. Many instruments are in the key they are because the instrument sounds best in that key. If you made them in a different key, they would be longer or shorter and not sound the same, they would not have the same characteristics. A perfect example is Clarinet. Listen to someone play a Bb clarinet, then play the same passage on an A clarinet. There is a different feel, a different tonal quality between the instruments even though they are both clarinets.

French horns are commonly contructed in F and Bb. The higher notes sound better on the Bb horn the lower notes sound better on the F horn. If you go really high some people play an f-alto or eb-alto french horn. I happen to play an f-alto, but the eb-alto has a much better timbre when you get 3 ledger lines above the treble clef. You do not want to listen to a french horn in the key of C, they really don't sound that good when made in that key.

Now, some instruments are made in a different key, but taught the transposed fingerings from the get go, the student doesn't really know he or she is playing a transposing instrument. This may nto be such a bad idea but it does have it's problems . . .

Yeah, that's one thing I was also wondering about: transposed fingerings.

I wonder if I should do that with oboe xD!

Not sure what you mean by "transposed fingerings".

Saxophonists are generally expected to play two or more different saxophones (alto and tenor, for example), and it's much easier for them to switch back and forth if the saxophones are transposing instruments such that the same written note corresponds to the same fingering. This applies to orchestral clarinetists (Bb and A), oboe players who double on English horn (C and F), and various other instrumental groups.

Some instruments transpose by octave: Parts for the double bass, bass guitar, guitar, and tenor voice are written an octave above concert pitch. Parts for the piccolo and celeste are written an octave below sounding pitch.

An advantage of transposition for the composer, arranger, or conductor is that it makes it easier to tell at a glance when an instrument is playing in an extreme part of its range.

I think what Canadian means by transposing fingerings, is teaching kids not the notes as written, but as if they are sight transposing. For ex. you could get a clarinet to play a flute part, all they would need to do is put it down an octave. They would already be taught that if they see a C, they play a normal D, but yet they would never be taught what a normal D is, they'd just be told it was a C. Sort of like teaching the instrument as if its in C.

Ah, thankyou for the reply!

I understand why we have these instruments now. It just took me awhile to get my head around it.