Concert vs. transposed pitch

Layouts in Dorico for iPad can use concert or transposed pitch. This affects the pitches and key signatures on staves belonging to transposing instruments.

Concert pitch

When music is in concert pitch, all notes are written as they sound. This means that players with transposing instruments reading music in concert pitch must transpose the music themselves. For example, if a clarinet in B reads a C in concert pitch, they must play the note D on their instrument to produce the sounding note C.

Transposed pitch

When music is in transposed pitch, the notes written are the ones each instrument must play in order to produce the desired sounding pitch. For example, if a clarinet in B reads a D in transposed pitch, the pitch that sounds from the instrument is C.

Transposing scores and parts also transpose key signatures according to the transposition of the instrument.