The note signifies which pitch is sounded when a musician plays a written C. For example, a Bb clarinet will sound an actual Bb pitch when the musician plays a written C from his score. Instruments that sound a different pitch than the written note are called “transposing instruments.” Transposing instruments were used to avoid too many accidentals before the mechanical systems on these instruments were perfected. In the past, a clarinet player would switch among several clarinets, depending on the key of the piece. With this transposing system, the player would have to learn only one set of fingerings in order to play clarinets in any key. The only exceptions to this transposing rule are low brass. Trombones, baritones, and tubas are instruments that sound Bb when playing a written Bb. They are “non-transposing” instruments.
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