The fact that the standard band instrument became the Bb instead of the C instrument has no bearing whatsoever on why trumpets are transposing instruments.
But if you wish, you are welcome to hand out your trumpet parts in concert pitch and see what happens. Label it Trumpet in Eb because that's the timbre you want but also note that it's in concert pitch and see how far you get.
It's your call -- do it if it makes you feel better.
Christopher BJ Smith wrote:
But that doesn't explain why the open note on the standard band instrument is written C, but sounds Bb. Why not change it so that all trumpet players read Bb and play Bb, on the usual instrument? I refer you to my original answer.
And by the way, in a professional context even your answer doesn't hold. Many orchestral players use a C trumpet to play Bb parts, they use an A piccolo trumpet to play Bb piccolo parts, they play parts written in low A, Bb, C, D, Eb, F, and G on whatever key trumpet sounds best to them (or that they happen to own and is pretty close in timbre), transposing the fingerings as they go. Tuba players can choose between BBb, C, Eb, F and Bb instruments, all written in concert pitch (British band music notwithstanding) and they have to learn the new fingerings.
Christopher
At 5:29 AM -0500 1/09/04, David H. Bailey wrote:
The trumpet transposition is so that a trumpet player doesn't have to learn different fingerings for A, Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G trumpets -- one set of fingerings works for all (with some adjustments for intonation, but that happens even between different trumpets of the same pitch.)
If they were all written in concert pitch it would make trumpet playing a lot more complicated.
Same for saxes, clarinets, Oboe/English Horn, and all the transposing instruments.
Christopher BJ Smith wrote:
At 5:43 PM -0500 1/08/04, Dennis Bathory-Kitsz wrote:
That's why I said this was a religious debate. There ultimately are no compelling arguments on either side.
It's the same answer I give to my students when they ask why trumpets transpose. It's not because it's easier to read (like alto clef for violas, or a ninth for tenor saxophone, which puts their parts pretty much in the staff). It's not even (any more) because Bb trumpets sound better than C trumpets, which is the reason my orchestration teacher gave to me. It's because it's a common convention that everyone understands perfectly well (except for my students!) and one should have a good reason to go against convention.
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