I transpose tab all the time, and "nearest neighbor" works fine in meantone, particularly the tweaked versions of meantone that I use on the lute. The repertory that I most transpose, is of course lute songs, especially Airs to Cour but also English lute songs, and here down a tone is the most common, followed by up a tone. Down a fourth I sometimes do as well, and down a third. For whatever reason, I find down a tone by far the easiest, maybe because singers often ask for it. The other repertory that I most transpose is early 17th c. Italian music of all kinds, either to suit the voices, or various wind instruments. Usually the transposition happens in rehearsal, so we just tryout a few keys. Then I either learn it well enough in the changed key to play it, or I write it out in the *decided upon* key. And it is handy to bring both versions because sometimes people want to switch back before the concert, Two things to point out: The first is that these are the transpositions required by organists, mentioned in numerous treatises, and all those old organs are in meantone. Second is if you place your pivot sharp *assuming* you may transpose down a tone, you won't of course have a perfect temperament, but close enough. Last thing is programming: if you play a piece in F, and set up in F temperament center tone, and transpose a G piece down a tone into F, you are then transposing *into* the temperament instead of out of it. Similarly, if you have a piece in A major and read it in F major you will see a huge improvement. Lastly, if you have a mixed program, which is quite common, of pieces in F, G and A you can bring the two outriggers into the center. Transposition then becomes the fastest and easiest way to improve the temperament. For those who enjoy musical puzzles, you can combine transposition with scordatura to also improve the tuning and the range at the same time. dt
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