Why are instruments made in different keys?

Question:

Why are instruments made in different keys?

That is, if C is considered the key to which every other must transpose, why aren't there only C trumpets, or C clarinets, etc. Also, if we must play on Bb trumpets and Bb clarinets, etc, then why aren't we taught to play in C from the beginning? Wouldn't that make things easier down the road?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Yes there are a vast array of tuning systems... pythagoran, equal, just and so on as well as quarter-tone and our system of half-steps... but the instruments being transposed to a different key has less to do with a tuning system than it does a simple system of fingerings.

They could all have been "made" "C" instruments with vastly different fingerings for each variety but instrument manufacturers/ inventors thought it to be a better idea to change the way an instrument transposes, rather than learn a new set of fingerings. In truth, we don't hear a pitch in a different key... We don't hear a written C played by an alto saxophonist as a C in concert pitch, we hear it as Eb so composers and arrangers have to know the transpositions of those instruments rather than the performer knowing six million fingerings...

Adolphe Sax wanted to make an instrument with the projection of a brass instrument that used the same fingerings on each of its members... sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, bari, bass... each instrument has to be made differently to reach each lower octave and smaller to reach the higher octaves, they end up in different keys. He invented the saxophone and made a bunch of improvements to the modern day clarinet as well.

Brass instruments are another story... Tubas can be found in the Key of C, F, Bb, and Eb... all with a different purpose which is largely dependent on the quality of sound you desire and insanely enough, they use different fingerings. (Can you tell I'm a woodwind guy?)

Trumpets, on the other hand do not use different fingerings for different keyed instruments, they use transposition. C, Bb, Eb etc. and that depends mostly on the literature they are playing.

So, in answer to your question, wouldn't that make things easier down the road? .... for composers and arrangers, yes. For performers, playing a variety of instruments would be a daunting task... I think we'd tend to specialize on one instrument, rather than learn a ton of new fingerings... Source(s):
Band Director of 16 years, Music Educator, and Bachelor of Music in Education because not all instruments were made by the same people don't ya know Most music classes tune to middle C, but it's really an arbitrary choice based on music written for the piano. You could just as easily tune to another note. After a while, you develop an ear for middle C, and you're able to tune yourself. That's one good reason not to bounce the tuning note all over the place.

Having instruments that are set to a specific key makes it easier for a player trained on one instrument to pickup the fingering on another instrument. If you're playing the clarinet right now, why not try out the fingering on the tenor sax? You might be surprised at the similarities. It is because as intruments (especially brass and woodwinds) developed centuries ago ... they did so in different areas with different standards of tuning.

With no tuners, mass communication, or any of that such - the insruments were made my local craftsmen and played by local people. Thus, some played naturally in "Bb" and some in "C" etc. Of course, they didn't know they were playing in "Bb" or "C" etc, because there was no standard tuning yet.

Later ... we began to develop a standard tuning and the world settled on A below middle C being 440Hz; and by then we realized that trumets were not playing in "C" at all, but their "C" was actually a piano's "Bb" and so on.

Now, we COULD redo all the instruments, but that would set back the world's top players by years in their playing. The system (albeit an imperfect one) has been built upon for centuries and by THIS time it would be more confusing to change. In addition to all the above answers the mere construction of the instrument can determine its fundamental key. In order to get the specific timbre of the instrument it is necessary to make them a specific shape or size which can set its key. Take, for instance, the saxophones, an alto is in the key of Eb and the larger tenor is in Bb. They are in different keys to produce the individual tonal qualities. For example, there is a Bb and a C trumpet. But they don't sound the same. You can hear a difference in the tone quality. The Bb tone is more pleasing in a concert band setting so that is why it is used. Trial and error in combination of pitched instruments have brought us to the current standards. I agree with big sax above me :) the transpositions are for ease of the player for woodwinds and brass.

ie: The trumpet in Bflat is best for playing in band- where the most typical key signatures are concert B flat, E flat and A flat - all of which are still the easier key signatures for trumpet (only up to two flats in the key signatures they play) however if you know a trumpet player that plays mostly in orchestra, they often have a C trumpet because the key signatures for orchestra are often in sharps since the string family plays naturally in keys like D and A - those are a pain on a b flat trumpet / also you will note there is a C clarinet that is frequently played in orchestras for similar reasons!
They are fingered the same as their "sister horn" but play in concert pitches. Instruments were written in different keys because of the pitch of their tones, and where those notes are written on the clef. For example... for a flute or oboe, when they play "C," it is concert "C". When a flute plays a middle "C", that is the pitch. When a piccolo plays the "C" written in the staff, it is really sounding an octave higher. It is easier to read a C a few lines above the staff than 4 more lines higher.

For instruments that are "B Flat," like clarinet, their "C" is actually sounding a whole step lower, a B Flat (hence the name).

If you taught a saxophone "C" from the beginning, the written notes on paper would be harder to read because they would be really far off the clef. Also, Bass instruments (B clarinets, Baritone Sax, etc.) sound an entire octave plus some when they play what they see on the paper. So in the long run, it is easier to teach them "wrong". Ok.. the short answer:

If you hit a middle C on a piano and then play on the following instruments, then the following would happen:

Clarinet would play D to sound the same as a C on the piano.
Trumpet would play D to sound the same.
French Horn would play F to sound the same.
Alto Sax would play Eb to sound the same.

Flute, Oboe, Bassoon, Trombone, Tuba, Euphonium would all just play a C and would match any note played on the piano.