A transposing piano is a special
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
with a mechanism (operated by a pedal or lever) that changes the keyboard position relative to the ''action'' (see ''
Development of the modern piano''
for details). This
''transposes'' (changes the key of) any particular keyboard fingering.
A transposing piano enables a person who knows a composition's fingerings in a certain key but who cannot transpose that composition from one key to another to continue playing in the latter key using the fingerings of the familiar key. More generally, a person who learns keyboard fingerings on the basis of
relative pitch
Relative pitch is the ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note by comparing it to a reference note and identifying the interval between those two notes. For example, if the notes ''Do'' and ''Fa'' are played on a piano, a ...
with respect to the
tonic of any given composition can use a transposing piano to play along with a choir and/or orchestra performing in any key. A correlative disadvantage is that individuals with
absolute pitch
Absolute pitch (AP), often called perfect pitch, is the ability to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of a reference tone. AP may be demonstrated using linguistic labelling ("naming" a note), associating mental image ...
may have difficulty playing on such a piano because the pitches they actually hear do not match the notes they are playing on the keyboard when its correspondence between nominally played note and generated pitch is altered.
Transposing pianos were never common, and few still exist.
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...
had two such instruments. In 1972 he donated one piano (built in 1940 by Weser Bros. Company in New York City, NY) to the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
. It is now on display in the
National Museum of American Jewish History. Berlin never learned to read music, playing his songs entirely by ear in the key of F-sharp (keeping all five notes of the
pentatonic scale
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to heptatonic scales, which have seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale).
Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancient ci ...
on the “black keys”), employing his “trick piano” to do the work as necessary.
Many electronic or digital pianos and keyboards can transpose. The
harmonium
The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...
sometimes features a mechanically shifted keyboard for transposition. A guitar
capo has much the same effect.
References
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Piano