Originally Posted By: Planobilly
... Ebmin, six flats, why would you write in that key to begin with?

Billy
You would likely not. But that's actually a very fair question to discuss. For those of us who compose for large ensembles, the answer is not trivial.

I play in a big band where the parts are written for Trumpet in Bb. Most of us compose in concert pitch, and the two chord changes are Cmin (3 flats) to C#min (4 sharps). Now, one can't really argue that C#min should be Dbmin, because that would be eight flats. So it's Cmin to C#min.

But what happens when the arranger then prints the trumpet part where everything is raised a full step? At that point, interesting things start to show up. It becomes Dmin (one flat; fine) to D#min (six sharps). D#min is enharmonically correct, but I would rather see Ebmin (six flats). Flat to flat is easier to get your head around.

Make sense?

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