Determine the new key in which you wish to transpose your music. Music is organized around a tonal center or key, which is defined in sheet music by a key signature at the beginning of each line of music. A key signature may consist of between one and seven sharp or flat signs, or none--as in the key of C or A minor.
Enter the new key signature at the beginning of a clean sheet of staff paper. If necessary, consult a key signature chart such as the one found on the Theory on the Web website . For example, if your original music is in the key of G--with one sharp--and you transpose the music to the key of D, the new key signature has two sharps.
Determine how much or what distance each note of music changes--up or down--in the new key. For example, if transposing from the key of G down to the key of D, count four lines or spaces down from each note, including the original note, not omitting any line or space. The last note is the new note. If transposing up, count five. Consult the key signature chart at Theory on the Web to determine the intervals between the tonic or defining notes of differing keys.
Draw in the first new or transposed note onto the new staff paper. The note goes on the line or space at which you arrived after counting the designated number of steps up or down from the old or original note. Make sure that the note's time value is exactly the same as in the original music, as well as articulations, such as accent or staccato. Only the place of the note itself on the staff should be changed. This is the easy part.
Determine which notes in the original music were marked with accidentals such as sharps, flats or natural signs. Add a sharp, flat or natural sign to the new note according to the new or transposed key signature. This is the hard part. (See "Tips.")
Transpose the next note, and continue--measure by measure--until the entire piece is transposed.
Select an instrument with similar flexibility and agility as the flute. Some possibilities include, violin, oboe, soprano saxophone, clarinet or other comparable wind instrument. With the violin, there will be additional challenges concerning the difference in articulation of notes as compared with wind instruments, since the violin is a bowed (and plucked) instrument.
Carefully plan your transcription to take into consideration the ranges of the instruments for which you can transcribe a piece of flute music. You have the option to transpose the music higher or lower to make the music easier to play. For transposing instruments such as clarinet or saxophone, transposition is a required part of the transcription process.
Add or change the articulation markings or other standard performance directions to fit the specific instrument for which the transcription is created.