# Do composers need to write the music for every instrument individually or is there some other trick?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-composers-need-to-write-the-music-for-every-instrument-individually-or-is-there-some-other-trick/593474>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 20, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-composers-need-to-write-the-music-for-every-instrument-individually-or-is-there-some-other-trick/593474 "2011-08-20T22:57:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-composers-need-to-write-the-music-for-every-instrument-individually-or-is-there-some-other-trick/593474/41 "2011-08-23T02:56:30Z")

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Quoth **panamajack** :

> [@](#):
>
> In relation to the rest of the brass instruments (which tend to use the same fingerings for the same written notes),

Other brass instruments may not use them as much, but we do have alternate fingerings for many notes. For instance, F (on an instrument based on the B flat scale) can be open or 13, and 3 by itself is equivalent to 12 (and on a four-valve instrument, 4 is usually equivalent to 13). I was never all that great a performer, but one thing I excelled at was the alternate fingerings, since I was somehow always ending up with the tuba with the sticky valves.

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