ive been writing a composition for my school jazz combo. its in E minor. apparently i have to write the tenor sax and soprano sax in a different key signature. whats going on?
Compose the tenor and soprano parts in a key signature that is relative to E minor.
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When composing for different instruments, it's common to write their parts in different key signatures, especially when the instruments have different ranges or are in different transpositions. In your case, the tenor and soprano saxophones need to be written in different key signatures because they have different transpositions.
The tenor saxophone is generally written in the key of B♭, which means that when the player reads a C on the sheet music, they actually play a B♭ on their instrument. To accommodate this transposition, you will need to write the tenor saxophone part in the key of D minor. This is because D minor is the relative minor to F major, and F major has the same key signature as the tenor saxophone's B♭ major.
On the other hand, the soprano saxophone is typically written in the key of E♭, which means that when the player reads a C on the sheet music, they play an E♭ on their instrument. To match the soprano saxophone's transposition, you should write the part in the key of G minor. G minor is the relative minor of B♭ major, which has the same key signature as the soprano saxophone's E♭ major.
By writing the tenor sax in D minor and the soprano sax in G minor (relative to E minor), you ensure that each saxophone player will be able to play their respective parts in the correct key on their instrument.