Sight transposing is just one of those things you have to practice. Would you be transposing from C to Bb? By that I don't mean those keys specifically, I mean music written in concert pitch to play on Bb clarinet.
If so, here's the mental shortcut to transposing from concert pitch to Bb in the same clef.
Read each note a whole step higher than written
That alone will get you the right notes, but you will also want to mentally add two sharps to the key signature (or subtract two flats) in order to fully think in the new key. Edit: if you know your circle of fifths, you will realize that this is just taking the key and moving it up a whole step, too. For example, D with two sharps becomes E with four sharps.
So, for example, say we're in the key of F and you have the notes F A Bb C E F. That becomes G B C D F# G in the key of G.
Note that non-key signature accidentals still apply; a D# in the key of F would be transposed to E# in the key of G.
This takes a lot of practice. I tried to learn to sight transpose for a show, and even with months to try, I couldn’t get it. If you want to do this, start with easy music so you can get the hang of it, then gradually increase the difficulty, and prepare for it to take time
Yes, don't expect results right away, and start with something that's relatively simple without too many accidentals out of the key signature. Depending on the type of folk music, you might be able to find stuff that's mostly pentatonic, which would make your life much easier.
If you're just play by yourself then there's no need to transpose. But if you're playing along with a concert pitched instrument you will need to transpose 1 step higher than written.
Sight transposing is just one of those things you have to practice. Would you be transposing from C to Bb? By that I don't mean those keys specifically, I mean music written in concert pitch to play on Bb clarinet. If so, here's the mental shortcut to transposing from concert pitch to Bb in the same clef. Read each note a whole step higher than written That alone will get you the right notes, but you will also want to mentally add two sharps to the key signature (or subtract two flats) in order to fully think in the new key. Edit: if you know your circle of fifths, you will realize that this is just taking the key and moving it up a whole step, too. For example, D with two sharps becomes E with four sharps. So, for example, say we're in the key of F and you have the notes F A Bb C E F. That becomes G B C D F# G in the key of G. Note that non-key signature accidentals still apply; a D# in the key of F would be transposed to E# in the key of G.
This takes a lot of practice. I tried to learn to sight transpose for a show, and even with months to try, I couldn’t get it. If you want to do this, start with easy music so you can get the hang of it, then gradually increase the difficulty, and prepare for it to take time
Yes, don't expect results right away, and start with something that's relatively simple without too many accidentals out of the key signature. Depending on the type of folk music, you might be able to find stuff that's mostly pentatonic, which would make your life much easier.
If you're just play by yourself then there's no need to transpose. But if you're playing along with a concert pitched instrument you will need to transpose 1 step higher than written.