Fingerings for Euphonium
The transposition from trumpet to euphonium is down a Major 9th. There are a number of ways that you can do this transposition in your head. You can think down 14 half steps, but nobody in their right mind would do something that complex if they didn't have to. You can also think an octave and a whole step to achieve the Major 9th, but that also seems a bit too complicated. Instead, use what you know about the euphonium pitch and relate it to your trumpet fingerings. If you are familiar with the concert pitch note names for the trumpet, then all you have to do is look at the euphonium pitches, think of them as concert pitch for trumpet, and think up an octave to your trumpet fingerings. Let's try it with the following three examples, Bb, Eb, and E.
For this exercise, let's imagine you are reading the euphonium part. The first note is a Bb3, so the first thing you need to do is think up an octave from the written pitch to Bb4. Now all you need to do is think of the trumpet fingering for concert Bb4, which transposes to C4, which is fingered OPEN. Let's try the next one. The euphonium has a written Eb3, so the first step is to think up an octave to Eb4. Now think of the trumpet fingering for concert Eb4, which transposes to F4, which is fingered with the 1st valve. Getting it? Let's do one more to make sure. The euphonium has a written E2, so you need to think E3 and then think of the trumpet fingering for concert E3, which transposes to F#3, which is fingered with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd valve. If you have a 4 valve euphonium, this combination can be fingered with the 2nd and 4th valve for better intonation. This process will help with your transition to reading bass clef euphonium music until you become more comfortable at recognizing the notes and associating them with the correct fingerings.