Have you ever been frustrated by trying to sing a favorite song in a key that doesn’t suit your vocal range? Perhaps you and another musician agree on a song to play together, but he or she prefers to play it in a different key than the one that you know. For these reasons and more, it is important to be able to transpose.
In order to transpose the chords in a song simply, you will need to refer to the major scales as they are written in chart form. If you have successfully memorized the scales, you can transpose without the use of the chart – but you may still have to use your fingers for counting!
Begin by locating the scales that reflect both the original key and the new one. Next, find the root of the first chord in the original key and draw a straight line (either up or down, as appropriate) to the scale tone that is in the same position in the new key. When you find the new root and name the new chord, be sure to carry over the quality of the original chord. If the chord in the original key is minor, for example, the chord in the new key will be minor, as well.
Try transposing the following chords in the key of C to the key of A. You will understand the process on different levels if you first play and listen to the chord progression in the key of C:
C Am F G7
(I vi IV V )
Now draw a straight line down from the root of each chord in the original key (C) and stop at the scale tone in the new key (A). (Shift your thinking of the notes in the scale from scale tones to chord roots.) You will find that all C chords become A, all Am chords become F♯m, all F chords become D and all G7 chords become E7. Take a minute to play and listen to the progressions in the new key.
If the root of the chord is not natural to the key, it will have an accidental (sharp, flat or natural) in the chord symbol. When you transpose to the new key, raise or lower the chord ½ step, as necessary. For example, if your original key is C and contains a B♭ chord, you will have to lower the 7th scale degree ½ step in the new key (A), and use a G (natural) rather than a G♯ .
Try the following chord progression, again transposing from C to A:
C F F♯ G
The chords in the new key would be:
A D D♯ E
