How to Transpose Music, Part II: More Tips on

Sight Transposition (Playing in a Key Different

from the Printed Music)
Simple Note-for-Note Transpositions
Are you ready to start transposing a musical piece, note-for-note? Begin with simple songs of only
about 8-20 measures of music. As you gain skill and confidence, try the same (following) process on
longer pieces. Always visually read through the music first, to see whether there are any accidentals
(sharps, flats, or naturals that are not part of the key signature), and perform a mental conversion of
those notes ahead of time, or even pencil it in, while you are new at the skill of transposition.
Among the easiest transpositions for beginners are those that are very close to one another on the
written staff those that are just a half-step away from the original and distinguishable only by theirkey
signature (with conversion of accidentals). If you have a piece written in Gb, just cover up the key
signature and it looks like G; F# looks like F; A like Ab, Bb like B, etc. One of the two keys will
probably be more comfortable for you, so play the piece that way first.
Before you try the new key, play through several octaves of scales, arpeggios, chords, and several
chord progressions in the target key, to remind your fingers and ears of the feel and the sound of it.
Then try to play the song in that new key. It may even be helpful to use Post-It Notes (very small size)
to cover up the actual key signature while you try the new key. But as you develop the skill of
transposing, move away from coddling yourself too much. You are stretching your abilities. Allow
yourself to start with baby steps, but start running when you can.
Once you have practiced the easy transpositions, try the harder ones that is, harder for you (longer?
with more accidentals? in keys that you dont like?) still making a half-step shift that looks like
the original key.

What Was That About Accidentals?

To make a conversion of accidentals (still talking about half-step transpositions - the ones that look
alike), think first in which direction you are moving up or down? If the accidental was a natural, then
the upward move would make it a sharp and a downward move would make it a flat. If the accidental
was a flat, then the upward move would make it a natural and a downward move would make it a
double-flat. If the accidental was a sharp, then the upward move would make it a double-sharp, and a
downward move would make it a natural.
You will probably not need to know these conversions at the beginning; by the time you are ready for
them, you will likely be able to figure them out for yourself, and your ear will certainly guide you if

you play it wrong! But it is definitely helpful to look for them ahead of time and to think ahead about
what you will need to play. It is also helpful to try to play simple songs that include accidentals as soon
as possible, so that you dont develop the habit of shying away from them completely.

After Getting Your Feet Wet

Another transposition can be performed using a different visual trick, and that is a transposition by a
third. This involves using something like Post-It Notes, or little strips of paper plus tape, to cover up
either the bottom or the top lines of the treble staff and the bass staff. If that is sufficient, then leave it
at that. If you need more help, then use a very sharp pencil or a mechanical pencil and a very good
straightedge and draw a new line on the opposite side of the staff, preferably making the added
line very light . [Example: cover up the top F line in the treble, and pencil in a new low E line below
the original E line.]
In this way, you can make a treble G look like either an E or a B, treble F can be made to look like
either an A or a D. Sharps or flats can be added, either visually or mentally. You could turn the key of
E into C, C#, Cb, G, or Gb! Again, remind your fingers and your ears of the feel and the sound of the
new key by playing scales,chords, chord progressions, and arpeggios, before trying the entire piece.
The use of Post-It Notes and pencil lines is intended merely as a help and is not something that you
should rely on for one minute longer than necessary. Once you have played the piece in the new key a
time or two, try playing it in the new key without these helps.

Keyboard Instruments
Still another tip for transposing, specifically on a keyboard instrument, is totranspose by
chord groups. Group I is made up of chords that contain no sharps or flats: C, F, G (and
Am, Dm, Em); group II contains chords with natural pitches for the root and the fifth, and
a sharped or flatted note for the third (A, D, E; Cm, Fm, Gm). Group III is the opposite: a
natural pitch for the third and flatted or sharped notes for the root and the fifth (Ab, Db,
Eb; F#m, C#m, G#m). [C# and Abm are included with their enharmonic keys of Db and
G#m.] Group IV chords do not have one single pattern, and this group includes the
remaining chords: Bb, B/Cb, Gb/F#, Bbm/A#m, Bm, and Ebm/D#m.
On keyboard instruments, these first three groups of chord-similar keys have similarity
of feel to one another (similar topography), and for that reason they make a great
exercise in transposing. That is, C, F, and G feel a lot alike under the fingers; A, D, and
E feel a lot alike; Ab, Db, and Eb feel a lot alike. So, find a song in F or G, then
transpose it to C and the remaining key of the group. Do the same with songs written in
the keys of Groups II and III. As always, get the feel for the target key before attempting
the transposition, at least while the process is still new to you.

Try all of the tips included with minor pieces as well as major. Unless they are written in
pure or natural minor, they well may contain more accidentals than you have needed to
observe with major keys. In that case you will need to remember to be especially careful
with these transpositions of minor keys.

Develop a Practice Routine

Once you have moved beyond getting your feet wet with transposing, it's a good idea to
set aside a part of your practice time to work on it every day. In a given day you could,
for example, select one song and transpose it upward by a half-step with each repetition
until you reach the original key again. Or do the same thing in a descending pattern. You
could practice transposing around the Circle of Fifths, or in the reverse direction. Or you
might transpose according to the chord groups as described above. You could also
choose several different songs and change them to the same key one day, a different
key the next day, etc.
It's probably best to use one of these methods repeatedly over time (days, weeks, or
months) until it becomes easy for you; then change to a different one. Eventually, just
mix them all up at various times to keep yourself sharp.