Transposing
Transposing (or transposition) means changing the key of a piece of music. This can apply to a scale, a phrase, a short melody, or an entire song. The ability to transpose is an essential skill for all musicians to develop. The easiest method is to write out the notes of the key you are transposing to and from (say C to F), along with their degrees.
C Major Scale
F Major Scale
Next, write the scale degrees under the melody you want to transpose.
Key of C
Finally, find out what notes those degrees equate to in the key you want to transpose to. If it helps, write the new notes under the scale degrees of the original piece, before putting them on the new staff with the new key signature. You should now have the same melody at a different (in this case higher) pitch.
Key of F
Try this process yourself, transposing the previous melody from the key of F to the key of G. Then transpose the same melody to every other key (see lesson 14 for a list of sharps or flats in each key). You should also try the same technique with other tunes you know. Eventually, you will be able to transpose in your head instantly, without the need for notated scale degrees. The more you practice, the easier it gets.
In the previous lesson, you learned this song in the key of D major. This version is in the key of E major, which contains four sharps - F# C# G# and D#. To help you become more familiar with the key of E major, go though the process of learning the scale over two octaves and then play sequences to teach your fingers to find all the notes in the key automatically. Once you can play this melody in E major, transpose it to all other keys.
This traditional Irish ballad is written here in the key of D major. Once again, you should use the steps shown in the previous lesson to familiarize yourself with the key before learning the song, then memorize it and transpose it to all the other keys. By the time you have been through this process with about ten songs, you should have a good knowledge of all the keys. Go back through the book and find other songs to transpose, and make a habit of transposing everything you learn to all twelve keys.
