Transposing
So far, everything you have learnt has been in the keys of C major and C minor. However, there are 12 keys commonly used in music and you will eventually need to be able to play equally well in all keys.
An excellent way to learn how to play in new keys is to transpose music from a key you know well to a new key you want to learn. The word “transpose” means to change the key. To do this, you will need to be familiar with the degrees of all notes within both keys. E.g. the notes of the Blues scale in the keys of C and G are shown below. The names of the notes change from one key to the next, but the scale formula (scale degrees) remains the same.
C Blues Scale
G Blues Scale
Here is a common fingering for the G Blues scale.
This example shows a riff in the key of C, created from the C Blues scale.
Here is the same riff transposed to the key of G, this time using the G Blues scale. Try transposing the other riffs you have learnt to the key of G.
