How to transpose chord sequences to other key signatures

Jarmo_S

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I as a daily practice use these chord sequences and transpose them to all 12 signatures.

C/Am:

C G Am F

C Em Dm G
C Em Dm7 G7

C F G7

Am Dm E7

C Am F G


This is a nice tool.
https://www.chordchanger.com/


It will give you the ukulele chords also in traditional diagrams, though one can use his/her own fingerings. It won't be able to give you all the various chord types as fingerboard diagrams of course. Refer to ukebuddy.com for them :)

Notice you will have to be able to know that keys like E/C#m uses sharps and Ab/Fm uses flats. Refer to circle of fifths for that knowledge.

Notice also that this tool is rather a kind of crutch than can be used before having learned all those basic sequences by heart in all key signatures. You should learn them that way. Say each chord name in your mind before playing it. This way you are not depending so much to say some movable shapes etc. It is easiest to change key signature by fifths or fourths, that is go the circle of fifths clockwise or anticlockwise.

But you can also take chords from any songbook song and then transpose them. This is not as automatic to mind as the above chord sequences and I would not call this tool then a crutch at all.

Alternative would be to assign roman numeral degrees to chords and do the transposing in head, instead of using this transposing tool. It is just somewhat more difficult for the brain cells certainly ;)

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ultimate-guitar.com has many songs in the database that you can use also for transposing as an alternative for this tool.
 
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I found that site only today and wanted to spread that knowledge.
Unfortunately now that I checked, some chords given in diagram form are wrong. After brief check C#m and Ab7 were wrong, could be many others.

So trust only the main transposing function and get your fingerings elsewhere!
 
this may be a 'simple' procedure:

write out the 7 letters of the original key (A B C D E F G)
then write out the 7 letters of the target key below the first line of letters (A B C D E F G)
.....................................................................................................(F G A B C D E)

fill in the 'accidentals" [#, b, m, M, 7, m7, dim, aug, etc)
Key of A = F#m, D, E7 becomes Key of F = Dm, Bb, C7

you can begin with the 7 letters of any key and transpose to any other key by this simple method.

it begs the question "How did you know that the Key of A uses an F# and the key of F uses a Bb?"
I do not have a good simple answer to that. Someone else can contribute the answer to that one.
I would only say that you should experiment with either # or b, but don't change the NAME (letter).

I hope this helps. It's a quick and dirty method I use :)

keep uke'in',
 
I'm not knowledgeable on music, as far as theory goes. When I want to transpose a song, I'll first print it out, then figure out what key is best for my voice. So, if the song is in C, and starts with a C, then goes to F, but I want it to start with G instead, I just start with the C chord, then count up to F, getting 4, then transpose up 4 from G, getting C, and so on, throughout the song. I know, kinda dopey, but it works for me.
 
Circle of fifths wheel, maybe useful for doing that. :)

That is one good way if the chords to transpose are all diatonic. Look at the circle and you can find C/Am chords in a 2x3 block:

F C G
Dm Am Em

Em can be replaced with E7 too when transposing a dominant 7th chord. Does not matter in fact what kind of the chord to transpose is, just the letter.

That block is at 11, 12 and 13 "a clock" in a fifths circle. Then just take another 2x3 block to a key you like to transpose into and find in it the replacing chords.

The site above transposes any chords, not just diatonic.
 
it begs the question "How did you know that the Key of A uses an F# and the key of F uses a Bb?"
I do not have a good simple answer to that. Someone else can contribute the answer to that one.

Each key is made out of notes in a sequence.
Whole - Whole - Half - Whole - Whole - Whole - Half
Key of C
W = C to D
W = D to E
H = E to F
W = F to G
W = G to A
W = A to B
H = B to C
 
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this may be a 'simple' procedure:

write out the 7 letters of the original key (A B C D E F G)
then write out the 7 letters of the target key below the first line of letters (A B C D E F G)
.....................................................................................................(F G A B C D E)

fill in the 'accidentals" [#, b, m, M, 7, m7, dim, aug, etc)
Key of A = F#m, D, E7 becomes Key of F = Dm, Bb, C7

you can begin with the 7 letters of any key and transpose to any other key by this simple method.

it begs the question "How did you know that the Key of A uses an F# and the key of F uses a Bb?"
I do not have a good simple answer to that. Someone else can contribute the answer to that one.
I would only say that you should experiment with either # or b, but don't change the NAME (letter).

I hope this helps. It's a quick and dirty method I use :)

keep uke'in',

It is too mechanical for me. Without a site like https://www.chordchanger.com/ , I would use the circle of fifths like I replied to Keith above. But your approach certainly works.

The answer to your question about sharps and flats is in the circle of fifths:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_fifths
In the picture of that rather scary article I admit too, so you are not alone. You can see that the key of A/f#m has a key signature of 3 sharps. Takes to be able to read G-clef to see that they are F#, C# and G#.
I tried tell that in my original post, but I guess you missed it.

Try that site! Write some chords like my basic sequences, or your bootcamp sequences say in C, or some song , and then transpose them to any key. It is a great way to utilize your computer :)
And does not really require any theory. Except maybe that sharp/flat thing. But Bb is practically A#, just seldom seen and use Bb if you can.

To ukecaster: Your counting approach is also a bit too mechanical for me, but works great when the transposing interval is say fourth or fifth ;)
 
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I play in my church worship band, using guitar lead sheets. When I pick up the music mid week and see those words ..... capo 1 or capo 2, I cringe. I hate using a capo on a ukulele. Yes, I’ve tried a bunch of different brands & styles. I just fundamentally hate using one. For guitar players it’s no big deal. This forces me to transpose. Ukecaster’s approach is pretty much my main method, but I do use a transposition programs also. Mostly to see if I got it right on my own. Often, I’ll look for the song on Ultimate Guitar or Chordify & use their transposition feature. Sometimes transposing leaves me with some funky chords, like lots of sharps. I have to decide if I want to play the funky chord or use the evil capo.
 
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I play in my church worship band, using guitar lead sheets. When I pick up the music mid week and see those words ..... capo 1 or capo 2, I cringe. I hate using a capo on a ukulele. Yes, I’ve tried a bunch of different brands & styles. I just fundamentally hate using one. For guitar players it’s no big deal. This forces me to transpose. Ukecaster’s approach is pretty much my main method, but I do use a transposition programs also. Mostly to see if I got it right on my own. Often, I’ll look for the song on Guitar Pro or Chordify & use their transposition feature. Sometimes transposing leaves me with some funky chords, like lots of sharps. I have to decide if I want to play the funky chord or use the evil capo.

Yes exactly! The feel to ukulele's neck is destroyed if using a capo for playing open chords.
But we as uke players are lucky in that our instrument allows to play in all keys, so we don't need a capo unlike guitarists. Maybe slim string electric players can get by with barre chords, for other types of 6 strings chord players capo is a must. Only a few keys that are guitar friendly.

See 4 strings, 4 fingers, it just works much better yes.

EDIT:
I want say I'm agnostic (not atheist), but I do like listening some Christian music, like probably your kind too ;)
 
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Yes exactly! The feel to ukulele's neck is destroyed if using a capo for playing open chords.
But we as uke players are lucky in that our instrument allows to play in all keys, so we don't need a capo unlike guitarists. Maybe slim string electric players can get by with barre chords, for other types of 6 strings chord players capo is a must. Only a few keys that are guitar friendly.

See 4 strings, 4 fingers, it just works much better yes.

EDIT:
I want say I'm agnostic (not atheist), but I do like listening some Christian music, like probably your kind too ;)
We play contemporary Christian music. I just love playing my uke.....anywhere......anytime. Playing my uke as an expression of worship is a bonus.

We seem to play a lot of songs in the key of E. Evidently this is a guitar friendly chord, and an easy key for a variety of voices to sing in. Our band leader will send out the music, along with a You Tube video of the song. Playing along with the video helps me a lot with songs I haven't heard before. The down side is that often we are doing the song in a different key than the video. We aren't doing it in the standard key that the song is normally written or sung in. I'd love to have a program that would convert the actual music into different keys, not just show the transposed chords. Someone told me about a program that does just that, but I can't remember the name or find it. Sometimes, with a bit of searching on You Tube, I can find someone who's singing the song in our key, but not always. The searching is a pain in the butt & time consuming.
 
It is possible to write the words and chords to a song as is shown with that Greensleaves song example you get with a 'Load a Sample Song' -button.
Sometimes I miss the melody when a tune is not so familiar. That is not possible to have it seems.
 
Have two strips with the chromatic scale written out twice evenly spaced.(Probably more evenly than these would be best.) Put one strip on the table and place the second strip so that the key you are in lines up with the target key. If you have a song in F and you want it in C, line up the sheets like this.

C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C
___________C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C

All F chords transpose to C, A#(Bb) to F, C to G, D to A. . .
If you know your enharmonics (A#=Bb, D#=Eb. . .) then you won't have any trouble.

A transposing wheel could be made as well by dividing two cardboard wheels , one large and one small into 12 pizza slices (with a pencil, not a pizza cutter) and putting the chromatic scale in each circle. Since you have a repeating circle, you don't have to repeat the scale.
 
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JY, thanks for this simple solution to transposing.

Makes me miss my slide rule. Maybe you should make and market this!
 
Shubb Transposing And Capo Placement Guide

just found this on Ebay.

there may be others. I know I've seen at least another one, more compact.

one could probably make his/her own... after figuring things out a bit :)

keep uke'in',
 
I bought the "Chord Wheel" by Jim Fleser probably a decade ago and it has been the best $10 I ever spent. It is essentially a circle of fifths with all the degrees of each key spelled out. You rotate a dial to the tonic key of your choice and then it tells you everything you need to know: what notes/chords to play
 
this may be a 'simple' procedure:

write out the 7 letters of the original key (A B C D E F G)
then write out the 7 letters of the target key below the first line of letters (A B C D E F G)
.....................................................................................................(F G A B C D E)

fill in the 'accidentals" [#, b, m, M, 7, m7, dim, aug, etc)
Key of A = F#m, D, E7 becomes Key of F = Dm, Bb, C7

you can begin with the 7 letters of any key and transpose to any other key by this simple method.

it begs the question "How did you know that the Key of A uses an F# and the key of F uses a Bb?"
I do not have a good simple answer to that. Someone else can contribute the answer to that one.
I would only say that you should experiment with either # or b, but don't change the NAME (letter).

I hope this helps. It's a quick and dirty method I use :)

keep uke'in',

The why of the sharps and flats goes back to the definition of the major and minor scales.
You can sit down and rederive the circle of fifths from them but remember that it's just a
handy observation put into a clever representation made about the scales based on each tonic.
None of that actually helps you transpose but it will put your mind at ease about the "theory" behind
the circle of fifths, key signatures and etc.

-- Gary
 
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I invented my Tune Tin for this .... makes transposing keys a cinch and stows away in the case compartment. To use it, I set the top to the chord I find in the sheet music and the bottom to the chord I want... then I leave it indexed there. Each top chord then corresponds to the appropriate chord in the new key.

IMG_20180615_172522.jpg
 
Brilliant! I'm making one!

I invented my Tune Tin for this .... makes transposing keys a cinch and stows away in the case compartment. To use it, I set the top to the chord I find in the sheet music and the bottom to the chord I want... then I leave it indexed there. Each top chord then corresponds to the appropriate chord in the new key.

View attachment 112972
 
Hey Swamp Yankee,

do you shoot air pistol or air rifle competitively, hunt, or just plink?

I shoot competition air pistol with a Feinwerkbau 102, although I
haven't been to the practice range in quite a while :(

I enjoy watching YT videos of both mens and womens 10m competition.

just saying, but keep uke'in', :)
 
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