Transposing a song from one key to another

Transposition is changing the key of a piece of music, or changing the notes without changing their relationship.

This is often done to make the piece of music easier to play or sing. It's a common practice in bands that don't perform their own material; the singer may wish to cover a song with vocals that are far out of his or her range. Transposition can correct that problem by shifting the key into a range that is comfortable for him or her. Transposition is also used with instruments. Some instruments (called transposing instruments) are not tuned to the same note; for instance, a bass clarinet is tuned to a B flat and a high clarinet to an E flat. Transposition of the sheet music for these instruments ensures that they won't sound awkward and flat when playing with the rest of the orchestra or band.


Transposition by scale degree uses the scale degrees of a piece of music to determine the relationship between the notes. Each note in a piece is assigned a scale degree (tonic, submedian, etc.) and the same scale degrees are used for the new chord. This type of transposition is potentially simple, as the relationship between the notes will always remain the same, regardless of the key.

Transposition by harmonic interval uses intervals as a guide for the transposition. By finding the interval between the dominant notes in the two keys, one can deduce the interval between the all the notes. If the difference between the notes is a major third, then transposition of all the notes will be done by a major third. This type of transposition is also potentially simple but calls for an added carefulness when dealing with accidentals that aren't expressed in the key signature.

I personally use a combination of the two, but the real secret to transposition is to be able to think in each key; in other words, to be as fluent in one key as you are in another. Most people start out playing everything in the key of C, since the scale of C has no black keys. I have a friend that did just the opposite -- he played everything in the key of Gb, because that way he could use all the black keys and only a couple of the white keys.

In any case, get familiar with all 12 major keys and all 12 minor keys. That way you won't be in a "foreign country" when you need to play in some key you aren't used to. It's analagous to learning to speak 12 languages to some degree -- at least enough to get by.

And by the way, many people confuse transposing and modulating. Modulating is the process you use to get from key to key -- like a smooth hallway between keys.

Medicine & Jazz Piano

Over the years I have taught scores, if not hundreds, of doctors and medical professionals learn to play the piano better. Many of them play jazz, and often not just for their own amusement, but they form combos and play weekends at resturants and clubs and rest homes and rec centers and you name it.

I don't know what the connection is -- maybe they just need a release from what they do all week long -- but it seems to happen again and again.

I don't often plug other people's courses, but I came across a young med student who is also a terrific jazz pianist, and he has come out with a course on playing jazz piano. His name is James Wrubel. Check it out at "How To Play Jazz Piano".

And even if jazz isn't your favorite style, you can still learn a LOT that will help you as you play songs in your style.

Adult piano courses

We are working on a new shopping cart for our web site which will be much easier to navigate and operate. It's not done yet, but if you want to have a look at it, go over to Adult Piano Courses.

The simple secrets to harmonization

Have you ever wondered how in the world the really top piano players knew which chords to use in a song -- when there was no music in front of them. They would play song after song effortlessly without ever looking at a piece of sheet music.
I remember a man in Hollywood named Dave who was known as "THE piano teacher". Big names -- recording artists -- took lessons from him. Students and others sitting around the room in his studio on Cahuenga Blvd. (between Sunset Blvd. and Hollywood Blvd.) would call out songs and Dave would play them one after another. If he didn't know the song, he would ask them to sing or hum a few bars. Before long he was playing the song with both hands -- not just the tune, but harmonizing each melody note with a beautiful chord. I loved it, but I had no idea how he did it.

I finally got up the courage to ask him if he would teach me how to do that too. Read the rest of the story here.

Jazz piano videos

Here are some short videos of a jazz pianist teaching some of his techniques including some jazz chords. Good stuff! Jazz piano Click on the link at the top of the page that says "Video Clips"

Piano PDFs & Piano Ebooks

There is a growing trend for more and more music publishers to come out with piano PDFs and other forms of piano ebooks. I think it is a good development, because it does away with the delay between wanting to learn some aspect of piano playing and the fulfillment of that desire. With a physical piano course there is often a time gap of a week or more before the course reaches the individual buying it because of shipping time. But with a downloadable piano course a person can decide they need to learn that particular thing, and 60 seconds or so later actually be learning it!

Of course downloadable piano courses are much shorter in length than DVD piano courses and cannot by their very nature show full-motion video. But even that will change someday not too far off.

Here are a few PDF piano courses a person could download and start learning immediately:

"Become a Musical Mindreader"

"Power Piano Chords"

"Instant Chord Finder Software"

"Piano Tabs & Guitar Tabs"

What in the world are "piano tabs"?

Do you know what piano tabs are?

If you don't, please don't feel bad. I didn't either.

I've used chords in my piano playing all my life, but when the phrase "piano tabs" or "chord tabs" started coming up in various places, I started asking my musician friends what they were. Most didn't know -- like me.

So I asked a teen-aged guitarist if he knew what they were, and he said "I know what guitar tabs are, but I'm not sure what piano tabs are"

So I hired a writer I know to write an ebook on piano tabs. The more she got into the research needed to write the ebook, the more she saw that guitar tabs and piano tabs are very similar, so asked me if she could include guitar tabs in the ebook.

I said "Sure -- why not?"

She just finished it, and it opened my eyes, so I thought there are plenty of other piano players who, like me, would like an overview of piano and guitar tabs and how they work.

My name may be on the ebook, but as I said, I didn't write it. (It cost quite a bit to have it written and then have all the illustrations put into an ebook).

So if you are curious about piano tabs as I was, you can pick it up at
"Piano Tabs & Guitar Tabs".

Winchester House of Mystery

Have you ever been to the Winchester House of Mystery? It's a house built by the widow of Winchester (of Winchester rifle fame) around San Jose California. It has about 160 rooms and cost over $5 million to build -- from 1884 to 1922 (38 continuous years!) I remember as a kid going there with my folks and being quite excited about staircases that lead nowhere, doors that open into brick walls, etc. etc. If you want to check it out, go to http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/

The reason I bring this up on a blog devoted to music and piano playing is because our site, PlayPiano.com, resembles that house. It has a zillion rooms with hallways that lead nowhere, and is like a maze a person can easily get lost in (I sometimes get lost myself).

That's because I'm not a technical guy at all -- just a musician who loves to share what he's learned with others -- and so it has been built over the last 10 years by a variety of people, some of whom didn't really know what they were doing, with no master plan in view.

But I'm happy to say that those days are almost over. The entire site is being redesigned by a wonderful talented guy named Pat Pelzel who really knows what he's doing, including building a brand-new shopping cart that is easy to understand. It won't be done for a couple more months, but you can look at it in progress at PlayPianoCatalog.com

It will make it much easier for everyone to find what they need!

What We Learn When We Learn Music (Besides Music)

Professor makes case for musical mind

Don’t forget to thank mom and dad for those piano lessons when you were a kid. Chances are, whether you liked it or not, the hours spent practicing scales and sonatinas probably made you a little bit smarter, Mesa State College biology professor Gary McCallister says.

Piano man can lower blood pressure

Here's some exciting evidence that music is good for you. We've known it all along, but it's nice to have in confirmed from time to time.

Read about this guy who plays in a hospital and lowers the blood pressure and stress levels of people coming into the hospital.

Piano man can lower blood pressure and reduce stree levels