Vaughn's Summaries

Music Summaries
Change of Key
Music Transposition Chart
How to Change Keys
by Vaughn Aubuchon
Transpose musical notes from one key to another.
How to change a song from any musical key, to any
other key.
Pick the key you are changing from in the leftmost
column. Then, read across to the column that
represents the key you want to change to, where the
corresponding notes are listed.
The chart below can be used to make all 132 possible
musical transpositions (11 x 12). Two octaves are
shown for inter-octave clarity.
30 100 60 30 80 80 30
.
Transpose music from Key to Key - 2 octaves shown vertically
Piano
Keyboard
Hal f-
Steps Ful l Notes
Key of :
Piano
Treble
Clef
Key
C
(piano)
Db D Eb
E
(guitar)
F Gb G Ab A
Bb
(brass)
B
first
second
third fourth fifth sixth
seventh
C (tonic) 0 first DO C D E F G A Bb B
C#/Db 1 bbbbb
D 2 second RE D E F# G A B C# ##
D#/Eb 3 bbb
E 4 third MI E F# G# A B C# D# ####
F
(sub-dom.)
5 fourth FA F G A Bb C D E
b
F#/Gb 6
G dominant 7 fifth SO G A B C D E F# #
G#/Ab 8 bbbb
A 9 sixth LA A B C# D E F# G# ###
A#/Bb 10 bb
B 11 seventh TI B C# D# E F# G# A# #####
C (tonic) 12/0 8/1 DO C D E F G A B
C#/Db 1
D 2 2 RE D E F# G A B C#
D#/Eb 3
E 4 3 MI E F# G# A B C# D#
F (sub-dom.) 5 4 FA F G A Bb C D E
F#/Gb 6 Gb Ab Bb B Db Eb F
G dominant 7 5 SO G A B C D E F#
G#/Ab 8
A 9 6 LA A B C# D E F# G#
A#/Bb 10
B 11 7 TI B C# D# E F# G# A#
C (tonic) 0 1 DO C D E F G A B
53 65 - 768 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40
.
Simplified Diagram:
Transpose Music from Key to Key - 1 octave shown
Piano Transposition Summary Table
Musical
Note
C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A Bb B C
Hal f
Steps
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Ful l
Notes
DO - RE - MI FA - SO - LA - TI DO
nth Note first - second - third fourth - fifth - sixth - seventh eighth
Key of C C D E F G A B C
C#/Db c
Key of D D E F# G A B c C# D
D#/Eb c
Key of E E F# G# A B c C# D# E
Key of F F G A Bb C D E
F
F#/Gb c
Key of G G A B C D E F# G
G#/Fb c
Key of A A B c C# D E F# G# A
A#/Bb c
Key of B B c C# D# E F# G# A# B
Key of C C D E F G A B C
-
Example: If music in the Key of C indicates playing an E note, that note would be a B
note in the key of G.
The blanks are left for the student to fill in - and to reduce clutter - and to show the
pattern.
Keyboard instruments are based on the key of C, the guitar on the key of E (or F),
and brass instruments on the key of B flat.
Discl aimer:
I hope there are no more errors.
Many thanks to Ron Cox for finding 2 errors in the
above tables, replicated 3 times. Fixed.
Many thanks to Steve Graves for finding 2 more
errors, replicated 3 times. Fixed.
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Vaughn' s Summaries
2003, 2004, 2008, 2009 Vaughn Aubuchon
www.vaughns-1-pagers.com
All Rights Reserved
This Vaughns Music Key Transposition Chart
was last updated on 2014-05-29.