How to transpose chords: a beginner's guide

Transposing means moving a whole song up or down to a new key. The melody and chord progression stay the same; only the pitch changes. Here is everything you need to do it by hand — and a faster way.

Why transpose?

• To fit a voice. A song that is too high or too low becomes comfortable when you move it a few semitones.
• To make the chords easier. A song in Eb is full of barre chords on guitar; in D or E it may use open chords. (A capo is another way to do this.)
• To play with other instruments. Trumpets, clarinets, and saxophones are "transposing instruments": their written notes sound different from the notes on a piano. A Bb trumpet part, for example, is written 2 semitones higher than it sounds.
• To match a recording that is in a different key from your sheet music.

Semitones: the unit of transposing

Western music divides the octave into 12 equal steps called semitones (half steps). On a guitar, one semitone is one fret; on a piano, it is the next key, black or white.

C  C#  D  D#  E  F  F#  G  G#  A  A#  B  (C)
   Db      Eb         Gb      Ab      Bb

Note that there is no black key between E and F or between B and C, so those pairs are only one semitone apart.

To move a chord up, count steps to the right; to move it down, count to the left, wrapping around from B back to C. For example, G +2 → G#, A. And C -3 → B, Bb, A.

Shifting by 12 semitones gives the same chord names an octave higher, so for chord charts +12 is the same as 0, and +5 gives the same chords as -7.

Transpose a chord chart by hand

1. Decide the shift, for example "up 2 semitones".
2. Move the root of every chord (the letter and its # or b) by that many semitones.
3. Keep the rest of the chord as it is. m, 7, maj7, sus4, add9, and other symbols do not change: Em7 +2 → F#m7.
4. Move the bass note of slash chords too: D/F# +2 → E/G#.
5. Choose sharps or flats that suit the new key (see sharps or flats?).

Here is the first verse of Amazing Grace (a traditional hymn in the public domain), moved from G to A (+2):

G          G7       C        G
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
G                     Em     D
That saved a wretch like me
G           G7      C         G
I once was lost, but now am found
G        D        G
Was blind, but now I see

A          A7       D        A
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
A                     F#m    E
That saved a wretch like me
A           A7      D         A
I once was lost, but now am found
A        E        A
Was blind, but now I see

A chart of the chords in every key makes this quicker: find each chord in the row of the old key and read the same column in the new key.

Find the key of a song

To know where you are moving from, you need the original key. Some quick clues:

• The last chord is usually the key, and the first chord often is too.
• The chord that feels like "home" and appears most often is usually the key.
• Check which chords fit one row of the key chart. G, C, D, and Em all belong to the key of G.
• If the home chord is minor (Am, Em, …), the song is in a minor key. Transposing works the same way.

Choose a key for a singer

1. Find the highest and lowest notes of the melody.
2. Sing the song in its original key and notice whether the high part strains or the low part disappears.
3. Move by 1 or 2 semitones at a time. A small change is often enough.

If you use a karaoke machine, its key control also moves in semitones. A song that felt right at "+2" on karaoke needs +2 in the app.

Transpose in one step with the app

Chord Transposer does all of the above for a whole chart at once:

1. Paste the chord chart, or open a text, PDF, or image file.
2. Choose the number of semitones in Transpose (-12 to +12).
3. Choose how to write sharps and flats in #/♭.
4. Preview, print, or save the result.

The app keeps the chords above the right words, and it leaves the lyrics untouched. Read the full guide for details and tips.