Hi all,

Is there a particular "technique" on transposing a song on request to a different key other than hitting the transpose button ?

Most of the time, people i play with requires me to change keys but i want to find a way not to depend on the transpose button. Thanks.

Claude

One method is to learn chords by the roman numerals methods instead of specific chord names. Example in the scale of C. C would be written as I. G would be written as 5, Am as ii, F as IV. Once you know these numeric chords in different keys, it is fairly easy to transpose keys.
Starkeeper

Claude,

Use the button. It's quick, easy and you can do it on the fly without making mistakes.

Gary

Though it's certainly more convenient to simply hit the transpose button on your keyboard, I still STRONGLY urge everybody to take the time to learn how to manually transpose and to be able to play your songs in other keys as well.

One benefit of transposing (actually playing in a different key) istead of merely hitting the keyboard's transpose button, is that different keys demand different hand positioning & provide varying comfort & resultant sound. Also certain keys are more conducive to playing blues licks (sliding off a black note to white) than others.

In addition to concuring with Starkeeper's good method of 'chord' transposition, here's a a link to a lesson in 'melodic' transposition:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Marble/9607/0020.htm

Scott

Here's a SUGGESTION for learning to become proficient in transposing & playing a song in other keys.

Start by taking a simple song that you know real well by memory such as: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" or "Row Row Row Your Boat". Start by playing the song in the key you know it best in, such as key of C. Then learn to play it (by ear) in C# which is 1/2 (semitone) up from C. Once you master this, learn it in D, and so on to cover all 12 keys. Soon,thru practice, you'll eventually develop your ears & playing skills to transpose songs on the spot to any key. The benefits and rewards will pay off in your improved keyboard proficiency.

I suggest first beginning by just playing & transposing the melody, and then adding transposed left hand chords (with auto accompaniment) after you've gained confidence & proficiency playing the melody.

Scott

I knew Scott was going to answer this

Yeah, I guess it's become an automatic instinctial response for me to answer being a music teacher and all.

Scott, Starkeeper:

Thanks for the suggestions and link. I'll try to start learning that this week-end.
Those are really great tips !!

Gary:
Yes, the transpose button is really quick and easy. One of my other reasons for wanting to learn how to transpose though is I often play on a regular piano as well and don't want to feel "lost" if someone ever ask me to play in a different key

Claude

scottyee,your reply to this question prompted for me to ask this,a long while ago i asked you where do you set your splitpoint,and if i remember correctly it was on F#2,now since then you said that when you play a key to learn the primary chords ,plus the inversions ,now if you play with s/point at f#2 does that mean that you don,t stick to the inversion that you started,in other words because you are proffessional that you can change inversions,because you use less notes(im not explaining this very well)do you understand what i,m getting at?mike

Another very important trick of the trade is how to transition from one key to another smoothly. For example playing a song in the key of C then on the 2nd time around playing it in key of D. Well, how do we transition smoothly in between ? I think there are several ways. The easiest is after the last note of the previous key then play the "F (IV)" followed by "G (V)" chord of the next key. Then you will smoothly transition to the "C (I)" chord of the next key. It almost always works. Anybody else got similar tricks for key transitions ?