Nathaniel School of Music

How to Transpose to Any Key, Scale, Mode and Chord Progression on Piano

To transpose a melody on piano, first choose its tonic and scale, write each note as a scale-degree number (or swara), then rebuild those numbers in a new key, a new scale, a new mode or over a new chord, singing it before you play it.

Video lesson by Jason Zac · Intermediate · 34 min

Can't see the video? Watch it on YouTube.

Key points

This lesson from Jason Zac at Nathaniel School of Music shows every common way to move a melody or lick around the piano: changing the key, changing the scale, changing both, moving through the modes and fitting the idea to a chord. It suits any pianist or keyboard player who wants to play songs in different keys, or borrow licks from great improvisers and make them their own.

Why not use the transpose button?

The transpose button on a keyboard makes you see one note while hearing another. Over years of playing you develop a sense of what each key sounds like, and the button creates a clash between your eyes and ears. Jason Zac describes freezing on stage when a band dropped a whole show by a tone; actually playing the songs in the new keys was hard, but far easier than relying on the button.

Step 1: Learn the melody and its feel

The lesson uses a short white-key melody: C D E B A G E C G F E C D B C (the second-to-last B is the lower B). Decide how it should feel before anything else: straight eighth notes, swung, or with triplets. Thinking in subdivisions rather than crotchets helps.

Step 2: Choose the tonic and scale carefully

All white keys suggests C major, but it could also be the relative minor, A minor. Do not assume a melody starts on its tonic either: Happy Birthday in C major begins on G, the fifth. Test your guess by holding the tonic note or tonic chord in the left hand (C, a C major triad, or Cmaj7) and hearing whether it sits well with the melody. Here, C major is the choice.

Step 3: Turn the notes into numbers

Write each note as an interval from the root. The melody becomes:

1 2 3 7 6 5 3 1 5 4 3 1 2 7 1 (the second 7 is the lower one).

You can also use swaras (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni) or solfège. Singing the line with swaras fixes the relationships in your ear.

Step 4: Transpose by key

Keep the major scale and change the key. Write out the new scale, then follow the numbers.

Sing the numbers before you play. If you play a wrong note first, your ear tends to believe it. After two or three keys, your voice will know the tune better than your fingers. Guitarists and bassists should also hear the line rather than just slide a shape.

Step 5: Transpose by scale

Keep C as the key and change the scale. The scale, not the key, changes the emotion.

Step 6: Any key, any scale

To go from C major to Bb minor, use two steps: first play it correctly in Bb major, then change the scale to Bb natural minor: Bb C Db Ab Gb F Db Bb F Eb Db Bb C Ab Bb.

Step 7: Transpose by mode

The modes of C major are C Ionian, D Dorian, E Phrygian, F Lydian, G Mixolydian, A Aeolian and B Locrian. Start the lick on each degree using the same white keys and hear the new character. Bring in each mode's signature note, such as the #4 in Lydian, even if the original did not stress it.

Step 8: Transpose over chords

Let the chord choose the scale: Dorian over a minor seventh, major over a major seventh, Mixolydian over a dominant, Locrian over a diminished chord. Over Dm7 the lick fits; if the chord becomes D7, the F must become F#. You can also start the lick on the 3rd, 5th or 7th of a seventh chord, giving four starting points.

How to practise

  1. Start with a simple tune such as Happy Birthday or a rhyme.
  2. Write the scale and the numbers for every new key.
  3. Sing, then play, slowly.
  4. Later, take a bar or two from a favourite solo and run it through keys, scales, modes and chords.

Questions about this lesson

What is the difference between transposing by key and by scale?

Transposing by key keeps the same scale type, such as major, but moves it to a new root like D or Bb. Transposing by scale keeps the same root but changes the scale, for example C major to C minor.

How do I change a major melody to minor?

Replace every 3, 6 and 7 with flat 3, flat 6 and flat 7 to get natural minor. In C, E becomes Eb, A becomes Ab and B becomes Bb.

How do I know which key a melody is in?

Hold the suspected tonic note or chord in your left hand and listen to whether it suits the melody. Remember a melody may start on another degree, and an all-white-key tune could be C major or A minor.

Should I sing when transposing?

Yes. Singing the numbers or swaras before playing helps you avoid wrong notes, which your ear tends to believe once heard.

Practise it

Related lessons