Key Changes

IIiI

Key changesIt's a,ll veqf well to know a,ll the chords tobut wha,t ha,ppens when the voca,list sta,rtsErltf TucrtER, ha,s the a,nsurer...

a, song',to whinge?

r some point it s going to happen toyou, and it's usually the sinqer'.s

fault. You're plafing the rlqht:.ords, but itt not in the right ket: It.s too

th to get over, too lou'to get under. Ol.' urse, your keyboard plaver knos.s u,hat tor (they always do). But then, as theres ouh'r-: place to play any given note on a

rboard, it's easy. For the guitarist, things:' get a little more complicated. So, this.nth we're going to look at simplifying the

of changing keys, or rvhat theretically rninded call'transposition'

To improve your abiliqv to transposerd sequences from one kev to another.

; rssential to see chords in tenns of theirs:tion in the scale. This system is one I'veC consistently in this column (andJentally. on tlre session scene inhville), but just as a reminder, see

r). As you can see, the root ofeach:d is designated a Roman numeral, in the.r in which thev appear in the key o{ C.

TO I'O IT. the chords I-III-U-V in the kev olC; 2, cD TnAcK 33). To transpose this

- i:nce to the key of, say, F, simply play:-1s I-III-VI-V in F. Remernber. the- I gps {eg. whether they're nrajor.

:. diminished, etc) stay the sarne -:he letter name changes (nrc 4, co.t s+).:. really worth the effort to sit down and

.,,+ ^ll rL-. li.-!^..:-. ^L^---1.-:-- -ll I -out all the diatonic chords in all kevs.- -onpleteness, write each one as ir 7th-i. for example, ArnT not just Am).: '. take a scale and build the chord- rn each note olthe scale, lollorving the-:-, in the C major exarnple (rrc r). So,-.:.rnce, ifyou were to construct scale

r--. in F, the notes in the F major scale: G. A, Bb, C, D, E. Now make each. :oot of its own chord, and the chord: rllorv the standard pattern (rlc a).

TEE ITFT. -k rvhen transposing is to spot which., . en chord progression is in. This is

not :rln'ays easv - often chord pro{r-essionschange kev oler tr matter ol bars. or thepiece irrcorpoltrtes chorcls out of the ker' lbrcolorrristic effe<t. Tlreil tlrortl, slroLrltl

'bu

seen rrs irltered kel clrords. For er:rurple. theprogressiorr Cnraj 7-Drn7--{nr7-Ab7-G7features :r los'ered chorcl \"I (ihe -{b7). as

s'ell as the siandard chold \-I in the lolnr ofArnT (coTnecx 35). To spot derjations.check s4rether the root nanre of the chordappears naturallf in the given key - eg thenote Ab doesn't appetrr in the C major scale,so it must be treated as an altered chordwhen y'ou transpose. Trv to spot thesedeviations lrom standtrrd chord progressionsr.vhen looking at chord sheets. FFr

EEEEIEFllFVl-V progression in C (fiq 2)

EEEEIEl-lll-Vl-V progression in F (fig 4)

EEEEl-lFVl-bVl-V progression in C (not notaterl)

Key olC

I CmajTI (c)

Dm7I (o')

Em7I (e')

I IT

FmaiT(F)Iv

Am7I ta'l

\t

G7I rcl

I Bm7(b5) il(Bdim)

I

Theae ue the (4-note) zth chords built on the scale of C Dajor The 3.Eote chords are ehown in brackets.

Key ol C

CmajT Em7| (C) r (Em)

I

I IIIMuy chord progtessioDs can be dalysed es standard chords from a key, and can firerefore be labelledwith romu uumerlcal nubers from the scale (aee ffg I for reference).

Am7 I c7(Am) (c)

VI \r

Kev ol F

I FmaiT(F)I

Gm7I tc')

Am7 BomajT ' C7(Am) (Bb) (c)

Ilt I\' \'

I Dm7 | Em7(b5) ,,(Dm) (Edim) liYI VII

Ifere 8e the F major scale cholds, coDstructedlust ltke the C Dajor version in ftg L It's beneffcial to leartrud eve! mite out scale chotds for all keys - it Dakes a very handy reference guide.

Key ofF

I FmajT(F)

Am7(Am)

ilI

Dm7I ro')vI

c7I rcl 11

This progTession ls the same as ffg 2, but iu a lew key, F major, By applying the romaD lumerals, it,seasier to see what the chord progresslous have in comon, and therefore easier to trenspose.

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