CHARTING BY HAND
TRANSPOSING TO A NEW KEY SIGNATURE

I: Make a photocopy of the original piece of music.

II: Make a Transposition Tool - A transposition guide is the tool that will help you change the chords and notes from the original key to the chords and notes of the new key. We’ll walk you through the process using the piece “Lost in Space” which you can see in Figure 1.

a) Determine the original key signature; look at the key signature and compare it to the table below to find the original key signature. This is not a complete list of key signatures but it is the list of the most common key signatures. In Figure 1, you can determine that the original key signature is Bb or Gm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

b) Determine the best key signature for your performance of the song. Do this with the help of your teacher if you’re not an experienced musician. For our example, we’re going to use a new key of Cm.

c) Write out the original key on staff paper on one line (see Figure 2). On the following line, lined up with the notes of the original key, write out the new (modulated or transposed) key. In the example, we’re going from the old key of G Minor to the new key of C Minor.

III: Write in new chords - Using your Transposition Tool (see Figure 2), find the equivalent chord in the new key. In our example (Figure 3), we cross out the first chord in the chart (Gm) and replace it with the appropriate chord from the new key (Cm).

Note that the chord extensions (anything to the right of the letter) transfer directly from the old chord to the new chord. So, the D7 becomes G7 and Gm becomes Cm, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

V: Transfer lyrics, ties, dynamic markings, etc. onto your new chart.

VI: Transfer the new chords to your chart. Transfer the new chords from Step III to your chart.

VII: Transfer repeats and other markings to new chart including musical symbols that are appropriate for your version of the song (for instance, if you aren’t going to take a repeat, don’t write it in your chart).