Easily change song keys for vocal range and jam sessions: Transposing simplified

Описание: Understand how to change the chords in a song to better suit your vocal range, to better fit the chords you know, or to more nimbly jump into a jam session. I’ll break it down to the basics and provide a really easy tool for transposing songs on the fly.

Keep in mind that this is introductory info that applies to BASIC keys and chords. It gets really dense really quickly in the music theory jungle. This is a first step into that jungle.

More about notes:
Notes are expressed in half steps -- how they’re laid out on a piano keyboard or the ukulele fretboard. Each piano key (including black and white keys) and each ukulele fret space is a half step. Two half steps = one whole step.

To get from A to B , it takes one whole step (that’s 2 piano keys or two ukulele fret spaces) because there’s an A sharp between them.

Between the notes B and C, and E and F, there’s only 1 piano key or 1 ukulele fret space = a half step.

In the asymmetrical language of music, you’ll often see the pattern expressed like this: WWHWWW (W= whole step; H=half step). This is the formula for finding notes, whether they are sharps or flats. I remember this order by holding up my fingers to make a peace sign (or Little Rabbit Foo Foo). The index and middle fingers sticking up are the WW, the ring, pinky, and thumb are the WWW. The half step in between is implied.

Black keys can be either sharps or flats. [Music theory jungle alert: It can be confusing because what the black key is called relies on more complicated music theory than we can get into here. Suffice to say, they can be either sharps (#) or flats (b)] They are sharps when you’re moving to the right of a note (A to A#). When you’re moving to the left of a note, black keys are flats (A to Ab).

This video barely scrapes the surface. Delve more deeply into music theory, you’ll find that it can greatly help your understanding of what you’re playing, therefore providing more options for taking that same music towards fresh horizons.

King of the Road Key of G
https://www.ukuleleclare.com/_files/u...

King of the Road Key of C
https://www.ukuleleclare.com/_files/u...

Piano keyboard and ukulele neck notes
https://www.ukuleleclare.com/_files/u...

Common key chords
https://www.ukuleleclare.com/_files/u...

0:00 There is a way to change a song that is keyed too high or too low for your voice, replace chords you can’t play with those you can, and feel more confident in participating in a musical jam sessions
0:59 Understanding the smallest musical element: The note
2:04 How to build chords
2:30 Building the C chord on the ukulele
3:01 Building the G chord on the ukulele
4:07 Understanding how chords are the building blocks of keys
4:19 Formula for building keys
4:41 Building the Key of C
5:01 Relative minors
6:05 Exercise: Find the chords in the Key of G
6:25 Why songwriters use different keys
6:52 Transposing: Example: Re-keying “King of the Road” to better suit vocal range
7:01 “King of the Road” in the Key of C
7:14 “King of the Road” in the Key of G
7:32 How to change keys from C to G
8:15 Introducing the key-finder tool
8:31 How to use the Little Rabbit Foo Foo Key Finder Tool
8:51 Using the tool to find the Key of C
9:28 Using the tool to find the Key of G
10:00 Using the tool to find the Key of D
10:26 Using the tool to help find a key at a jam session

You can find lots of information about my in-person and online classes, gigs, and resources at
https://www.ukuleleclare.com

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I'm a ukulele teacher and performer. I help people tune into their inner ukulelian and cut through learning challenges with patience and laughter.

I don't come from a musical background. Growing up, my main instruments were the record player and radio. I crooned along with what we now consider Americana and the country oldies on the dearly departed WHN Country station out of New York.

I didn't pick up an instrument for real until I turned a fateful trip to Hawai'i when I turned 50. Without musical training, I had to come up with my own ways of explaining to myself what was happening musically. I share these hard-earned nuggets with other folks with little or no musical background, illuminating a slightly different pathway to learning how to music. It ain't perfect and it ain't done, but it has helped me tip-toe farther and farther into the scary jungle of music theory. Turns out the lions and tigers and bears in that jungle aren't as scary up close! It all comes down to how you coax yourself to approach them.