Chord Transposer

Now you can play chords in any key

• The Chord Transposer is available on all song pages except for our Christmas Songs for Beginners page which is made up of easy chords.
• The key on each song is highlighted. This corresponds to the key in each video presentation.
• If a song key is not to your liking, you simply highlight your key of choice.
• You can change it as many times as you want until you are satisfied with the outcome.
• Depending on the highlighted key, if you make several changes and return to the original key, you may find the enharmonic equivalent of some chords.
  Example: In F Major, there is more than likely a Bb present. After making key changes and returning to the original key, you may find the Bb replaced with A#... they are enharmonic equivalents - same note, different names.
  If you prefer to see Bb, simply refresh the page.

Song Keys

The Transposer only displays Major Keys, so if the song is in a Minor key, you will need to find the relative Major key.
Minor Key + 3 semitones = Major Key
Let's look at an example where the song key is in Am. We start with the root note of 'A':
A → Bb → B → C therefore the relative Major of Am is C Major.
To play in Am we press the "C" button

If the song is in a Major Key, you will see the following:
Song Key is highlighted - Transpose to any other key
In this case, the highlighted key is a Major Key.

If the song is in a Minor key, e.g., Em - you will see the following:
The Relative Major Key of Em is highlighted - Transpose to any other key.
In this case, the highlighted key will be G, as it is the relative Major of Em.

Highlighted Keys are always Major Keys

Here's an example at the start of Silent Night.

   Asus2
1. Si-lent night    Ho-ly night
   E7             Asus2
   All is calm    All is bright...

Key changes and Capo

Many of you may like to play along with the video, but if you change the key, you will need to use a Capo, as your new key will not match the key on the video.

This is where a Capo can be very handy. Remember that as you move up each fret, you are moving up 1 semitone. Here are a few examples:

• The video is in F Major but your preferred key is C Major.
• We count the semitones from the preferred key (C) to the video key (F)
• C → C# → D → D# → E → F
• There are 5 semitones (arrows) between C and F, therefore we place the capo on the 5th fret. Now we can safely play along with the video - both in the key of F major (even though we are playing much easier chords in C major).

• The video is in Bb Major but your preferred key is C Major.
• Remember: We count the semitones from the preferred key (C) to the video key (Bb)
• C → C# → D → D# → E → F → F# → G → G# → A → Bb
• There are 10 semitones (arrows) between C and Bb, therefore we place the capo on the 10th fret. Now we can safely play along with the video but you may find the tonality highly pitched, and depending on the type of guitar and number of available playing frets, you may find yourself short of 'playing room'.
• This is not alway ideal - however, you can make an awkward situation sound great - especially if you have someone else to play along with, and a guitar with a longer neck (steel string).
• Let's say Guitarist-A plays in the Key of Bb Major and Guitarist-B plays with a Capo on the 10th fret and plays in C Major... it can sound incredible, especially if Guitarist - B is fingerpicking while Guitarist-A is strumming.

Generally it's better to choose a key where the distance of your preferred key to the video key is a little closer. Anywhere up to 5 semitones is generally good; 6-7 is reasonable; 8+ is very rare except in certain instances like we discussed earlier or in situations where highly-pitched chords are preferable.