When it comes to transposing music, it can be surprisingly simple. Especially if you simplify and/or have a cheat sheet or guide to reference. Up until very recently, I thought you had to have an incredible ear or next level memory to transpose music on the spot. Or, I thought you needed to be an expert in music theory.
To be certain, there is a dizzying array of notes and keys that some folks attempt to memorize, and taking a music theory class would be beneficial. But we’re going to shrink that list down to get you transposing some of your favorite songs, in just minutes.
This method goes beyond just the ukulele, but for the scope of this post, we’ll give examples for the ukulele specifically.
The easiest way to transpose music for the ukulele simply involves memorizing a handful of chords in a sequential pattern for the most widely used keys in modern music. Around 1/3 of all popular music is written in just four keys, utilizing just six commonly used chords in each key.
Let’s break that down a bit more, and throw in some examples with pictures. We love pictures!
What are the Four Most Common Keys?
A few years ago, Spotify listed the percentage of songs in their library by the key they were written in. They tracked 30,000,000 songs from their library. They found that close to 1/3 of their songs were written in G, C, A, and D (source). If you add in E and F the total would be close to half of all music in their library.
That is an incredible number of songs for just 4 to 6 keys. We’re talking 10-15 million songs for just 4 to 6 keys. Incredible.
But maybe you’re wondering what a key even is, or how to break it down. This has to do with scales, and some music theory. But we promised you in the title that there wouldn’t be any of that.
So we’ll just say this, each key has seven chords based on a sequential pattern of steps from one chord (or note) to the next. But don’t get lost on this bit of info. We promise this is going to be easy. If you know your alphabet, you’re set.
A chart is needed here!
Major Keys G, C, D, and E, With Their Chords
| I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | |
| Key of G | G | Am | Bm | C | D | Em | F#dim |
| Key of C | C | Dm | Em | F | G | Am | Bdim |
| Key of A | A | Bm | C#m | D | E | F#m | G#dim |
| Key of D | D | Em | F#m | G | A | Bm | C#dim |
For each key above, to transpose into another key, you simply need to swap out a chord for the matching chord from the same roman numeral.
So, for example, let’s assume we have a song written in the key of G that uses the chords G, Bm, C, and D. Let’s also assume we want to transpose the song to the key of C because we want to avoid playing Bm. To do this we simply match the chords from each key by the roman numeral they represent in the chart above.
In this case, G (I), Bm (III), C (IV), and D (V) would change to C (I), Em (III), F (IV), and G (V). Simple!
But, let’s make this even easier to transpose these four keys by pointing out a couple of things about the chart above.
- The chords for each key are always in alphabetical order from A-G starting with the key you are in.
- The 2nd, 3rd, and 6th chords in each key will be minor chords.
- The seventh chord in each key is hardly ever used.
- Fm and Cm will be sharp.
What that means is, if you know your alphabet and can remember that the second, third, and sixth chords are minors (F and C will always be sharp minors) you can transpose millions of popular songs, like, right now.
To hammer this home before moving on. let’s walk through the mental process involved here.
Let’s say you have a song that is in the key of A. It is using the chords A, Bm, D, and E. Again, we don’t like that Bm chord. So we want to swap it to the key of D.
We’d start by mentally going through the key of A. Which would look like this.
I. A is first because we are in the key of A.
II. Then Bm, because the second chord is a minor and we go in alphabetical order.
III. Then C#m, because the third chord is a minor and Cm will be a sharp in these four keys.
IV. Then D.
V. Then E is next.
VI. The next is the sixth which is always minor and will be an F which for these four keys it has to be sharp so I get F#m.
If I do that same process for D, then I would end up with D, Em, F#m, G, A, and Bm for the pattern. Since I want to swap A, Bm, D, and E which are I, II, IV, V in the key of A. I’d swap them for D, Em, G, and A for the Key of D.
Give it a shot and see just how quickly you can memorize and/or be able to transpose a few songs on your own.
But, before you run off to tranpose all of your favorite songs, let’s take this up just a notch, and add E and F to your tool belt.
Major Keys E and F, With Their Chords
| I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | |
| Key of E | E | F#m | G#m | A | B | C#m | D#dim |
| Key of F | F | Gm | Am | B | C | Dm | Edim |
Each of the rules above applies here as well. The only tricky bit is that the key of E has a G#m while the key of F has a Gm. But if you can just remind yourself that it G#m is sharp because it was directly preceded by the F#m, you’re set.
Again, there is a lot more to this! A LOT! So if you want to know how to transpose to every key, it’ll take a bit more digging into theory and whole steps vs half steps. If you dabbled in the piano, it will really pay off here.
But, none the less, these 6 keys and the simple rules above will get you well on your way to transposing most things you’ll come in contact with.
How do I Know What Key a Song is In?
When attempting to transpose a song for the uke, it’s highly likely that you’re looking at chord sheets. If the chord sheet doesn’t specify, you can usually tell by looking at the first chord and the last chord.
In many songs, the first chord and last chord will be the key the song is in. You just might find a few songs that do not fit that distinction. In that case, you’ll just need to look at all of the chords in the song. Most popular songs use just 3 to 6 chords, so you’ll just need to find the key that has all of those chords in it.
But generally speaking, the first chord and last chord of a song are great places to look for the key.