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In this file, I explain how to convert a tune from one key to another. For information on the various keys, go to the Music Theory section. Look at Table D below, describing the Flamenco riff. (I call it this because it sounds vaguely Flamenco to me, although I know nothing about that type of music.) Look at the second row, listing the notes in the key of C. They are played on strings three, four and five. The string and fret are listed in the third row. (The notation 5:3 indicates fifth string, third fret; 4:2 indicates fourth string, second fret. I also use this notation in the strings file and the positions file.) Now you don't have to play the riff this way. C is also second string, first fret; E is also first string, open. So you can play the riff on the first and second strings, too – it will just be an octave higher. Given the letter of the note, you can play a note in different octaves. For more detail, see the strings file. I list the string and fret for this octave in the next row, in black font. Now, suppose you want to change the key to D. How do you do it? Just increase each note by one full step. A half step is one fret, a full step is two. So C becomes D, E becomes F# (recall that E to F is a half step, so F to F# is another half step), G becomes A, and so on. The notes are shown in the next row, the key of D. The tune is the same, but every note has been moved up one step, or two frets, in pitch. As with the previous riff, you can also play this one in a different octave. I haven't indicated the strings and frets for this key; you can choose the octave. In fact, you should try playing it in at least three octaves. You can play it on strings five and six; or strings two, three, and four; or solely on the first string (with a lot of position changes). Next, move the tune up two more frets (one more full step), to the key of E. D becomes D, F# becomes G#, A becomes B, and so on. Be careful with A#. It becomes B#, which is the same as C. Also, D# becomes E#, which is the same as F. |
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| TABLE D. Key Changes. | |||||||||||||||||||
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Now I've changed keys from C to D to E. I could have changed from C to Db, or D to Eb. I also raised the pitch; I could lower it. If I lowered the pitch by a half step, I could move from the key of C to the key of B. Now I've been changing each note by one or two half-steps (frets) at a time. That's okay if you're changing from C to D or F to G, or Db to D. But what if you want to change from C to G, or D to A? What if you want to change keys by more than a half step or a full step? It's a little hard to count a lot of half steps. You could just convert a half step or a full step at a time. If you do this, it might be wise to figure out the tune in all twelve major keys. So, going from C to G – go from C to D, then D to E, then E to F, then F to G. Then continue on from G to A, from A to B, and then B to C. You should end up with the same results as when you started. If not, check which note is in error and see where you made your mistake. (If you don't catch your mistake when you write down the notes, you'll probably catch it when you try to play the tune. It just won't sound right.) Another way to do this is to place notes directly in the appropriate key. Let's start with our original riff: C - E - G (repeat); F - G# - G; F - D# - C#. Letting the number 1 correspond to the note C, this becomes (now look at the key of C in Table 2) 1 - 3 - 5 (repeat); 4 - 5# - 5; 4 - 2# - 1#. If we convert this to the key of F, we get (look at the key of F in Table 2) F - A - C (repeat); Bb - C# - C; Bb - G# - F#. In any case, once you convert the tune to another key, play it! You usually have a choice of more than one octave, so pick the one that's easier, or the one that sounds better. So far I haven't said anything about converting chords to another key. It's essentially the same procedure. Change the entire chord – you don't have to change chords note by note. For example, if you have a chord progession C - Am - F - G7 in the key of C, and you wish to change it to the key of Eb (which is three half-steps above C), do the following. Pretend each chord is a note. If there is a minor or seventh or some other modifier, carry it unchanged. So C becomes D# (C to C# to D to D# for three half steps), Am becomes Cm (Am to A#m to Bm to Cm), F becomes G# , and G7 becomes A#7. And, it's entirely possible your chord progression has already been converted from one key to another. Check Table 9 and Table 10. |
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