From the course: Music Theory for Songwriters: Harmony

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Transposing a song for feel change or different voice ranges

Transposing a song for feel change or different voice ranges

From the course: Music Theory for Songwriters: Harmony

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Transposing a song for feel change or different voice ranges

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- What if you've written a song in a particular key? Maybe using the same key as many of our examples in this course: C major. However, when you sing the melody, you find it's uncomfortable and pushes the limits of your range. Here is an excellent opportunity to transpose your song into a different key. What does that mean, to "transpose?" Transposition means moving notes up or down in pitch by a constant interval. For example, let's say the song you've written has a chord progression that goes something like this. (Man at Piano plays it) That is clearly in the C major scale. It's C major (Man at Piano plays it) to F to G. Or, I to IV to V. (Man at Piano plays it) If you transpose that chord progression to the key of G, up a perfect fifth, it would sound like this. (Man at Piano plays it) That's G (Man at Piano plays it) C, D. The progression I just played is also a I-IV-V. But in the key of G. And this demonstrates why it is so useful to use Roman numerals to indicate chords. If you…

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