Chord Transposer
Paste a chord sheet, choose a new key, and copy the result. Chords stay lined up over the lyrics, and the new chords come with diagrams.
How to Transpose a Song
- Paste your chord sheet into the left box, replacing the sample. Chords-over-lyrics and
[bracketed]chords both work, and so do slash chords likeD/F#. - Check the detected key under the controls. Then either press + and − to move a semitone at a time, or pick the new key directly from To key.
- Leave the spelling on Auto unless you have a reason not to. Press Copy to take the transposed sheet with you.
- Scroll down for diagrams of every chord in the new version. Tap one to hear it, or follow its name to the full page in the chord library.
Why Transpose at All?
The most common reason is singing. A song in its original key may sit perfectly for the person who recorded it and be two or three semitones too high or low for you. Moving the whole song keeps the melody and the harmony the same and puts them where your voice works. If you do not know where your voice is comfortable, the vocal range finder will tell you in a minute.
Other reasons are practical. A song written in E♭ is full of barre chords on guitar; moved to E or D, it is open shapes. A band with a horn player may want B♭ instead of A. And transposing a song you know into an unfamiliar key is a good exercise: it makes you think in chord functions, not finger shapes.
How Transposition Works
Transposing moves every chord by the same number of semitones. A song in G moved up two semitones is in A, and every chord follows: G becomes A, C becomes D, D becomes E, Em becomes F♯m. The chord types do not change. A minor chord stays minor, a 7th stays a 7th, and the bass note of a slash chord moves with everything else.
On a guitar fretboard, one semitone is one fret. That is why a capo works: a capo on fret 2 moves everything up two semitones while your hands play the same shapes.
| Semitones up | +1 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +6 | +7 | +8 | +9 | +10 | +11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From C | C♯/D♭ | D | E♭ | E | F | F♯/G♭ | G | A♭ | A | B♭ | B |
Going down is the same count in the other direction: down three semitones from C is A. Twelve semitones brings you back to the same key an octave away, which is why the transposer stops at ±11.
Sharps, Flats, and Why the Spelling Matters
Every black-key note has two names. C♯ and D♭ are the same pitch. Which name a chord gets depends on the key. In the key of A, the third chord is C♯m. In the key of A♭, the fourth chord is D♭. A sheet that writes D♭m in the key of A is not wrong in sound, but it is harder to read, and it hides the relationships between chords. Reading a song in A, you expect to see C♯m and F♯m.
That is why the transposer works out the new key and spells chords to suit it, rather than defaulting to sharps. If you are reading along with a pianist's chart that uses flats, or want plain sharps for a capo chart, switch to ♯ Sharps or ♭ Flats.
Choosing a Better Key for Your Voice
The quickest method: play the song's first line and its highest line, and sing along. If the high line strains, go down a semitone or two and try again. If the low parts disappear, go up. Most people settle within three semitones of the original. Moving five or six can change a song's character, since a bright, open-string strum in G turns murky in D♭, so consider a capo plus different shapes instead.
When the new key is awkward on guitar, look at the capo suggestion under the result, or open the capo calculator to compare every position side by side. For the theory behind why some keys use so many sharps, the circle of fifths lays every key out on one page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What formats does the transposer understand?
Two common ones. Chords on their own line above the lyrics, where the column position matters, and chords inline in square brackets like [G], as used by ChordPro files. Lines that mix chords with ordinary words are left alone, so a lyric that starts with 'A' is not mistaken for an A chord.
How does it decide between sharps and flats?
On Auto, it works out the key the song is moving to and spells chords the way that key is written. Moving to F gives B♭, not A♯; moving to E gives G♯m, not A♭m. Notes outside the key follow the same sharp or flat direction. You can force all sharps or all flats with the buttons.
How does it know the original key?
It tries all 24 major and minor keys and picks the one most of the song's chords belong to, with extra weight on the first and last chord, which are usually the home chord. It is a good guess for most pop, rock, and folk songs. If a song borrows lots of chords from outside its key, it will say the guess is rough.
Should I transpose or use a capo?
Use a capo to make a song higher while keeping the same easy shapes. Transpose when you need it lower, when the capo would go above the 7th fret, or when you are reading the chords off a sheet for another instrument. The transposer suggests a capo position whenever one would turn the new chords into open shapes.
Is my chord sheet uploaded anywhere?
No. Transposing happens in your browser, and the sheet is only saved in your browser's local storage so a refresh does not lose it.