TAC Family Forums

Share your wins, get unstuck, or see how others use the TAC Method to create a fulfilling guitar life!

  • Transposing question

    Posted by the-old-coach on October 4, 2023 at 9:33 pm

    OK, so I’ve been transposing songs- (mostly my own original ones)- just to see if I think they “sound better” in a different key.

    So, my question- (I think)- is pretty simple. But, I’m not so sure I’m “asking it correctly or properly”.

    Let’s just say I have an “A” chord as the “4” chord in my song. But, I want to transpose the song into a different key so that the “4” chord is now a “D” chord. OK, I can do that, without much issue- (thank you Fretboard Wizard!).

    So…. MY question is…. what if that “A” chord in the original song, is actually being played, let’s say, as an “Asus2” chord…….. (I’m just playing it that way because it just sounds cooler…..).

    So….. If I transpose that song…… is that “Asus2″…… now a “Dsus2”?????

    For this example— does the sus2 “baggage” just go along with the transposition?

    And then also “7” chords, “m7” chords, “sus2”, “add9”, etc, etc, etc, – (really ANY chords that are not just regular “open” chords?). ???

    Hey– there is a REALLY good chance I’m asking this question all wrong…. and I hope you can get the GENERAL IDEA what I’m trying to ask, and not the specific examples given.

    Thanks for any help. And if I’m asking this all “wrong”, I hope it doesn’t sound toooo dumb.

    theoldcoach

    Bill_Brown replied 2 years, 5 months ago 3 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • HowardM

    Member
    October 5, 2023 at 2:41 am

    On the surface, you are correct; what a great question. I will do some research today and understand the process. Hopefully, someone in the TAC community will chime in with answers. Great question, @the-old-coach.

  • Bill_Brown

    Member
    October 5, 2023 at 5:53 am

    Hey Mark ( @the-old-coach ), for a direct transposing, yes, that Asus2 becomes a Dsus2 because you’re going from the key of E to the key of A. Now that being said, it’s your song and maybe you don’t like the sound of the Dsus2 (compared to the sound of the Asus2) or it’s not within your voice range – IMHO, you’re free to try something else (another form of D) because it’s your song – or consider a different key.

  • the-old-coach

    Member
    October 5, 2023 at 9:12 am

    Thanks Howard and Bill for responding!

    Bill, you nailed it as to exactly how I do it……. After I transpose it “directly”— if it just isn’t exactly the sound I want, I DO mess with it- (as in your example)- and try various other forms of “D”.

    Again- thanks for responding!

    mark

    • Bill_Brown

      Member
      October 6, 2023 at 6:44 am

      👍🤘

Log in to reply.