Chord Transposer

A song is in the wrong key for the singer. The guitar player wants an easier set of shapes. The pianist has the chart in another key. Moving every chord up or down by the same interval is called transposing, and doing it by hand across a whole song invites mistakes. This page takes a chord sheet, in the usual layout with chords above the lyrics, and rewrites every chord, leaving the words and spacing alone.

Three ways to choose the shift

From key to key: choose the key the song is in and the key you want, and the page works out the interval. Semitones: enter a number from -11 to 11, positive being higher. Capo position: enter the fret of the capo and the key the song is in, and the page shows the shapes to play. With a capo on fret 2 for a song in G, the shapes are those of F, which a note under the output spells out.

A worked example

Press Sample, an “Amazing Grace” chord sheet with a [Verse] label and four chord lines, in G. Shift it up two semitones. The first chord line, G D Em C, becomes A E F♯m D. G7 C G/B Em becomes A7 D A/C♯ F♯m, showing that both parts of a slash chord move, and Am D7 G becomes Bm E7 A. The statistics list 14 chords changed and 4 chord lines. A key to key shift from G to A gives the same result.

How chord lines are recognised

The tool splits each line into words. If every word is a chord, or a bar line like |, the line is treated as chords and transposed. A line of lyrics that happens to contain “A” or “Am” is left alone, because other words on it are not chords. Spaces are preserved, so the chords still sit above the same syllables. Chords written in square brackets inside the lyric line, as in [G]Amazing [D]grace, are changed in place too. Suffixes such as m7, sus4 and add9 are kept as you wrote them.

Sharps and flats

Black-key notes have two names. When you transpose from key to key, Automatic mode uses flats if the target key is one that normally has flats, such as F or B flat, and sharps otherwise. When you shift by semitones, with no target key, it writes sharps. You can force sharps or flats, which is useful when a chart should match the style of the rest of a songbook. Note that the result for a key like F sharp or G flat is the same sound written two ways.

Using a capo

A capo clamps across the neck and raises every string. If a singer needs a song in A and you want to play easy G shapes, a capo on fret 2 does it: G shapes sound as A. The capo mode answers the opposite question as well: for a chart in a given key, which shapes are needed with the capo on each fret?

Edge cases

Unusual symbols such as chords with unusual alterations may not be recognised and are then left as they are, so look over the result. A song with a modulation is transposed by the same amount throughout. Section labels in brackets, such as [Verse], are not treated as chords. Copy and download give plain text, with a file named transposed.txt.

Limits

It does not guess the key of the song: you must say what it is in for key to key mode. It works on text, not on audio or notation. The input is stored in your browser only.

Related tools

• Chord Diagram Maker draws the shapes for the new chords.
• Circle of Fifths shows which chords belong in each key.
• Ukulele Chord Finder lists the chords of the key for ukulele.
• Vocal Range Test helps you choose a key that fits your voice.