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Tools

Chord transposer

Transpose chords into any key: type or paste them, and read them back as symbols or as roman numerals. The key is detected for you, the spelling follows the new key, and every result can be heard on the instrument you choose.

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Your transposed chords will appear here.

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How to transpose chords

  1. Find the key. The first and last chords usually name it; the tool scores every key against your chords and shows its best guess, with an alternative when two keys fit.
  2. Choose where to go. Pick the new key, or move by semitones — one semitone at a time is how singers find the key that fits.
  3. Move every chord by the same distance. Chord types never change: a minor seventh stays a minor seventh, only the letter moves.
  4. Spell it the way the new key would. E♭ major writes B♭, not A♯. The tool follows the key signature; you can force sharps or flats if a chart needs it.

Sharps or flats?

The same sound has two names: A♯ and B♭ are one pitch. Which one is right depends on the key. Keys on the flat side of the circle of fifths — F, B♭, E♭, A♭ — spell their notes with flats; keys on the sharp side — G, D, A, E — with sharps. A chart in E♭ that says A♯ is not wrong in sound, but it is wrong in grammar, and it makes the scale read as if it skipped a letter.

This tool spells each note the way the target key’s scale spells it, and falls back to the fewest accidentals when a note is outside the key. It never writes double sharps or double flats. The Auto / Sharps / Flats switch overrides the rule when you need a chart to match a bandmate’s.

Transposing instruments

Transposition is the same job on every instrument: the chords move, their types stay. What differs is why. A singer moves a song to where the voice sits; a pianist reads a chart a guitarist wrote in E and plays it in F; a band writes one chart and hands each player their own key.

That last case has a rule. A B♭ trumpet, clarinet or tenor sax reads two semitones above the concert key; an E♭ alto or baritone sax reads nine semitones above (three below); a horn in F reads seven above. Type the concert chords, shift by the instrument’s interval, and the result is that player’s part.

From a concert chart in C major
InstrumentShiftReads in
Concert pitch (piano, guitar, voice, strings)0C major
B♭ instruments (trumpet, clarinet, tenor and soprano sax)+2D major
E♭ instruments (alto and baritone sax)+9A major
Horn in F+7G major

Transposition chart

One progression — I–V–vi–IV, the most common loop in pop — written in all twelve major keys, with each key’s signature and its distance in semitones from C. Use it to check a transposition by hand, or open a key to hear the progression on your instrument.

Transposition chart
KeySignatureFrom CI – V – vi – IV
C major—0
D♭ major5♭+1
D major2♯+2
E♭ major3♭+3
E major4♯+4
F major1♭+5
F♯ major6♯+6
G major1♯+7
A♭ major4♭+8
A major3♯+9
B♭ major2♭+10
B major5♯+11

Worked examples

C G Am F→D A Bm G

Up two semitones, C major to D major. Every letter moves two steps; the qualities stay.

Dm7 G7 Cmaj7→Fm7 B♭7 E♭maj7

A ii–V–I from C major to E♭ major. The dominant is spelled B♭7, because E♭ major is a flat key.

C G Am F→D A Bm G

The same loop written for a B♭ trumpet or clarinet: up two semitones, so the player reads D major while the room hears C.

Questions

What does it mean to transpose chords?
To move every chord of a song up or down by the same distance, so the song sits in a different key but keeps every relationship between its chords. C–G–Am–F moved up two semitones becomes D–A–Bm–G; it is the same progression in D.
How many semitones are there between two keys?
Count the half steps on a keyboard or the frets on a guitar from one key note to the other. C to E♭ is three semitones up (or nine down). The tool shows both the shift and the two key names, and the chart on this page lists every key’s distance from C. Or count the semitones between any two notes directly.
Does it work for piano, voice, guitar and wind instruments?
Yes. Transposing is the same on every instrument — the chord names move, the relationships stay — so the tool never assumes one. Choose your instrument in the playback bar to hear the result on it. Guitar and ukulele players also get a capo suggestion there, and wind players can shift by their instrument’s interval to read a concert chart in their own key.
Why does the tool write B♭ and not A♯?
They are the same pitch, but each key spells it one way. B♭ belongs to the flat keys (F, B♭, E♭, A♭); A♯ appears only in sharp keys such as F♯ major. The tool spells every note according to the target key’s signature and never uses double sharps or flats. You can force sharps or flats with the switch.
Does it handle minor keys, slash chords and jazz symbols?
Yes. Minor keys are detected and spelled with their own signature. Slash chords such as C/E move both the chord and the bass note. Symbols such as Cmaj7, CΔ7, C-7, Cø7, C°, C+, C6/9 and C7♭9 are all recognised and written back in one consistent form. Anything it cannot read is left exactly as you typed it and marked.
Can I paste a whole chord sheet with lyrics?
Yes. Paste chords over lyrics, or a ChordPro file with chords in brackets, and the tool transposes only the chords. Lyrics, section labels and tab lines stay where they are, and chord lines are re-spaced so each chord still sits over its syllable.
Can I hear the transposed progression?
Yes. Play all runs the progression in the new key on the instrument you have chosen — piano, guitar, ukulele or bass — and each chord chip plays on its own. Hearing a key before rehearsal is the quickest way to know whether it suits a voice.
Is it free, and where do my chords go?
It is free and needs no account. Everything happens in your browser: nothing you type is sent to a server or stored anywhere but in the address bar, which is what lets you share or bookmark a result.
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