How to Transpose Any Song in a Matter of Minutes

Changing the key signature of a song used to be difficult for me. That was until my dad taught me to transpose using a system that made it so simple.

At the time, we didn’t really know the official name for it, so we just said that we were learning to “play by number.” I now know that it’s called the Nashville Numbering System (NNS).

The NNS is a system that numbers the chords in a way that they can be used in any key. The best way to explain it is by showing you how it works. Let’s use the Christmas carol, O Come All Ye Faithful, since it’s a popular song to many.

1. Identify the chord numbers.

Place a number next to each chord. This little chart comes in handy for this. The numbers stand for which scale degree each chord finds it root.

Example 1

Verse

G (1) D (5)

O come, all ye faithful

G (1) D (5)

Joyful and triumphant

Em (6m) D (5) A (2) D (5)

O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem

G (1)

Come and behold Him

Am (2m) D (5)

Born the King of Angels!

Chorus

G (1)

O come, let us adore Him

G (1) D (5)

O come, let us adore Him

C (4) D (5)

O come, let us adore Him

G (1) D (5) G (1)

Christ the Lord



2. Find any borrowed chords.

Notice that there is one chord that doesn’t fit in the NNS. It’s the A chord (highlighted), which is a borrowed chord from the key of D. It is the 5 chord in D and technically speaking it is the 5 of 5 in the key of G.

Example 2

Verse

G (1) D (5)

O come, all ye faithful

G (1) D (5)

Joyful and triumphant

Em (6m) D (5) A (2) D (5)

O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem

3. Transpose the chords to a new key.

Let’s transpose it to the key of E. The E scale is as follows: E (1), F# (2), G# (3), A (4), B (5), C# (6), D# (7). Use the chord numbers in the song to determine which degree of the scale correlates with each chord.

Example 3

Verse

(1) (5)

O come, all ye faithful

(1) (5)

Joyful and triumphant

(6m) (5) (2) (5)

O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem

(1)

Come and behold Him

(2m) (5)

Born the King of Angels!

Chorus

(1)

O come, let us adore Him

(1) (5)

O come, let us adore Him

(4) (5)

O come, let us adore Him

(1) (5) (1)

Christ the Lord

Example 4

Verse

E (1) B(5)

O come, all ye faithful

E (1) B (5)

Joyful and triumphant

C#m (6m) B( 5) F# (2) B (5)

O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem

E (1)

Come and behold Him

F#m (2m) B (5)

Born the King of Angels!

Chorus

E (1)

O come, let us adore Him

E (1) B (5)

O come, let us adore Him

A (4) B (5)

O come, let us adore Him

E (1) B (5) E (1)

Christ the Lord

Make sense? Now practice doing it by picking a few different keys. It’s that easy!

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