Play The Piano In Any Key (The Easy Way To Change Key)

Wouldn’t it be easy if EVERY song was in the key of C major?

We wouldn’t have to worry about those pesky sharps and flats. Life would be simple!

But life isn’t simple, and there are 12 key signatures we could play in (and that’s just the major keys!)

One of the biggest reasons why we might need to change keys (or transposing, as it’s called) is because of the singer.

Not everybody has the same vocal range, and some people just cannot sing in certain keys. I used to play in a band, and whenever the singer wanted the song changed, it would take me forever to sit down and figure out how to transpose every chord into the new key.

It doesn’t have to be that hard! In fact, there’s a really easy way to do it -- and it’s super fast.

A lot of people comment on our videos asking why I refer to some chords as the 1, 4, 5, etc. Well, you’re about to see why!

By assigning numbers to each chord in relation to the root note, it becomes super simple to move between keys.

Here’s an example. I have a song in the key of F# Major (yuck!). The chords are F#-D# minor-C#-B. Now, I need to transpose that into the key of C (because C is awesome). By assigning numbers to the chords I can make the process incredibly simple and fast.

Here’s how. F# is the root so it is the 1 chord. D# minor is six notes up from F#, so it is the 6 chord. C# is the 5th, so it’s the 5 chord, and B is the 4 chord.

So instead of thinking of the original progression as F#-D# minor-C#-B I can think of it as 1-6-5-4.

The key of C is 6 half-steps below the key of F#. But that doesn’t matter, because I don’t have to count intervals now. All I need to do is play that 1-6-5-4 progression in the key of C. So it becomes C-Am-G-F. Easy!

I could choose another key. How about F Major - it’s now F-Dm-C-Bb. Super simple!

I would really encourage you to try this out for yourself. It’s a great way to move out of your comfort zone and learn some new keys.

This is a short lesson, but here are the timecodes:

- Setting the stage (hear me sing too low!) - 0:27

- Assigning numbers - 0:46

- How to think in numbers (this takes some practice) - 1:30

Here is the lead sheet with chords so you can practice changing keys -

If you're not quite sure about chords and how to play them, check out our FREE Chord Hacks series
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And for absolute beginners looking for a place to get started -- we have you covered as well with another free series
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