Transpose
Move a song to a new key: the shift in semitones, the new chords, where your Sa goes and where to put the capo.
Up 2 semitones or down 10 semitones
- Sa
- Sa moves from C (Safed 1) to D (Safed 2). The swaras stay the same; only Sa's pitch changes.
- Guitar
- Capo on fret 2, then play the C shapes you already know.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (traditional) D G D Twinkle, twinkle, little star, G D A D How I wonder what you are. D G D A Up above the world so high, D G D A Like a diamond in the sky. D G D Twinkle, twinkle, little star, G D A D How I wonder what you are.
Lines made only of chords are moved and kept above their words. Chords in square brackets inside lyrics, like [G]this, move too. Everything else is left as it is, so a lyric starting with "A" stays a word. Your sheet is saved in this browser only.
How transposing works
Transposing moves every note and chord of a song by the same number of semitones. From C to D is up two, so C becomes D, Am becomes Bm and G becomes A. The song sounds the same, just higher or lower, which is how singers find a key that suits their voice.
The new chords are written with the sharps or flats of the new key, so moving to F gives B♭ rather than A♯. Chord types stay as they were: a minor 7th is still a minor 7th.
In Sa terms
In Indian music the swaras are always counted from Sa, so changing key means changing the pitch of Sa and nothing else: Sa Re Ga stays Sa Re Ga. On a harmonium the Sa is often named by its key: white keys are safed and black keys kali, counted up from C, so C is Safed 1, C♯ is Kali 1 and D is Safed 2. Set the new Sa and the harmonium and tanpura follow it.
Capo on guitar
A capo raises every string by one semitone per fret. To move a song up, put the capo on the fret that matches the shift and keep playing the shapes of the original key. To check what a chord is, use the chord finder.