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Music vocabulary · Music Theory and Harmony

Transpose

Meaning in music, with examples

/trænsˈpoʊz/verbCommon term

In music, transpose means: To move a whole piece or passage up or down by the same interval into a different key, keeping all the notes in the same relationship.

In Turkish: transpoze etmek, ton değiştirmek, başka tona aktarmak

How it is used

Done for singers ('transpose it down a tone'), for transposing instruments such as the B flat clarinet and trumpet, and in software with one click. Guitarists often use a capo instead of transposing the chords.

Example sentences

  1. The song is too high for me; can we transpose it down to A?

  2. Trumpet parts are transposed because the B flat trumpet sounds a tone lower than written.

Common collocations

  • transpose down
  • transpose up a tone
  • transposing instrument
  • transpose the chords
  • transpose into another key
  • keyThe group of notes and chords that a piece is mainly built on, centred on one home note. A song in the key of G major keeps returning to G as its point of rest.
  • intervalThe distance in pitch between two notes, named by counting letter names and checking the number of semitones, such as a major third or a perfect fifth.
  • chordThree or more different notes played or sung at the same time. Chords give a piece its harmony and are named after their root note and type, such as C major or A minor.
  • brassThe family of wind instruments, usually made of metal, in which the player makes the sound by buzzing the lips into a cup-shaped mouthpiece, such as the trumpet, trombone, horn and tuba.
  • woodwindThe family of wind instruments that make sound by blowing across an edge or through a reed, such as the flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and saxophone.

More terms: Music Theory and Harmony

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