Tab transposing

Andy Barlo · From: Schererville, Indiana, USA * R.I.P.

I was wondering if anybody knows how to transpose a song into a different key. For example, if you use a C6 tuning and have the tabs to an arrangement in Eb and want to change it to C or F, what is the process to do this. I thought I remember talking to someone who had a program that would do this but now I can't remember who he was. Is there such a program that? I know how to transpose the chords but the tabs are a different story.
The reason I'm asking is for several reasons. A lot of JB's tabs are in Eb and mainly only use the first 4 to 5 strings. I would like to use the lower strings as well. I also fould out that by changing to a different key would also eliminate some slants. Any thoughts or ideas would appreciated.

Jesse Pearson · From: San Diego , CA

Andy, if you already have tab for the song you want to transpose, use a neck chart with all the note names written out for your tuning and move the old to the new i.e. the new key is a minor 3rd up from the old key, move all the old note's up a minor 3rd (3 frets up from the old note). You can re-arrange any song as far as up or down octave wise, your ear has the final say on that. This is the major complaint with music teachers concerning tab, students don't look up the note names and keep themselves in the dark about stuff like transposing for example. Sounds like a good project for you to understand the names of the notes on your neck, just being able to use the neck note name chart is a big step up for any musician. Hope this helps.

[This message was edited by Jesse Pearson on 03 November 2006 at 08:37 AM.]

John McGann · From: Boston, Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

If you aren't used to thinking intervallically ('minor third' etc.) you could also use simple math by figuring the distance between the existing tab's key and the key you need to switch to- if the tab is key of Eb and you need to play it in F, just add 2 to each number.

Going lower could be more of a problem since you can't go lower than 0 for an open string- but if you figure out where you need to go relative to the tab, you can work it out on the lowers string. The simple math won't work out as neatly since the lower strings are not tuned like the upper strings. You can find the fret on the lower string that corresponds to the open string in the original arrangement, and work backward from there. Your chord intervals probably won't work, but for single lines, it'll get you there, but might be awkward to play...

A lot of arrangements are positioned in a way that is very key-specific, especially when open strings are involved. You may have to really alter stuff radically voicings-wise to fit other keys and/or string sets on non-pedal.

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[This message was edited by John McGann on 05 November 2006 at 08:31 AM.]

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