How many players here use the transposer to play in different
keys? I use it as I play in F#, not the most popular key but
has a nice average range to it. I play in that key because as
a young 12 yr. old, I saw an add in the local newspaper that
said: " Learn to play by ear" and offered a book on chords.
I had my parents pick up that book and all the chords were in
F#. We had a player piano that served me to play.

Because I could hear chord changes I quickly learned to play
songs in that key. As time passed by, I got better and better
and started hearing chords that added interest in playing.
Learned to play 9ths, minor keys, augmented and diminished
chords. I am very thankful that that ad in the newspaper got
me interested in music. That's all I got to say about that !
Lloyd
PS: Does anyone have a similar story to tell ?

The transpose feature is there for a reason to use, especially if your a singer player or have a guest singer or duo etc,...It is essential for singers I always use it..great feature for modulations in live play also, only if its a one button push +/- I remember some arrangers needed two pushes +/- and that not good when you have to make a split second modulation change in a song live on stage, (which usually isn't on the charts for readers)...alternately a pedal can be used but, in no way is it faster or more accurate then a finger push imo.

I am unfortunately more of a reader than a player, I wish I could play by ear, but if I can't figure it out first and write it down, I am lost,

I guess my studies were more in performing contempary pieces, which had nothing to do with any "Pop" song structure, so when I was young and my mind was a sponge, I soaked up all the wrong stuff

I feel comfortable in most keys except B and C#. Don't know why, a mental thing I guess. I learned most tunes in the original key and grew up (musically), as did most of you, in an era when there WAS no 'transpose' button (at least not for keyboard instruments). One problem with transposing is that you will likely change the voicing of chords which, in turn, COULD change the 'feel' of that particular part of a song. Also, some songs just don't sound right in other than the original key. Of course, as someone pointed out, sometimes one has to accomodate a singer, especially a 'guest singer' that popped up from the audience (arrrrrrgggggh).

For the record though, I don't 'look down' or disapprove of using this (very handy) tool, especially if they play the song well in their 'comfort' key. Hey, whatever works. I still believe in initially learning the tune in the original key. One thing that helps me is thinking in terms of CHORDS instead of thinking in terms of KEY. Learn (and get comfortable playing) as many chords (including various voicings, substitutions, etc.) as you can and commit them to muscle memory. Have someone call out random chords and see how fast you can react. You'll be suprised how much this will improve your playing and how much less intimidating 'fake books' will become.

chas

I'm familiar although not comfortable playing in all keys. By that I mean you just don't see many songs done in F# .
I do use the transposer to move songs to fit my voice. For EX. I may want to sing in B but use the transposer to play in C which is much more comfortable.

Exactly Bill there are no rules......only good music!!

I can play in just about any key, but I'm most comfortable in the key of "C", therefore the transpose button allows me to transpose to a key that is the comfortable for my vocal ability.

All the best,

Gary

I am a reader.. however, if i play transposed it feels so unnatural to me that instart making faults...

I never sing, or play with singers..

I thank all who responded to my inquiry. Most interesting responses and appreciated. Thanks again, Lloyd

Only my opinion:

Using the transposer is an easy way out. Now that I am older and my voice is changing I am using the transposer more often.

I know that are players who play in Db or F# and use the transposer constantly. Wrong? -- No nothing is wrong. And some players do not use the pads, or change instrumentation. It is a matter of what you wish to achieve.

I took a few piano lessons years ago. When I asked the teacher how can I get comfortable playing in Eb? Play all your songs in Eb for a few weeks. Eb was no longer a problem.

What I did:
1-Took an easy song with few chord changes and played it in all the popular keys. C,F,G,Bb, and D. Then I gradually added Eb, Ab, A, and Db.
2-I learn the relationship between chords and the different scales in each key. A song in C Major sometimes goes to other keys. Ex: Body and Soul. C major, Db Major and B major. I had to use a bit of discipline, but I gained a lot of freedom.

Please keep in mind that I played guitar for many years before going to keyboard.

John C.

I would say that of the songs I sing, I play about 90+ percent of them in the key I am singing, rather than use the transpose button ... this helps me so that if I am just singing while someone else is playing, I remember what key I sing the song in ... Of course there are exceptions, as previously mentioned, if the song is more 'comfortable' to play in a certain key ... one example of this is the beautiful Jobim song "Once I Loved" which I enjoy playing in the 'Real Book' key of Dmin (F), but sing in the key of Amin (C) ... for this song I use the transpose button ...
Any 'instrumentals' that I play are in whatever key they are written in the 'Real Book' or other fake books or music sheets ...
Like chas, I also do not like to play in the key of 'B', and would prefer to play in the key of 'Gb' rather than 'F#' even though they are the same key ... Overall I prefer the 'Flat' keys to the 'Sharp' keys ... as chas said just "a mental thing I guess" ...

One bad feature of using the transpose button - which has happened to me - is, let's say you have a style set up in the KB for a certain song and you have set the style with a -2 transpose setting ... if you are playing with another musician and call out the key as written in the music, and not the transposed key, you are definitely going to have a problem ...

As an add-on to what John C. has said above, when I was studying accordion, there was a fellow who played 'jazz accordion' in the style of the great Art Van Damme ... this guy learned every song in every key ...

no offense intended...& Transposer aside...Id say the "easy way out" is NOT memorizing songs and reading charts as a crutch just my opinion sorry...

Donny ... memorizing is easier for some people than it is for others ... not ALL people have the same talents and capacities ... to many people using charts is a NECESSITY, not a crutch ...
Just another 'side of the coin' ...

Tony dont get me wrong years ago I also relied on charts for shows, But when I went solo I was determined to give the audience my full 150% attention and that said I weaned myself off charts totally and lyrics as a singer/player which in turn makes a better visual stage presence to the audience instead of your eyes always glued to a chart...it can be done and I am proof of it,....just start taking a few songs at a time without reading and after a while you will see that you don't need charts and you can be free to play songs in your own way.....its not that difficult...try the blindfold Technic when playing and also try having people talk to you when you play all the time keep playing without the charts which to me makes you sound more robotic musically....just my personal opinion but what do i know/.....

ciao

You obviously know what is good and works for YOU ... but not everything works for everyone ...
just sayin'

As an example Tony,...I'm sure you can play and sing happy birthday without any charts right?.....
so why not any other song? Just saying....

Of course I can sing a 'riddle' I've sung thousands (?) of times ... and I can perform many of other songs ... but I haven't sung every song I perform thousands of times ...

I ask if ANYONE here can sing and play ANY song they've EVER performed word for word, note for note ... or do we 'ad-lib' a little as long as the melody and meaning of the song is there ...

Repetition is certainly the key.....that's my point....And adlibing ads a creative stamp on a songs overall performance at least memorize the shows set list songs....versus a solo performers head down buried and focused on a sheet I always want to look them right the eyes,...
That said this mother's day dinner is spectacular....yummy...
enjoy tne holiday..

Donny there was no music stand on my jobs for many years. It was difficult for me to memorize; I had to put more time than the average to memorize – but I did it.

With the oncoming of contemporary music I needed for wedding and parties I had to use a music stand. Agreed, I lost something, but I also gained what I needed for the job.

This is going to sound strange. It was me and my guitar and the songs I had memorized. A man backstage asked me for the lyrics to the song, A day in the life of a fool – I could not do it. But when I picked up my guitar I was able to sing the song with ease. The movement going to each chord seemed tied to the lyrics. ???????

You’ll like this one: A song was called – I turned to the page and played the song without any error. Great – but I had turned to the wrong song . aaaaaaaaaaah!

No Donny, you never offend me, it’s all part of the fun we are having, John C.

Several different conversations going on here...

I am a pretty good at transposing. It's something I work on just about every day. I go through the blues, rhythm changes, ii V I, all sorts of licks, scales, Hannon exercises and tunes and play them in all 12 keys.

But yeah, sometimes I still use the transpose function on my keyboard, but I try not to. The chord voicing can sound too high or muddy when using the transpose button. Sometimes I forget to turn it off when going to the next song, now that's embarrassing! And as Tony said, when playing with other musicians, it can be difficult to communicate about the chords and notes of the song when your both playing in different keys.

So I just try to use it in "emergency situations".

When I have time I try to learn the tune in the key it's going to be played in. Every once in awhile, opportunities come up where I'm asked to play on an acoustic piano. Those of course don't have transpose buttons, so I want to ready for those situations and not make excuses like " I can only play on my keyboard" That's silly!

As far as playing from charts vs. memory, I also do a lot of both. Ideally we should have everything memorized. If I have enough advanced notice about a gig, I do put in a lot of prep time trying to memorize or at least being able to play without staring at the page. But there are only so many hours in day to prepare. Sometimes I get last minuet calls to back up singers with no time to prep. I use charts and the transpose function quite a bit in those situations. Anything to get the job done well!

It's hard to explain..but For me its more then just memorizing exactly what the charts read, ...I cant explain it but although I can read charts especially when playing with a band,....but as a solo I never need them. If this makes any sense, for me I can just hear the music in my head and my fingers just know what chords to play in the song in turn that let's me sync my vocals & lyrics all together effortlessly to perform a song,....hope I'm making this understandable?

Sounds like a gift to me Donny. My daughter can read music really well, but memorizes everything quickly. When she plays with me she doesn't even need charts. If she's heard the melody, she can play it.

Do you ever need to read lyrics?

For me it's actually easier to memorize chords and melodies than lyrics. I find the old standard so much easier to remember than so of a lot of rock stuff, especially Eagles songs, like "Your Lyyin' Eyes" that have so many verses. I would have to be performing a song like that a few nights a week to keep it in my memory bank.

Paul Id say 90% of my songs I know the lyrics simply by having played them for so many years,.....but occasionally if needed on songs I don't do frequently or maybe a odd request I simply bring up a lyric txt file on the laptop and glance at it a few times while performing no big deal,. the more you play without charts and lyrics the more you wont need them for a crutch..and you'll have a much better stage presence to the audiences too....good luck..

Count me in. I identify with what Frank wrote.

I too have always been somewhat fortunate with memorizing the lyrics, however, I do bring them up on the netbook PC for each and every song I perform - just to be on the safe side. You would be amazed at the number of times I have performed Margarettaville, but on rare occasions, maybe this has something to do with aging, I have a brain fart and for the life of me cannot remember the first line. BOOM! When the lyrics are right in front of you, the problem is quickly solved.

With my setup, and the custom console which includes the 9-inch netbook PC, I can instantly recall the lyrics to any song in my song list. At one time, this list included more than 3000 songs, which was insane. In recent years, I managed to whittle it down to just under 700, which made life a lot easier. This is especially helpful for songs that you rarely perform and may need a little help recalling the words.

Now, that same song list is also in my keyboard's music finder directory, along with the information that tells me the key I sing and play that song in. For example, When I select Johnny B Goode, within the title in parentheses I see (A), which tells me that I must transpose down 3 half steps in order to put style into my most comfortable singing range for that particular song. This is also helpful when I'm performing with a band, which I did regularly many years ago. I would just announce "Johnny B Goode in A" and everyone was ready to go when I began playing the intro.

Since the advent of the Yamaha PSR-S-950, the lyrics can be linked directly to registrations, thereby displaying them on the screen the instant the song is selected. This is a great feature for OMB entertainers and really helps eliminate dead time between songs. However, you must have pretty good vision to see those tiny words on the screen, which is something most of us do not have. Therefore, I'll stick with the 9-inch netbook PC display, which I use a white background and bold black letters.

All the best,

Gary

Let me throw my 2 cents into this. I recently converted from a smaller model iPad for lead sheets to the Pro12 tablet. JerryGr sold me on what a cool device the Pro12 tablet is with his post here TonyMads got interested in it too. I worked with Tony to get him up to speed on its use helped him configure his PA900 to talk to the tablet.

With that said to date I've got just over 100 of the most popular tunes I play at senior venues talking to my Pa4x choose anyone of those 100 from Songbook on the Korg and the lead sheet will immediately be displayed. At the moment for a gig I'm playing tomorrow I created a 52 custom list in Songbook, when I choose that Songbook entry the lead sheet is immediately pulled up on the tablet, it will work in reverse too i.e. if I pull a lead sheet on the tablet the corresponding style and instruments will immediately be set on the PA4x. I've also set both the tablet and Pa4x to pull up a midi file and the lead sheet that matches.

The search function on the tablet is instantaneous as well, so even if I get a request for a tune I don't have in Songbook I can at least immediately get to the lead sheet.

Sounds pretty neat, Steve. Maybe we can get together when I get to the sunny Florida Keys in November so I can see it first hand.

All the best,

Gary

Sounds like a plan not sure just when we'll be there this coming winter.

With luck, and no more health problems than I now have, I hope to spend the entire winter down there, Steve. No reason to shovel snow.

Gary

Gary you and Carrol deserve a nice warm winter down south enjoy..

Donny, Carol refuses to live aboard the boat, so she may just come down for a visit, but not for the entire winter. Me, I love living aboard the boat/yacht, but I'm insane, at least that's how she looks at it. The kids think dads a pretty cool dude, though.

Gary

Don't know what I would do without the transposer for keyboards, & tuning down my acoustic guitar & having a CAPO handy....

I could care less about the purist opinions'....As long as I can do what I need on stage & the audience loves the music it means nothing to me what others opinions are...

It's all about the end result

Hmmmm, just curious; what did you do 'back in the day' before transpose buttons?

chas

Who invented the guitar capo?
There is no record of who invented the capo, although Giovanni Battista Doni of Italy was the first to record the term in 1640. And James Ashborn of America was the the first to apply for a capo-related patent in 1850.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposing_piano

I wasn't as good

Ha ha, good answer. We should all be so honest .

chas

you never miss what you dont have just sayin...