Chord Chart Transposer

What this generator does

Rewrites each chord in the column it stood in, trimming or padding the gap after it so the chords stay over the right syllables, and lists, for a capo at each fret, the key whose shapes you would play and how many of them are open chords. Where two chords are too close for one to grow, the later one moves right and the page says how many did.

How to use this tool

1. Paste the chart with the chords on their own lines above the words.
2. Say how many semitones to move it.
3. Say which key the pasted chart is in, so the capo table can name the key that sounds after the move.
4. Copy the transposed chart, spacing and all.

Understanding the controls

The chord chart

Paste it as it is. A line is treated as chords only when every token on it parses as a chord, which is what keeps a lyric like “A day in the life” from being rewritten.

Move by, in semitones

Between minus eleven and eleven. Two semitones is a whole tone up; zero leaves the chart exactly as pasted, and twelve would be an octave and change nothing you can see.

Key of the chart as pasted

The key the chart is in before the move. The key that sounds is this plus the move, and the capo table works backwards from that to the shapes you would play at each fret, counting open shapes in the chart as shown.

Worked examples

Dropping a song down for a lower voice

A chart of G, Em, C, D moved down 3 semitones becomes E, Dbm, A, B — the suffixes (m stays m) are untouched, and only the roots move. Moving down spells with flats, so the second chord reads Dbm rather than C#m.

Common use cases

• Dropping a song a few semitones for a singer who cannot reach the top note
• Working out the capo position that turns barre chords into open ones
• Rewriting a chart from a recording into the key of your own instrument
• Preparing a song sheet for a group in a key everybody can play
• Checking that a transposition you did by hand is right

How this generator works

Each chord is split into its root, its suffix and any slash bass, and only the notes are moved — the suffix comes through untouched, so a Cmaj7 stays a major seventh. The check is an inversion: the transposed chart is moved back by the same interval and compared with the original chord by chord, by pitch rather than by spelling, since F sharp and G flat are the same note written differently. The capo arithmetic is checked the same way, against the identity that decides it: the key of the shapes plus the capo fret must equal the key that sounds. Lines that are not chord lines are compared against the original and must be identical, which is what proves the words were left alone.

Randomness and fairness

Nothing is random. The same chart moved by the same interval always gives the same result.

For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.

Limitations and good to know

• Chords must sit on their own lines; inline chords written inside the lyrics in square brackets are not recognised.
• The choice between sharps and flats follows the direction you move rather than proper key spelling, so a transposed chart may read B flat where a copyist would write A sharp.
• The capo table counts how many chords fall on open shapes, which is a rough guide to how easy a position is rather than a verdict.
• Nashville numbers, tab and rhythm marks are not understood.

Privacy and your data

The chart is transposed in your browser. Nothing you paste is transmitted or stored.