help with transposing from major to minor
- Thread starter Ezequiel Romanko
- Start date
The shot answer would be to look at the harmony. For example take a blues in D major which usually is based around I-IV-V if you make it a blues in D major it would be i-iV-v so D-G-A in D major and Dm-Gm-Am in D minor. Similarly let’s take a I-V-VI-IV progression in C major(ghehe that’s let it be by the Beatles) so C-G-Am-F then make in F minkr you take i-v-VI-iv so Fm-Gm-D-Bbm.
The more important question would be, why would you want to? It changes the vibe of the song completely!
The more important question would be, why would you want to? It changes the vibe of the song completely!
Hey Ezequiel, So from my understanding, there are two concepts to “how” you are asking the question.
First Concept, Transposing-
You are asking, how do I take a song in D major, and transpose it up a minor 3rd to F major, which is also D minor. So if you are saying for example, you have a I IV V in D major which would be D major to G major to A major, you want to play the same progression in F major(d minor) which would be F major Bb major C major. Easiest thing to do if you know barre chords would be to shift your fretting hand up 3 frets and play the same thing although I don’t really like that very much. The optimal thing to do would be to learn the theory which I’ve illustrated above and find the best sounding chords for the type of music you are trying to transpose. If it’s rock, then maybe you use the same power chords. If its singer/songwriter, find cool open chord voicings for each chord. Use your ear and don’t settle til you love what you’re playing.
Second concept, Modal Modulation-
If you intend to keep the same Roman numeral values like “I IV V” in D major, but “modulate” to “i iv v”(lower case Roman numerals indicate minor chords, upper case indicate major chords) in D minor, you are now modulating the chord progression thus altering the entire harmonic aspect of the song. “Mixed Modal Modulation” is an amazing tool used to create a great shift in soundscape. My favorite example of this is “The Fool On The Hill” by The Beatles(Paul). I also think that this is a perfect example because you mentioned D major to D minor and that is exactly what this song does. The verse and pre chorus are in D Major and the chorus modulates to D minor giving it one of my all time favorite scene changes.
Lemme know if you meant something completely different but hopefully this at the very least, gives you a fresh perspective
First Concept, Transposing-
You are asking, how do I take a song in D major, and transpose it up a minor 3rd to F major, which is also D minor. So if you are saying for example, you have a I IV V in D major which would be D major to G major to A major, you want to play the same progression in F major(d minor) which would be F major Bb major C major. Easiest thing to do if you know barre chords would be to shift your fretting hand up 3 frets and play the same thing although I don’t really like that very much. The optimal thing to do would be to learn the theory which I’ve illustrated above and find the best sounding chords for the type of music you are trying to transpose. If it’s rock, then maybe you use the same power chords. If its singer/songwriter, find cool open chord voicings for each chord. Use your ear and don’t settle til you love what you’re playing.
Second concept, Modal Modulation-
If you intend to keep the same Roman numeral values like “I IV V” in D major, but “modulate” to “i iv v”(lower case Roman numerals indicate minor chords, upper case indicate major chords) in D minor, you are now modulating the chord progression thus altering the entire harmonic aspect of the song. “Mixed Modal Modulation” is an amazing tool used to create a great shift in soundscape. My favorite example of this is “The Fool On The Hill” by The Beatles(Paul). I also think that this is a perfect example because you mentioned D major to D minor and that is exactly what this song does. The verse and pre chorus are in D Major and the chorus modulates to D minor giving it one of my all time favorite scene changes.
Lemme know if you meant something completely different but hopefully this at the very least, gives you a fresh perspective
thank you very much ids and syn, i now have a better understanding of that, i need it for my music school in my city i’ve skipped a class and then when i came back i found that i didn’t understand a thing haha. so correct me if im right for doing this also on the melody of the voice i should replace the functions ( I,II,III, etc) for example on C major to the same functions on another key like idk D minor? or there’s another way to transcribe the melody of the song apart from the harmony?
This reply was modified 3 months ago by Ezequiel Romanko.
This reply was modified 3 months ago by Ezequiel Romanko.
When you do this I think you are kinda doing a reharmonization in some cases.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonization
In general it mostly depends on which notes make up the melody. If the major third is in it it will work in case 1 Syn describes in case 2 you probably will have to change the melody a bit since major thirds won’t work over minor chords. Melodies are a bit trickier then the chords.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonization
In general it mostly depends on which notes make up the melody. If the major third is in it it will work in case 1 Syn describes in case 2 you probably will have to change the melody a bit since major thirds won’t work over minor chords. Melodies are a bit trickier then the chords.
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