Submission:<\/strong> Okay, maybe I’ll leave drummers and percussionists out of this.<\/p>\n Before we go further into this lesson, I suppose it’s important for us to define the term transposition<\/em>.<\/p>\n The term transposition <\/em>can be broken down into the phrase below:<\/p>\n Transfer of position<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Understanding the literal meaning of the term transposition would not only help you appreciate what I’m about to show you but also change your perception and application of the term.<\/p>\n For example, in the key of C major: Twin (C): Twin (Eb): “In A Nutshell…”<\/em><\/p>\n Transposition embraces the transfer of the position of a musical idea (be it a note, scale, interval, chord, progression, song, etc.)<\/p>\n Although the change of key in music is known as modulation, which literally looks like changing environment, a musician would need to transfer the melodic and harmonic components of a song from the old key to the prevalent key.<\/p>\n “See It This Way…”<\/em><\/p>\n Imagine that you live in California as a college student studying criminal law at the University of California, Irvine.<\/p>\n Relocating to any other part of the world implies modulation while continuing your life in the new location doing exactly the same thing you did in California implies a transposition.<\/p>\n Indeed, there is a relationship between transposition and modulation. However, one must not be confused with the other because they are different in theory and in practice.<\/p>\n Although electronic transposition (for example, playing in “C major” and having your electronic keyboard transpose and output it in “A major”) can be abused by musicians, it is NOT bad by itself. There is nothing bad about transferring the position of a musical idea from one position to the other.<\/p>\n Suffice it to say that transposition is one of the important abilities every serious musician should be armed with. We all need the musical ability to transpose any idea (be it a scale, chord, song, etc.)<\/p>\n For example, the D minor 11th chord (which is chord 2 in the key of C major):“What Does It Mean To Transpose?”<\/em><\/h2>\n
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\n…the first four notes of the “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”<\/em> melody are:<\/p>\n
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\n…kle (C):
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\nTwin (G):
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\n…kle (G):
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\nThis same melody can be played in the key of Eb major:
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\n…using the following notes:<\/p>\n
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\n…kle (Eb):
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\nTwin (Bb):
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\n…kle (Bb):
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\nThe process of transferring<\/strong> the melody from its position<\/strong> in the key of C major:
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\n…to the key of Eb major:
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\n…is known as transposition.<\/p>\nModulation Vs Transposition<\/h3>\n
“Is Transposition Good Or Bad?”<\/em><\/h3>\n
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\n…can be transferred to A:
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\n…to produce the A minor 11th chord (which is chord 6 in the key of C major):
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\nThere is nothing musically or morally wrong with transferring the position of the D minor eleventh chord:
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\n…to A:
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\n…to form an A minor eleventh chord:
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\nDue to the fact that transposition is an integral part of a musician’s mental process, there’s nothing\u00a0 bad about it – except it is abused by anyone who doesn’t understand its purpose.<\/p>\n