Changing the key of a music track: basic instruments and principles of their use. Transpose chords

There are many definitions of the concept key, but I have not yet met understandable ones.
For example, Wikipedia says that key is the pitch of the major or minor scale. In general, it is. There is a major scale (scale) - a set of notes with certain intervals between them. And you can start this scale from any of the 12 Aktava notes. From what you start - this will be the tonality. We play a major key - a major key. We play minor - minor.
And simpler, in general, key is a set of chords that sound harmoniously with each other.
For example, the Em Am C D chord progression sounds harmonious, while the Em Cm # D # C chord progression is so-so crappy.
To find out which tonality song, you need to look at its first or last chords. As a rule, they are the same. And in most cases, this is the key of the song. For example, if the song is played by Em Am C D, the key is Em (E minor).
To find out how all these chords are played, see the previous tutorials.

Why should we change key songs? In order to:

• adjust the song to the voice
• avoid playing absolutely crazy sequences, like Fm A # m C # D #, bring them to normal mind
• you still do not know how to play barre and want to translate the song into the key in which it does not exist

There are times when a song doesn't fit your voice. Those. it is too low or too high. In this case, it is necessary transpose, i.e. transfer to another key, in which it will be convenient for you to sing it.
The figure below shows all notes in one actave. There are 12 of them. Starts with E, the sixth open string, and ends with D #. At the same time, teach the location of the notes on the 6th string.

Change key(make transposition) we will immediately learn from an example.

Let's say there are chords Em Am C D and they don't suit your voice. Let's try to transpose the song 5 semitones down. To do this, we transpose each chord by 5 semitones. The letter in the chord is preserved, i.e. if there was a minor - there will be a minor, if there was a major - there will be a major.
Looking at the diagram above, lower Em by 5 semitones. 1 semitone will be D #, 2 semitones will be D, etc. At 5 semitones (frets) there will be Bm.

Proceed in the same way with the Am chord. Down 5 semitones - Em.
C will turn into G, D into A.
So, we transferred the song from the key Em with the chords Em Am C D to the key Bm with the chords Bm Em G A.

Let's assume that the given key did not suit our voice. Let's try a different key. Let's translate the original chords Em Am C D 2 semitones (frets) up.
It turns out F # m Bm D E.
If it doesn't work again, you can try changing the key again. And so on until you find yours.
Practical advice: translate the song into about half a ltava, i.e. 5-7 frets. further, if it does not fit, then from there a couple more frets up or down.

Very often songs have such chords:
Fm A # m C # D #

This is due to the fact that some bands tune their guitars one half step higher or lower.
Those. when you see clearly scary chords, don't try to play them. See what happens if you transpose them up or down one semitone. V in this case, if we lower the song 1 fret, we get simple chords Em Am C D

Apart from the above, purely text mode change the key, you can transpose songs (change key) without looking at any diagrams at all and without knowing the location of the notes on the 6th string. This, by the way, is one of the advantages of the guitar over other instruments. You can not cram anything, but be able to do everything.
To do this, simply play each chord of the song on a barre and transpose it by the same number of frets.
For example, again, let's take our favorite chords Em Am C D (as you of course found out, this is the song of the Kino group - A Pack of Cigarettes)

Let's take each chord on a barre and transpose it, for example, 3 frets up. You can see what chords will be the result in one of the previous lessons.
Gm Cm D # F chords

Why else would you need to change the key (transpose)?

For example, let's say you recently picked up a guitar and don't know how to play barre.
In this case, you can translate the song into the key of Em - there is no barre in it. Or, for example, in the key of Am - there is only F barre in it, and even then not always.

Any vocalist sooner or later comes across what he needs (English change the key of backing track)... This is required in order to perform the song in the most comfortable range for you.

Often a key change is needed when a song, originally created for a male vocalist, wants to be performed by a girl, or vice versa. Or, for example, if a song written for a tenor wants to be performed in a baritone.

Of course, there are vocalists with a wide range that allows them to perform many songs without resorting to changing the key of the accompaniment. But most performers have a working range of about two octaves, or even less.

Portfolio examples with arrangement (ROCK, POP, REP)

Example 1. ROCK
Group "Provoda" - song "Deep"

Example 2. ROCK
Group "Hellya" - song "Coco"

Example 3. EPP
Group "The Produkt $" - song "I Have a Dream"

Example 4. EPP
The song "Cling". Turnkey arrangement

Example 5. REB
The song "Gimme". Arrangement + mixing

Example 6. REB
The song "Tearaway". Arrangement + mixing

In this article we will talk about ways to change the key of the minus.

Changing the key of the minus: method 1

The first method is available to most people who own a PC at an advanced level and have an audio editor program installed on it. There are quite a few such programs suitable for changing the key today, for example, Pro Tools, Cubase, Adobe audition... Using the latter as an example, we will consider a way to change the key of the backing track using a PC with operating system Windows. In essence, in any other audio editor, everything necessary actions will be almost the same.

Procedure in Adobe Audition CC 2015 would be like this:

1. Open a file with a minus one, select it (ctrl + a).
2. Click Effects / Time and Pitch / Pitch Shifter.
3. Select the desired degree of transposition with the Semi-tones slider. If the slider is moved to the left, the key decreases, if to the right, it increases. One unit corresponds to a semitone change. Precision is best set to “High Precision” for the best possible processing quality.
4. Click the preview button (the triangle in the lower left corner of the window). If you are satisfied with the changes, click the Apply button and save the file (ctrl + s).

The pictures show how you can change the key of the backing track in Adobe Audition. As you can see, this is not difficult at all. However, things may not be as good as we would like. The fact is that when you change the key of a track in this way, the quality deteriorates. And the phonogram sounds less natural. And the more you change the key, the less natural the minus sounds. Therefore, if you want to transpose the backing track, for example, by 6 semitones, its sound quality may deteriorate so much so that such a minus will only be suitable for rehearsal, but not for performing a song in public, or recording in a studio. However, not everything is so bad. There is another way.

Change the key of the minus: method 2

The second method of changing the minus key is not so simple and affordable. But it allows you to achieve excellent quality the sound of the minus track.

In order to get a minus track of excellent quality in the desired tonality, you can contact a professional arranger of our studio. The method he will use is fundamentally different from the first described by us. The arranger takes and "removes" by ear all the parts of the minus phonogram. Then he collects them in a special music editor on a PC. Finally, it applies virtual musical instruments to "liven up" the parts recorded in this way. After overlay desired effects(reverb, equalization, compression, etc.) A finished minus track is obtained.

Where to professionally change the key of the backing track

Today, many people are fond of singing, both professionally and amateur. And therefore, it is not surprising that such orders have been repeatedly carried out in our studio. And we are glad that almost all of our clients are completely satisfied with the work performed. If you need significantly change the key of the backing track, contact the studio TopZvuk. Our arrangers are happy to do this job. Call us now!

What is tonality in music, we learn to define and change keys

Music theory includes great amount varied terminology. Tonality is a foundational professional term. On this page you can find out what tonality is, how to determine it, what types are there, and Interesting Facts, exercises, and a way to change the key in the backing track.

Basic moments

Imagine you decide to play musical composition... You found the notes, and when parsing the musical text, you noticed that after the key there are sharps or flats. We need to figure out what they mean. Key characters are alteration characters that persist throughout the performance. musical composition... According to the rules, they are set after the key, but up to size (See figure №1), and are duplicated on each subsequent line. Key signs are necessary not only in order not to constantly write them out near the notes, which takes a lot of time, but also so that the musician can determine the key in which the work is written.

Picture No. 1

The piano, like many other instruments, has a tempered scale. In this system, the units of calculation can be taken as tone and semitone. By dividing by these units from each sound on the keyboard, you can form a key, either major or minor. This is how the modal formulas for major and minor were invented (See Figure 2).

Picture No. 2

It is according to these formulas of the scale that a tonality can be built from any sound, either in major or in minor. The sequential reproduction of notes according to these formulas is called a scale. Many musicians play scales in order to quickly navigate the keys and key signs with them.

The key consists of two components: the name of the sound (for example, C) and the mood (major or minor). To build a scale, you need to select one of the sounds on the keyboard and play from it according to the formula, either major or minor.

Exercises for consolidation

1. Try playing a major scale from the D sound. Use the ratio of tones and midtones when playing. Check correctness.
2. Try to reproduce the minor scale from the "E" sound. It is necessary to play according to the proposed formula.
3. Try playing scales from different sounds in various moods. At first at a slow pace, then at a faster pace.

Varieties

Certain keys may have a certain connection with each other. Then they can be included in the following classifications:

• Parallel keys. A feature is the same number of key signs, but different moods. In fact, the set of sounds is absolutely identical, the difference lies only in the sound of the tonic. For example, the keys in C major and A minor are parallel, they have the same number of key characters, but different modes of mood and tonic sound. There is a parallel-variable mode, which is characterized by the fact that there are two parallel keys in the work, and their mode is constantly changing, now to a major, now to a minor. This way is typical for Russian folk music.
• The ones of the same name have a common tonic sound, but at the same time, different modes of mood and key signs. Example: D major (2 key characters), D minor (1 key character).
• One-beat ones have a common third (that is, the third sound in a triad), they are no longer united by either the tonic, or the key signs, or the mode. Usually, a one-tick minor is positioned a minor second or semitone higher than the major. Correspondingly, the one-tick major in relation to the minor is located lower by a small second or semitone. An example is the key of C major and C sharp minor, in the triads of these chords the sound "E" coincides.

Exercises for consolidation

Determine how the two tonalities relate to each other. Place the corresponding number next to the example:

1. Parallel
2. Of the same name
3. One-gram

Questions:

• B-major and h-moll
• A major and a minor
• G-dur and e-moll

Check the correctness of your own knowledge.

Answers: 3, 2, 1.

Interesting Facts

• How musical term originated at the beginning of the 19th century. It was introduced by Alexander Etienne Choron in his own writings.
• There is a "colored" hearing, which is characterized by the fact that a person associates a certain tonality with a particular color. The owners of this gift were Rimsky-Korsakov and Scriabin.
• V contemporary art there is atonal music that does not take the principles of tonal stability as a basis.
• English terminology uses the following designation for parallel keys - relative keys. Literally translated, they are "related" or "related." The ones of the same name are denoted as parallel keys, which can be perceived as parallel. Often, when translating specific literature, translators make mistakes in this matter.
• Symbolism classical music fixed a certain meaning for some tonalities. So Des-major is true love, B-major defines handsome men, heroes, and e-moll - sorrow.

Quarto-fifth circle

The quarter-fifth circle is a special schematic of information, in which all keys are located at a distance of a clean fifth clockwise, and a clean fourth counterclockwise.

Related keys

There is such a thing as tonal relationship. How more difference signs, the further the relationship. Depending on the systems, there are 3 or 4 degrees. Consider the most popular system, which divides the key into 3 degrees of relationship.

First group divided into 3 categories:

1. This is a parallel key. The difference in signs is 0. These keys are united by six common chords. Example: F major and D minor.
2. 4 tonalities. The difference between the main and final key is one sign. These are the keys of subdominant and dominant, as well as parallel to S and D. Example, for the key of G major: S - in C major, parallel to S - in A minor, D - in D major, parallel to D - in B minor.
3. Considered only for major keys. The 4-digit difference is the harmonic subdominant. An example for C-dur - the harmonic subdominant - is in F minor.

Second group kinship is divided into 2 subgroups:

1. 4 tonalities. The difference is in two key signs. It is easy to find these keys from the main they are located on big second above and below + parallels found. Example: The main key is in A major. Higher and lower by a large second or key: B minor and G major. Parallels for the found keys: these are D major and E minor.
2. The difference in signs is from three to five. Finding the key will depend on whether the key is major or minor.

• Dur: 6 major and 2 minor: higher and lower per m2, m3 and b3; ss harmonic, located on b2 below, as well as the minor of the same name. Example for G major: As major, B major, H major, Fis major, E major, Es major and f minor and g minor.
• Moll: 6 minor and 2 major: for minor second, minor third and b3 above and below; DD is a big second higher and the eponymous major.

Third group divided into 2 groups:

1. 3 keys that do not have a single common chord, a difference of 3-5 signs in opposite direction... For a major, you need to find the minors higher for the following intervals, and for the minor major on uv.1, uv.4 and uv.5 below.
2. Tritonant and its parallel. The newt is located from the original tonic, for C major - Fis major.

Depending on the degree of harmony, many modulation methods are distinguished.

Many of us are karaoke lovers. The desire to sing the words of a favorite song to their favorite music arises in many, while not always at hand there is a necessary track that is free from vocals. In this case, online resources will come to the rescue, which will help remove vocals from the composition you need. In this article I will tell you how to remove a voice from a song online, what online services exist for this, and how to work with them.

How to remove a voice from a song efficiently online

There are several popular services offering to cut out vocals from a song online (i.e. perform a backing track online). Moreover, to obtain decent result basic audio file required good quality with a bitrate of at least 192 kbps (optimal - 320 kbps).

Quite often, after completing the backing track, the vocals remain audible on background, albeit in a muted form. If a similar result is not acceptable to you, then you can search for the desired backing track on dedicated resources that have a base of backing tracks, and also ask a professional for help (for an appropriate fee).

The best services for creating backing tracks online

So, how to remove words from a song and leave only music using online services? Below I will list the relevant network resources, and also explain how to work with them.

Service "Capital Records"

This service belongs to one of the Moscow recording studios. In addition to various commercial sections on the resource, it is also possible to create a backing track online.

To implement this, go to the resource, click on the "Select file" button, and indicate to the system the path to the desired audio file on your PC. The system will upload your file to the resource, and then offer three options for processing the track:

• Remove vocals from a song (standard backing track);
• Change the key (raises or lowers the key of the track by the required number of semitones);
• Change track tempo (increase or decrease track speed).

After you check the box next to one of the processing options, click on the "Process" button below. After finishing processing, you can listen to the result, as well as download it to your PC.

Vocalremover service

The second online service to suppress vocals in a song is Vocalremover. I note right away that it works best with the Chrome browser and other browsers on the Chromium engine, but when working with the Mozilla browser, the specified resource has problems.

Vocalremover.PRO service

Another resource that allows you to make a backing track online for free. The resource has an English-language interface (which is not always convenient for domestic users), while using its capabilities is no less simple than the resources listed above. The advantages of the resource include the ability to create backing tracks from music videos on YouTube.

RuMinus service

Another service that allows you to perform a high-quality backing track online. Its functionality is similar to the services described above, and you will not see any differences here.

Services with backing tracks databases

You can also use a set of services that have a fairly large base of backing tracks. In particular, social network Mixiple (vkmonline.com/minusovki) offers a search in its database of backing tracks, you can also use the services X-Minus, Mixpromo, BackingTracks and other analogs.

Working with these services is simple. It is enough to dial in search bar the name of the desired song (or artist), the system will look for matches and give you a result, which, if you wish, can be downloaded to your PC.

Video

To remove a voice from a song online, it will be enough to use one of the resources listed above. At the same time, it is far from always possible to get backing tracks at the exit. High Quality, much depends on the quality of the base file... If the quality of the resulting processing did not suit you, then you should look for a ready-made backing track on the appropriate resources, or contact paid assistance professionals.

In contact with

Some users may need to change the key of any musical composition. Of course, for this you can use specialized stationary programs (level music editors"" Or "Sony Sound Forge Pro"), but it will be easier and more convenient to use network online services that can easily change the key of the song we need. V this material I will tell you about ways to change the key of a song online, and what services will help us with this.

As you know, the key in music is usually understood as the high-altitude position of the musical mode. Changing the latter is usually done with special programs, allowing you to change the value of the tonic and scale to suit the needs of the user ("MixMeister Studio", "Audacity", "Prosoniq TimeFactory", "Adobe Audition", etc.)

An alternative stationary programs is a series of online services that make it easy to change the pace of online music. They work in the following way: you go to such a resource, upload to it desired audio file, install desired value keys (major and minor, usually this is an indicator from -12 to +12). After that, listen to the result obtained, and if the latter suits you, then save the modified file to your PC.

All of the tools I list below are free in nature, making it easy to set the pitch level online.

The best services for changing the key in a melody

Let's move on to the list of services for changing the sentiment on the Internet online with a description of the features of their work.

Vocalremover.ru

The first of the network services to transform sentiment is vocalremover.ru. Among the possibilities of this online editor cut vocals, change the tempo of the composition, the presence of an online dictaphone, as well as the online key change we need. To work with the site, it is better to use the browser " Google chrome"(The site may be unstable on other browsers)

To change the key with of this service do the following:

Ruminus.ru - will help you set the right pace

Second Russian language service which I want to tell you about is ruminus.ru. Unlike the vocalremover.ru service I have already mentioned, the tonality setting on ruminus.ru is carried out using the arrows, with which you indicate the desired numerical value tonality. Also here you can change the speed of the musical composition and its tempo.

To work with the service, do the following:

If you need to check out the next article.

Conversion-tool.com

The English-language resource conversion-tool.com is intended primarily for converting audio formats from one to another. At the same time, its capabilities make it easy to change the key of the track online.

To work with this service, do the following:

Onlinetonegenerator.com

This English-language service works according to a similar algorithm with the already described site vocalremover.ru, allowing you to change the key without affecting the track speed.

To do this, do the following:

Transposr.com

Another English-language service that works on extremely simple algorithm, and allows you to easily make changes and tune the key of your favorite song.

1. You go to the specified transposr.com resource.
2. Click on "Upload your file here" and upload the right music per resource.
3. Use the "plus" and "minus" buttons to set the desired key value, then press the "Transpose" button.
4. Wait until the end of the process of processing the file, and then click on the "Download My MP3" button to download the result to your PC.

Conclusion

If you have a need to modify the tonality of a song online, I recommend that you refer to the functionality of the services listed in this material. They are all free, extremely simple and user-friendly interface, allowing you to change the key of the composition you need in a few clicks. I think the most convenient of these services is vocalremover.ru - its capabilities demonstrate fast and high-quality results.

In contact with