Transposition (music)

Transposition or transposing in music means playing or writing music in a way that makes it sound higher or lower. This can be done by playing or writing the music in a different key, or by playing or writing it up or down an octave, without changing the key.

Transposing is a useful skill for people who play an instrument, especially the piano, organ, or some other keyboard instrument. If a pianist is accompanying a singer and the song is a little too high for the singer’s voice, it is very useful if he is able to transpose it down so that the music sounds in a lower key. For example, if the music is written in the key of C major, it could be transposed down a whole tone so that it sounds in B-flat major.

Most electronic keyboards and organs these days have buttons which can set notes to transpose automatically. This can be very useful, although it may be confusing for people with absolute pitch.