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Device to help practicing songs in transposed keys?

high mileage

high mileage

Apr 17, 2006
447
86
WI
#1
Is there any kind of device or software that you guys are using to practice songs in a transposed key, for learning cover songs? I usually play along with the recording of song to learn it, but if we're going to transpose then I have to re-learn it in the new key. Then it's tough to practice it that way later without causing confusion later on what note comes next. Ask me how I know... ;)

It's been awhile since I tried to find something that would help, ideally to play the song back one step up or down, maybe more, to match what we're going to do. There are pitch controllers for CD and tape players but nothing I'm aware of for MP3 or iTunes stuff. Any ideas?
 
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#4
The people who are good at this analyze the chord progression and use a number system such as Nashville Numbers.

I don't think in numbers. If it's a fairly basic chord progression that I know, I can often play be ear. It might take me a bit of work to figure out how to finger a line since I use open strings.

If you play from written parts you can also learn to transpose up or down by a specified interval. If you see B,E,A and want to transpose up a major 3rd, you get D#,G#,C#. It's easy to get into a situation where you have to deal with double sharps and double flats...or possibly even triple sharps.

Transposition can also be done using spatial intervals on the fret board as well.

The worst way to do it IMHO is to use a pitch shift pedal. Pitch shifting has tracking and latency problems, and the tone tends to be a bit weird.
 
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#7
I use Audacity freeware to Pitch Shift the MP3 file, then export as a new MP3 file. It will shift it up/down by half-steps. Easy-peasy.

I do this quite often for my church band, using YouTube videos as the source to create the MP3, then provide the band the audio in the key we are going to do it in. Takes 5 mins to strip the youtube audio, then pitch-shift, then export to MP3.
 
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#8
high mileage said:
Is there any kind of device or software that you guys are using to practice songs in a transposed key, for learning cover songs? I usually play along with the recording of song to learn it, but if we're going to transpose then I have to re-learn it in the new key. Then it's tough to practice it that way later without causing confusion later on what note comes next. Ask me how I know... ;)

It's been awhile since I tried to find something that would help, ideally to play the song back one step up or down, maybe more, to match what we're going to do. There are pitch controllers for CD and tape players but nothing I'm aware of for MP3 or iTunes stuff. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
I use Anytune Pro+ on my iPad constantly. There are also iPhone and desktop versions. It allows pitch shift and tempo shift independently and isn't an expensive app. It works really well for older material too that is not A440 tuned. You can do very fine pitch adjustments in tiny increments. You can select a difficult part in a song to cycle between A & B points at a slow tempo - very useful. It will also gradually increase tempo as it cycles if you wish. It has EQ as well to bring up the bass if you need to or cut back whatever is too strong. You can export the song once you have changed it. It's a very handy practice tool and it gets a lot of work at my house. I recommend it.
 
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#9
Ultimate guitar is what I use, any of the pro or official tabs they put out allow for transposing and pitch shifting the song up or down. I'm doing a little cover band thing soon, 8 songs in multiple different tunings, we condensed it all down to 2, a drop and a standard tuning just so we're not constantly tuning between songs. Then, in the practice room we could use the UG backing tracks to listen to, give the vocalist a guide to follow, etc.
 
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#11
Fishface said:
I use Audacity freeware to Pitch Shift the MP3 file, then export as a new MP3 file. It will shift it up/down by half-steps. Easy-peasy.

I do this quite often for my church band, using YouTube videos as the source to create the MP3, then provide the band the audio in the key we are going to do it in. Takes 5 mins to strip the youtube audio, then pitch-shift, then export to MP3.
Click to expand...
That sounds perfect. Lots of great ideas and I have used Moises like someone else mentioned to eliminate tracks, so maybe I need to look again at that option too.
 
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#12
Wasnex said:
The worst way to do it IMHO is to use a pitch shift pedal. Pitch shifting has tracking and latency problems, and the tone tends to be a bit weird.
Click to expand...
This is good to know. I am trepidatiously starting on my pedal effects journey after decades of KISS but I am always trying to find reasons NOT to get more pedals and stay simple. Lately the singer in my band has been requesting key changes to fit her vocals and depending on the song it can be a real pain to adjust. It never occurred to me to try a pitch shift pedal but the high cost and other problems that Wasnex pointed out are definitely making me think twice.
 
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#13
high mileage said:
Probably not most of the time, but throwing in an open string when changing positions sometimes helps. Until you transpose, of course!
Click to expand...
People who transpose do it one of two ways:
  1. Move your hand to the new key but pretend you’re in the old one
  2. Transpose in your head to the new interval every time.
Number one is the easiest. What you do is start playing your stuff in the middle of the neck not near the nut, and no open strings. Then if you wanna play it up a step you just move your finger up to frets and do the same thing. But the drawback is that if you get lost and look at your fingerboard, you’re still thinking in the old Key, so you’re gonna play the wrong note.

Number two is the hardest. If you’re playing a step lower, for every note you are supposed to play, you have to think down it in real time one whole step, and you have to do that for every note that you usually play in that song. So when you see A you think G; when you see D, you think C. And so forth. But the drawback is it’s harder to do this fast.
 
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#15
I've been using Best Practice for years for this - you can change the key as well as the tempo to work through difficult sections.

sourceforge.net

BestPractice

Download BestPractice for free. BestPractice is a tool especially for musicians to slow down or speed up music, either from a file or directly from a CD while keeping the pitch at the correct height. On the other hand the pitch of the music can be changed without affecting the temp
sourceforge.net sourceforge.net
 
#16
high mileage said:
Is there any kind of device or software that you guys are using to practice songs in a transposed key, for learning cover songs? I usually play along with the recording of song to learn it, but if we're going to transpose then I have to re-learn it in the new key. Then it's tough to practice it that way later without causing confusion later on what note comes next. Ask me how I know... ;)

It's been awhile since I tried to find something that would help, ideally to play the song back one step up or down, maybe more, to match what we're going to do. There are pitch controllers for CD and tape players but nothing I'm aware of for MP3 or iTunes stuff. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
download reaper, drop your mp3 in there and you can change the pitch, the speed, etc....I use it to learn new keys or even learn parts by slowing the song and creating loops etc
 
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#17
It's worth knowing, perhaps, that YouTube videos have adjustable playback speed. It's not semitones but decimal increments: +1.05, -1.2, etc. In the old days we had pitch adjustable cassette decks. Google it if that last sentence made no sense! :roflmao:

BBB
 
#19
Playing more than a little country over my time, I learned the Nashville Number System.

Not tab, not proper notation written out charts, it's a shorthand for working quickly where often you cut three songs in a three hour session. It simply takes the notes of a scale and exchanges them for numbers, so we think of it this way, say for the key of A Major:

A = 1
B = 2
C-Sharp = 3
D = 4
E = 5
F-Sharp = 6
G-Sharp = 7 (and G-Natural would be your 7-Flat)
A = 1 (as it repeats up the fingerboard)

This frees you of thinking in keys, and once it sinks in, it's easy.

On keyboards, there's a BIG difference in playing in C vs C-Sharp !

But on guitars and basses, there are no black keys, so provided you're not backed down to the nut on the first few frets or all the way up to the other end, if you think about it, every song will finger more or less the same. So you think in intervals (1-4, 4-5, 1-4-5-1, etc.) and not in keys, and this takes the mental boogeyman out of transcribing, This is way faster than some device to move things for you which needs no batteries or software updates. Coward keyboard players have that TRANSPOSE button, but not guitars and basses. Plus, rely on that device or software on a money-making job, if it breaks or runs off the rails, you're screwed, right now. D-I-Y with the Numbers, you're always ready to go right now and it can't break.

All you really need to know is what key is the 1, and you're off and playing the tune. In essence you're playing the tune in the new key, all you've moved is the same 'shapes' you were playing up or down the neck. And if you've been a little gun shy about playing up the neck out of your comfort zone, this is a real practical cure that will teach you the rest of the fingerboard. And your ears will have to grow up fast to recognize the intervals. This is all Good Stuff.

Real easy on fives, especially if you wind up playing in horn keys or some not usual keys for some idiot front man.

If this interests you, there are lots of online resources to really spell it out, if you do a web search for 'Nashville Number System' and find one that works for you.
 
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#20
Well, this is probably totally backwards but I learn how to play it in the recorded key first, then figure out how many frets it needs to move and learn it that way. Then I know the song in the correct key as well.
 

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