13. Transpose other keys to D-major
So far all song examples in this book have been in the key of D-major. You can easily tell that, because at the beginning of each line in the musical notation you can see two sharp notes: F# and C#.
But what if you take a songbook where the songs are arranged in different keys such as G-major, E-major etc.?
Well, as the kantele is a diatonic instrument, you can't play in all keys as you can with a guitar or piano. So in that case you have to transpose the chords to "D". That's not so difficult as it may look!
The following chart contains a list of the most prevalent keys. For example, if a song has four sharp notes (or if the first and / or last chord given is an E-major), then it is most likely in the key of E. Now just look for each chord given in the original key in the "E" column. When you have found them, move to the right in the same row until you are in the "D" column. Then replace the original chords with the chords you find in the "D" column. So if the original chords for the song in "E" are "E, A, E, C#m, A, B7, E" you'll find that in the key of "D" you should use "D, G, D, Bm, G, A7, D". If the original key is one of those in the columns marked in blue, you have to move to the left.
So now you can transpose almost all chords to the key of "D" and sing and play your favourite songs!