# Directives: transpose

{transpose: value }

This directive indicates that the remainder of the song should be transposed the number of semitones according to the given value. When used at the beginning of a song, the whole song will be transposed. When used somewhere in the song it can be used to achieve modulation.

If transposing results in accidentals, a positive value will use sharps, while a negative value will use flats.

For example:

[C]A song [D] line with [E]chords   [F]
{transpose: 2}
[C]A song [D] line with [E]chords   [F]

This will print:

C      D         E       F 
A song line with chords
D      E         F#      G
A song line with chords

As can be seen above, transposing E with the (positive) value 2 results in F#. Transposing with the (negative) value -10 will result in the enharmonic equivalent chord G♭:

[C]A song [D] line with [E]chords   [F]
{transpose: -10}
[C]A song [D] line with [E]chords   [F]

This will print:

C      D         E       F 
A song line with chords
D      E         Gb      G
A song line with chords

A {transpose} directive without a value will cancel the current transposition, possibly restoring a preceding transposition.

# transpose and the key metadata

The transpose directive is effective from where it appears in the ChordPro file. It will not affect a key directive that precedes it.

If a song has a key, a metadata item key_actual is automatically added and contains the actual key including transpositions. If a transposition is in effect, there is also an item key_from that contains the actual key before the transposition.