Last week, I posted 3 Easy Songs You Can Fingerpick on Ukulele Today.

When you download the sheet music for these songs, you are presented with a musical staff and tablature.

After a couple emails, I realize we’ve looked at how to read music, but one thing we haven’t looked at yet is how to read tabs.

Music tablature, or tab, is a simplified form of musical notation used for stringed instruments like the ukulele.

Most people learn a new piece of music by using tab. Unlike a regular piece of music, tabs show you exactly where to play the notes on the fretboard.

Let’s take a look at some examples of tablature.

Being able to read music is an extremely powerful skill.

For myself, growing up, I played piano and ukulele. I relied very heavily on my ear to learn how to play songs. I’m very thankful for my ear, but this really limited me in the types of songs I could play.

So, for example, whenever I would visit my grandparents, it wasn’t uncommon they would want me to play a hymn on piano for them, or if it was around Christmas, a carol. They would put the songbook in front of me, and unless I knew the hymn or carol from memory, I would freeze or have to fumble my way through it.

Whenever I looked at a piece of music, I was completely intimidated by it.

Today, I’m going to teach you one of the most important skills you can possess when it comes to playing ukulele (or any type of music for that matter): how to transpose a song.

There are many reasons why you would want to transpose a song.

Reason #1: Singability

Have you ever tried playing a song on the ukulele but found it to be impossible to sing along with because the key was either too high or too low? To fix this problem, you might transpose or change the key of the song or chord chart to make it easier to sing.

Reason #2: Playability

A lot of songs are written in weird keys like Eb, F#, or Db. The chords found in these keys aren’t the easiest to play on ukulele, so you might transpose the song to a different key with easier chords.

Reason #3: Creativity

Transposing allows you to be really creative. You might transpose a song to get a specific tone from a different set of chords. You also need to transpose a song if you’re trying to arrange two different songs to flow together in the form of a medley (e.g. Somewhere Over the Rainbow –> I’m Yours).

You never know when you might need to change the key of a song, so let’s take a look at an easy formula for how we can do this.