How do I transpose music chords using JavaScript?

Question

I was wondering how would one create a javascript function for transposing music chords.

Since I don\'t expect everyone to be a musician here, I\'ll try to explain how i

Answer 1

Ok, so I've thought about this a fair bit now, and I have a functional answer. It's in standard Western Scale tones (sorry Northern Europeans).

To truly transpose a chord you need 3 pieces of information: 1) the CHORD name, 2) the OLDKEY, and 3) the NEWKEY. It's not always enough to modulate by an AMOUNT (is UP-2 from the key of E an F# or a Gb?).

Basically you need to preserve two distances – the distance in pitch between the CHORD and the OLDKEY, and the distance in 'letters' between the CHORD and the OLDKEY – when mapping the CHORD to the NEWKEY.

function transposeChord(chord, oldKey, newKey) {}

To simplify(?) this, I've predefined every scale and every possible note (and some impossible ones) in relation to that scale root.

    var scales = {
    // scale_form = [1-7, #1-7, b1-7, *1-7, bb1-7]
    "CScale": ["C", "D", "E", "F", "G", "A", "B", "C#", "D#", "E#", "F#", "G#", "A#", "B#", "Cb", "Db", "Eb", "Fb", "Gb", "Ab", "Bb", "C*", "D*", "E*", "F*", "G*", "A*", "B*", "Cbb", "Dbb", "Ebb", "Fbb", "Gbb", "Abb", "Bbb"],
    "GScale": ["G", "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F#", "G#", "A#", "B#", "C#", "D#", "E#", "F*", "Gb", "Ab", "Bb", "Cb", "Db", "Eb", "F", "G*", "A*", "B*", "C*", "D*", "E*", "F#*", "Gbb", "Abb", "Bbb", "Cbb", "Dbb", "Ebb", "Fb"],
    "DScale": ["D", "E", "F#", "G", "A", "B", "C#", "D#", "E#", "F*", "G#", "A#", "B#", "C*", "Db", "Eb", "F", "Gb", "Ab", "Bb", "C", "D*", "E*", "F#*", "G*", "A*", "B*", "C#*", "Dbb", "Ebb", "Fb", "Gbb", "Abb", "Bbb", "Cb"],
    "AScale": ["A", "B", "C#", "D", "E", "F#", "G#", "A#", "B#", "C*", "D#", "E#", "F*", "G*", "Ab", "Bb", "C", "Db", "Eb", "F", "G", "A*", "B*", "C#*", "D*", "E*", "F#*", "G#*", "Abb", "Bbb", "Cb", "Dbb", "Ebb", "Fb", "Gb"],
    "EScale": ["E", "F#", "G#", "A", "B", "C#", "D#", "E#", "F*", "G*", "A#", "B#", "C*", "D*", "Eb", "F", "G", "Ab", "Bb", "C", "D", "E*", "F#*", "G#*", "A*", "B*", "C#*", "D#*", "Ebb", "Fb", "Gb", "Abb", "Bbb", "Cb", "Db"],
    "BScale": ["B", "C#", "D#", "E", "F#", "G#", "A#", "B#", "C*", "D*", "E#", "F*", "G*", "A*", "Bb", "C", "D", "Eb", "F", "G", "A", "B*", "C#*", "D#*", "E*", "F#*", "G#*", "A#*", "Bbb", "Cb", "Db", "Ebb", "Fb", "Gb", "Ab"],
    "F#Scale": ["F#", "G#", "A#", "B", "C#", "D#", "E#", "F*", "G*", "A*", "B#", "C*", "D*", "E*", "F", "G", "A", "Bb", "C", "D", "E", "F#*", "G#*", "A#*", "B*", "C#*", "D#*", "E#*", "Fb", "Gb", "Ab", "Bbb", "Cb", "Db", "Eb"],
    "C#Scale": ["C#", "D#", "E#", "F#", "G#", "A#", "B#", "C*", "D*", "E*", "F*", "G*", "A*", "B*", "C", "D", "E", "F", "G", "A", "B", "C#*", "D#*", "E#*", "F#*", "G#*", "A#*", "B#*", "Cb", "Db", "Eb", "Fb", "Gb", "Ab", "Bb"],
    "G#Scale": ["G#", "A#", "B#", "C#", "D#", "E#", "F*", "G*", "A*", "B*", "C*", "D*", "E*", "F#*", "G", "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F#", "G#*", "A#*", "B#*", "C#*", "D#*", "E#*", "F**", "Gb", "Ab", "Bb", "Cb", "Db", "Eb", "F"],
    "D#Scale": ["D#", "E#", "F*", "G#", "A#", "B#", "C*", "D*", "E*", "F#*", "G*", "A*", "B*", "C#*", "D", "E", "F#", "G", "A", "B", "C#", "D#*", "E#*", "F**", "G#*", "A#*", "B#*", "C**", "Db", "Eb", "F", "Gb", "Ab", "Bb", "C"],
    "A#Scale": ["A#", "B#", "C*", "D#", "E#", "F*", "G*", "A*", "B*", "C#*", "D*", "E*", "F#*", "G#*", "A", "B", "C#", "D", "E", "F#", "G#", "A#*", "B#*", "C**", "D#*", "E#*", "F**", "G**", "Ab", "Bb", "C", "D#", "Eb", "F", "G"],
    // E#Scale:
    // B#Scale: 
    "FScale": ["F", "G", "A", "Bb", "C", "D", "E", "F#", "G#", "A#", "B", "C#", "D#", "E#", "Fb", "Gb", "Ab", "Bbb", "Cb", "Db", "Eb", "F*", "G*", "A*", "B#", "C*", "D*", "E*", "Fbb", "Gbb", "Abb", "Bbbb", "Cbb", ,"Dbb", ,"Ebb"],
    "BbScale": ["Bb", "C", "D", "Eb", "F", "G", "A", "B", "C#", "D#", "E", "F#", "G#", "A#", "Bbb", "Cb", "Db", "Ebb", "Fb", "Gb", "Ab", "B#", "C*", "D*", "E#", "F*", "G*", "A*", "Bbbb", "Cbb", "Dbb", "Ebbb", "Fbb", "Gbb", "Abb"],
    "EbScale": ["Eb", "F", "G", "Ab", "Bb", "C", "D", "E", "F#", "G#", "A", "B", "C#", "D#", "Ebb", "Fb", "Gb", "Abb", "Bbb", "Cb", "Db", "E#", "F*", "G*", "A#", "B#", "C*", "D*", "Ebbb", "Fbb", "Gbb", "Abbb", "Bbbb", "Cbb", "Dbb"],
    "AbScale": ["Ab", "Bb", "C", "Db", "Eb", "F", "G", "A", "B", "C#", "D", "E", "F#", "G#", "Abb", "Bbb", "Cb", "Dbb", "Ebb", "Fb", "Gb", "A#", "B#", "C*", "D#", "E#", "F*", "G*", "Abbb", "Bbbb", "Cbb", "Dbbb", "Ebbb", "Fbb", "Gbb"],
    "DbScale": ["Db", "Eb", "F", "Gb", "Ab", "Bb", "C", "D", "E", "F#", "G", "A", "B", "C#", "Dbb", "Ebb", "Fb", "Gbb", "Abb", "Bbb", "Cb", "D#", "E#", "F*", "G#", "A#", "B#", "C*", "Dbbb", "Ebbb", "Fbb", "Gbbb", "Abbb", "Bbbb", "Cbb"],
    "GbScale": ["Gb", "Ab", "Bb", "Cb", "Db", "Eb", "F", "G", "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F#", "Gbb", "Abb", "Bbb", "Cbb", "Dbb", "Ebb", "Fb", "G#", "A#", "B#", "C#", "D#", "E#", "F*", "Gbbb", "Abbb", "Bbbb", "Cbbb", "Dbbb", "Ebbb", "Fbb"]
    // CbScale:
    // FbScale:
    // BbbFlatScale:
    //  ...
    }       

Then you assign your scales based on the OLDKEY and NEWKEY:

var oldKeyScale = scales[key + "Scale"]
var newKeyScale = scales[newKey + "Scale"]

Finally, some regex to find and replace all those chord-roots/flats/sharps/doubleflats/etc with their corresponding position in the NEWKEY scale.

var transposedChord
transposedChord = chord.replace(/(([CDEFGAB]#\*)|([CDEFGAB]#)|([CDEFGAB]b+)|([CDEFGAB]\**))/g, function(match) {
    var i = oldKeyScale.indexOf(match)
    return newKeyScale[i]
})
return transposedChord

There's definitely a better, more 'think-like-a-computer' way to do this, but this will take

transposeChord("Am7/G", "C", "A#")

and return

"F*m7/E#"