Who Else Wants To Understand How The “1-4” Idea Transposition Works?

The 1-4 idea transposition concept will broaden your understanding of major chords in the major key.

Idea transposition gives you a deep insight, unlocks your creativity, and gives you an edge. This is because it provides you with the sufficient knowledge you need to transfer a musical idea from one degree of the scale to another.

Attention: This lesson is for every musician because the relationship between the 1-chord and the 4-chord is sacrosanct; irrespective of your musical background (be it classical or popular music).

Just for the sake of those who are coming across the idea transposition term for the first time, we’ll be starting out with a quick review on idea transposition.

Let’s get started!

A Quick Review On The Concept Of Idea Transposition

In every key (whether major or minor), there are seven unique scale tones. Using the key of C major (as a reference):

There are seven unique tones:

C, D, E, F, G, A, and B.

…and they all have unique scales, chords, chord progressions, melodic lines, etc., that they are connected to. For example, the 2-5-1 chord progression to the first tone of the scale (which is C):

The 2-chord:

The 5-chord:

The 1-chord:

…is different from that of the sixth tone of the scale (which is A):

The 2-chord:

The 5-chord:

The 1-chord:

“Now, Back To The Concept Of Idea Transposition In The Major Key…”

Idea transposition in the major key is concerned with the transposition of an idea (be it a note, scale, interval, chord, progression, etc.) from one scale tone in the major key to another.

Attention: Transposition simply means the TRANSfer of POSITION.

The transposition of an idea in the major key transfers its position from one scale tone in the major key to another.

“So, What’s The 1-4 Idea Transposition?”

In the 1-4 idea transposition concept, ideas are transposed from the 1-chord to the 4-chord. In the key of C major:

…the 1-4 idea transposition is the transfer of 1-chord ideas to the 4-chord.

The 1-chord:

…is the C major seventh chord while the 4-chord:

…is the F major seventh chord.

We’ll go further in this lesson by unraveling the relationship the 1-chord has with the 4-chord that explains why ideas (like scales, chords, chord progressions, melodic lines, etc.) can be transposed from the 1-chord to the 4-chord and vice-versa.

Attention: To learn more about this, I recommend our 500+ page course: The “Official Guide To Piano Playing.” Click here for more information.

The Relationship Between The 1-Chord And The 4-chord

Let’s take a look at the seventh chords in the key of C major:

The 1-chord (is the C major seventh chord):

The 2-chord (is the D minor seventh chord):

The 3-chord (is the E minor seventh chord):

The 4-chord (is the F major seventh chord):

The 5-chord (is the G major seventh chord):

The 6-chord (is the A minor seventh chord):

The 7-chord (is the B half-diminished seventh chord):

Take a look at the 1-chord and the 4-chord:

The 1-chord (is the C major seventh chord):

The 4-chord (is the F major seventh chord):

…and tell me what you see in common.

The 1-chord and the 4-chord have the major chord quality in common and this means that the 1-chorrd and 4-chord are structurally the same.

In the major key where there are different chord categories (ranging from major chords to minor chords, then dominant and diminished chords), the 1-chord and the 4-chord belong to the major chords category as the only major chords in the major key.

The reason why ideas can be transposed from the 1-chord to the 4-chord is because both chords share the same quality and as such, are structurally similar.

Attention: To learn more about this, I recommend our 500+ page course: The “Official Guide To Piano Playing.” Click here for more information.

“So, How Does The “1-4″ Idea Transposition Work?”

Musical ideas can be transposed from the 1-chord to the 4-chord and vice-versa. We’ll be looking at scale, chord, and progression transposition between these chords.

Scale Transposition

In the key of C major:

…playing all the white notes from F to F:

…produces the F Lydian scale; which is one of the scales that are compatible with the 4-chord (the F major seventh chord):

The transposition of the F Lydian scale to C:

…produces the C Lydian scale:

…which can be played over the 1-chord (the C major seventh chord):

“Here’s Another Example Of Scale Transposition…”

The C major bebop scale:

…that is compatible with the 1-chord (the C major seventh chord):

…can be transposed to F:

…to produce the F major bebop scale:

…that is compatible with the F major seventh chord (the 4-chord):

Final Words

Getting to this point lets me know that you’re seriously passionate about learning.

Now that we’ve covered the use of chord-based idea transposition in the major key to transpose 1-chord ideas to the 4-chord and vice-versa, feel free to go beyond the examples given in the key of C major, into practicing idea transposition in all major keys on the keyboard.

All the best!

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Chuku Onyemachi

Head of Education at HearandPlay Music Group

Onyemachi "Onye" Chuku is a Nigerian musicologist, pianist, and author. Inspired by his role model (Jermaine Griggs) who has become his mentor, what he started off as teaching musicians in his Aba-Nigeria neighborhood in April 2005 eventually morphed into an international career that has helped hundreds of thousands of musicians all around the world. Onye lives in Dubai and is currently the Head of Education at HearandPlay Music Group and the music consultant of the Gospel Music Training Center, all in California, USA.

Latest posts by Chuku Onyemachi (see all)

• The Formation Of Diminished Seventh Chords Used To Be Challenging Until I Did This
• How To Form Seventh Chords In Two Shakes Of A Dog’s Tail Using Third Intervals And The Circle Of Fifths Chart
• I Played The 13sus4 Chord And This Happened…
• How To Build Seventh Chords Like An Architect Using “Foundation And Structure” Concept
• This 4-Week Plan Will Help You Master All The Major Scales