Key changing ?

[Chickwithapick]

Alright, I have NOOOO knowledge of music theory, but I was messing with a song today and wanted to see if you're allowed to do this: :D

Ok, so I was learning this song and it's got G, D, C, and Em in it but when I try to sing it, it's pretty high. So I wanted to change the key. So I changed it down to D (lol, it's really low in D, but I tried to avoid using F and B because I really despise those chords :P--I just play it Capo 1 or Capo 2 and I can sing it ;))....so now I'm playing it with all the G chords as a D, all the Ds as A, all the Cs as G, and all the Ems as Bms. It makes sense to me to do that way, but I don't know if that's musically correct. Is it really as simple as just subtracting (like D is 3 away from G, so for Em we'd have to play Bm...)?? The song sounds ok but I still want to do it right, not for it just to sound ok while I'm playing it in my bedroom. So all you people who know more music theory than I do (which is all of you who know ONE thing about it :D), could you tell me if that's right?! And if it's not, how DO you change keys?! Mucho Gracias :)

[Philphool]

Yep, it's as simple as that! To change from key 1 to key 2, see how many 1/2 steps (same as frets) key 2 is from from key 1 and add or subtract that many half steps to each chord to get the corresponding chord in the new key.

Sometimes you find that the song doesn't sound as good in some keys because of how the chords must be played on the fingerboard and sometimes you find that embellishments are not quite the same in some keys.

[suppaenitetere]

If something sounds good to you do it. To be a theory whore is to limit yourself... the greats all broke the rules on a regular basis.

[Andrew]

Make sure you count the steps, not just the letters. If you had a Bm in that first progression, it would be C#m (not Cm) in A, becauase B is 2 semitones away from A.:)

[Nick]

I play the songs at my church on a sunday and i usually stick to the key the song was written in, in the book. although it sounds too high for me too sing by myself at home whilst practicing. when were all together and i'm playing and singing 'full whack' it doesn't seem so high.

However, occasionally, i still change the key and then use the capo to bring it back up to the original key if it means playing easier chords.

[Chickwithapick]

Yeah, I actually think the chords that I had were higher than the song really is because I sang it on a missions trip to Panama and I could sing it fine, but then I got the chords of Christian Guitar Resources (great site :)) and I couldn't sing it at all. Nick, you said you played at your church--do you guys do that song Give Us Clean Hands? ("We bow our hearts, we bend our knees, Oh Spirit come make us humble. We turn our eyes from evil things. Oh Lord we cast down our idols. Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts, let us not lift our souls to another *repeat* Oh God let us be a generation that seeks, seeks Your face, Oh God of Jacob *repeat*"). That's the one I was trying to figure out a good key for. If you do, do you mind sending me the right chords (if the G, D, C, Em ones aren't right...). My email is Chickwithapick15@aol.com. :)