Knowing how to transpose the pitch of your keyboard can make your life easier when playing with other musicians or playing along to recordings. Today I’ll show you how to transpose the pitch of the Yamaha P-121 and P-125 keyboards up or down by semitones/half steps, and how to fine tune the pitch so that you are exactly in tune with the other people you are playing with.
How to Transpose the Yamaha P-121/P-125 Keyboards by Semitones/Half Steps
You can transpose the pitch of your Yamaha P-121/P-125 keyboard up by a maximum of six semitones/half steps, or down by a maximum of six semitones/half steps.
To do this, hold down the two function buttons (Metronome and Rhythm) and press a certain key on the keyboard depending on where you want to transpose the pitch to.
Take middle C as your reference point. Press the key near middle C which is the same interval away from middle C as the interval that you want to transpose the pitch by.
For example, to transpose the pitch up, pressing the key one semitone/half step above middle C (i.e. C#) will transpose the pitch up by one semitone/half step, and pressing the key two semitones up from middle C (i.e D) will transpose the pitch up by two semitones/two half steps. You can choose any of the keys up to the F# above middle C, which will transpose the pitch up six semitones/half steps.
To transpose the pitch down, the same principle applies. Pressing the key one semitone/half step below middle C (i.e. B) will transpose the pitch down by one semitone/half step when you are holding down the two function buttons. You can choose any of the keys down to the F# below middle C, which will transpose the pitch down six semitones/half steps.
You are effectively pressing the key of the note that you want middle C to sound like after the transposition. With this range, from the F# below middle C to the F# above middle C, you have the ability to play in any key.
To reset the pitch to normal, hold down the two function buttons and press middle C.
With the P-121, but not the P-125, you can also shift the entire pitch up or down by an octave. To do this, hold down the Piano button and press the lowest F key on the keyboard to transpose the pitch down an octave, and press the lowest G key on the keyboard to transpose the pitch up an octave. To reset to the original pitch, hold down the Piano button and press the lowest F# key on the keyboard.
How to Tune your Yamaha P-121/P-125 Keyboard by Smaller Increments
You can also fine tune the pitch of your Yamaha P-121/P-125 keyboard by moving it up or down by increments of 0.2 Hz, like you would tune an acoustic instrument. This can be really helpful if you are playing with other musicians so that you can tune together, or playing along to a recording where you need to match their pitch rather than they match yours.
To adjust the pitch by small amounts, hold down the two function buttons (Metronome and Rhythm) and press ‘+’ to raise the pitch by 0.2 Hz. Press ‘+’ as many times as you like to raise the pitch by multiples of 0.2 Hz, up to a maximum of the closest A above middle C equalling 466.8 Hz (as opposed to the default 440 Hz).
To lower the pitch by multiples of 0.2 Hz, hold down the two function buttons and press ‘-‘ as many times as you need, down to a minimum of the closest A above middle C equalling 414.8 Hz.
If you need to get to the closest A above middle C equalling 442 Hz, the shortcut to get there is just to hold down the two function buttons and press the C# key two octaves below middle C.
To reset the pitch to default from anywhere, hold down the two function buttons and either press both ‘+’ and ‘-‘ at the same time, or press the C key two octaves below middle C.