Understanding keys on the guitar is an essential skill that should be honed over time if you wish to improvise or follow songs, whether that means following along or creating your own riffs. While learning all this may take some effort, there are ways that may make this easier for you.
Recognizing chords in any key is essential if you want to sound great! This article can help you do exactly that!
Scales
Learn the fundamentals of scales is an indispensable aspect of guitar playing. These musical structures serve as building blocks to form chords, melodies and riffs in any key; scales can be found across a range of musical genres and keys. When learning scales it’s essential to start from the root note and move through them step-by-step until you can play anywhere along your fretboard.
Major and minor scales are the two most frequently used scales; however, other varieties exist as well. Pentatonic scales, for instance, are an easy form of major scale with five notes instead of eight that is great for beginners as it does not require memorization as quickly.
When beginning to learn a scale, it’s best to practice at three tempos; slow, medium and fast. This will allow you to see how it moves on the fretboard while helping memorize its pattern. Once comfortable with major and minor scales, start exploring other types of scales such as diatonic and pentatonic ones as well.
There are three approaches to studying scales on the fretboard: Notes, Intervals and Patterns. The first two will help you navigate your way around it while Patterns provides more visual representations of its scales.
To understand intervals, you need to think in terms of whole and half steps when considering any scale. A whole step represents pitch shift between notes while half steps represent semitones. Intervals such as these can be found across any scale but it’s particularly helpful when learning major scale because its pattern allows it to be played from any location on your fretboard.
Once you understand the major scale pattern, extending it across an octave can be an essential skill for guitarists as it helps you play any key. Simply follow its pattern up until it reaches the octave you wish to learn and then add in sharps or flats as appropriate for that key.
Chords
No matter if you are learning new chords, jamming with friends, or writing your first composition; having an in-depth knowledge of keys and chord progressions will take your playing to the next level. Understanding how the different chords relate on the fretboard will also make transposing them between keys easier.
A key is defined by the number of sharps and flats present on your treble clef; for instance, C is defined by having no sharps or flats. Each step in the Circle of 5ths clockwise adds one sharp to your treble clef while counterclockwise removes one. This allows you to quickly determine chords for any major scale since each note in it could become an potential chord.
Chords are built upon the scale for each key and form the backbone of music. The first chord in any key is called its I (or tonic) chord, and subsequent chords build upon this as you ascend the scale; for instance, C Major’s III chord derives from its third note, etc. Each chord serves a specific function when used within its respective key – so remembering which key you’re in is crucial!
I – IV – V is the go-to chord progression in major keys, serving as the cornerstone for much blues and rock music. By learning this progression you’ll have a good foundation from which to explore more complex variations as you grow as an artist; otherwise you might get stuck!
Each major key features several minor chords as well, with the most popular one being m7 which acts as a dominant function, leading you back to its tonic note. Other common minor chords include m9 and bdim; however, the latter tends to have diminished sounding notes and should usually be avoided in songs.
If you want to gain more understanding about how scales and chords interact, check out Building Chords from Scales. Once you understand the basics, practicing playing each of these chords by number on your fretboard can make transposing progressions much simpler.
Rhythms
There are different rhythms for every key, each creating an impressionistic soundscape that makes playing solos more interesting than simply repeating chord patterns. Some can be lighthearted while others more melancholic – each can make your solos sound completely unique! Knowing which ones you should employ can add depth to any solo performance.
Modes can help create rhythmic sounds by adding another dimension to your playing. Lydian gives off an optimistic and bright sound, while Dorian features dark but hopeful tones; Phrygian brings Latin flavor; Mixolydian sounds blues rock; each mode offers something different; find which best suits you and experiment.
Another thing to be mindful of when writing music in different keys is the different sets of chords associated with each key, known as diatonic chords, which vary depending on which key it belongs to – for instance G major has more diatonic chords than C major for example. But keep an eye out for non-diatonic chords such as flat major 7s or major 2s which could alter the overall tone dramatically!
An effective way to quickly determine what key a song is in is by looking at its first and last chords; this should provide a fairly good indication as to which key the song falls under; but it may not always work perfectly. Another excellent method for quickly determining this information is listening to its tonal center: if its tonality evokes happy thoughts or is melancholic, chances are it could fall under either major or minor keys.
Capo is another tool you can use to identify keys. It can make major keys seem much less minor, and transpose songs to different keys easily. But it won’t always work, so be sure to familiarize yourself with open chord shapes for various major and minor keys before trying any capo techniques.
Tuning
No matter if you’re an accomplished rhythm guitarist learning new chords or just starting to pick up songs by ear, understanding keys on the guitar is extremely crucial. Being able to change keys provides freedom and flexibility in playing any song or even writing your own music; also allows you to internalize its feeling so no matter what other musicians may do with a song, you know it will sound good to yourself.
Simply stated, a key is defined as an ensemble of chords that all sound the same. There are four major and two minor keys; they all can be played together to form songs. There may also be specific chord progressions belonging to specific keys – for instance the I – IV – V progression.
Step one in determining the key of a song is reading its key signature, found at the beginning of each line of music in standard notation. The key signature informs of how many sharps or flats there are in the treble clef and which direction they face; their number determines its major or minor key designation.
There are various methods of tuning a guitar, but one of the easiest is with a pitch tuner. Start with tuning your lowest string (typically E) to a C, before proceeding to tune A string as F string, D string as Bb string and G string as D string until all strings are attuned into C minor 11 chord and C major chord respectively.
Be patient when tuning, as being too hasty can easily damage strings. If possible, ask someone else to assist and ensure you stay in tune; but also avoid turning the tuning pegs too rapidly as this could potentially pop a string.