Learning scales

Again, I'm no expert, but here's my understanding of 'keys'. Of course, I'm still learning, so this might be complete hogwash.

A friend of mine has been in music for all his life. He pointed out to me that much of the nomenclature we used to describe music came after the fact. People started making music. As they made music, they started grouping certain notes together (hey! this sounds cool together, but that sounds out of place). There was also the feeling that the music evoked. When a song starts somewhere, it doens't sound finished until it comes back to where it started. Then, someone had the idea of giving it all names.

So, the concept of a 'key' is a way of naming what will work in the song. It's also hints at what the song will need to sound complete. It's just an easy way of saying, "Hey, use these notes, start here, and end here." Nothing says you have to do that, but it helps the listener understand the song.

Ahh ok, I supposed you could use random colors/notes and somehow get a good piece. Not impossible, but unlikely. Be easier to stick to keys.

Do open chords change shape(fingering) with different keys? Barre chords? Power chords?

Do open chords change shape(fingering) with different keys? Barre chords? Power chords?
No, open chords,power chords, barr chords, don't change shapes or fingerings, what does change is what chords to play, just like what notes to play.
Quick example. I,IV,V progression (that is the 1st, 4th and 5th major chords of a key)
In the key of G the chords are G, C, D
In the Key of C the chords would be C, F, G
Notice that in both keys the C and G chords are used and are fingered the same, but they are in a different place in the song.

I think I've seen that somewhere else, on this guitar chord chart I printed out. Though for C, it has C, F and G7 as the prinipal chords.

Theory is a lot easier to learn once you strip away the big words and technical terms. The hard part is applying it, but I figure that will come when I start improvising.

Does this apply to power chords too? Like for C it would be C5, F5 and G5?

Yes, it does. Principal chords really refer to root notes - they'll be a fifth above (the V chord) and a fifth below (the IV chord) the root.

Here's the quick theory of why this works...

Take a key, like C, and write the notes in the scale...

C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C

Now take a fifth below, and write the scale...

F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F

and a fifth above...

G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G

The note C (and the chord C) appears in the keys a fourth lower and a fifth higher. This doesn't happen on any other notes.

That explains two things: first, we call the fourth and fifth intervals 'perfect' intervals, because the lower note is always in the key of the upper and vice versa.... second, the popularity of the I-IV-V progression - it sounds very natural, because you're not going very far from the 'home' key.

Say for instance you learn a song in a certain key....G....and it's four simple chords, G, Em C and D.....

Then you hook up with a singer....ah, says he/she, that's too low for me.....

You can transcribe the song, or change it to another key, by raising or lowering everything equally....

So you try again....

raise everything two semitones, you're now playing A, F#m, D and E.....

different chord shapes, but the relationship between the chords is the same....you're just playing in a different key, A instead of the original G....

The other way you can do it is by using a capo, so if you put your capo on at the second fret, again you're raising everything by two semitones...but this time you'd play the same chord shapes, G Em C and D, but they would actually be A, F#m D and E...you'd have raised the key to A....

:D :D :D

Vic

I've never had that problem, mind you, anytime I played with other people, I've done the singing.

Would you change the key for the music, or just the melody?

That is exactly why, If you didn't have anything telling you it was suppose to be blue to begin with and you could just throw any color in there you would have a nasty looking mess, right?
Keys give you the base color and if you add to many other colors it becomes a mess.

Theory is completely a man made idea, it's like mathematics and science. Sure, you can understand alot of concepts without math and science but knowing them will probably help you understand why things happen. That being said, i think it's a conditioning thing: we're naturally conditioned to hear major and minor keys as "normal", so i would imagine that's why people started making keys and scales and chords and such.

My biggest fear is becoming too reliant on theory. I don't want it to hinder my creativity or cause me to sound bland. I don't want to become too reliant on it because it can't explain everything.

One example is the guitar solo in Alter Bridge - The End Is Here. One of the reasons I love it is because it starts out clean but gets dirter with each passing line until it ends with a heavy gritty sound often found in metal. Which makes me wonder if theory can tell you how much distortion to use and when to use it.....

I guess the solution to learn it, but don't overdo it.

Don't worry about getting reliant on theory. Theory is only a tool and nothing more.
Theory only allows you to understand how music is put together and why some things work better than others but it by no means restricts you in any way.
You can step ouside the so called box whenever you want but at some point you need to get back into the box to make it sound good, that is one place where theory can help.
Like I said it is just a tool.
Edit: Just thought of a good analogy, Think of theory as a roadmap and you are going on a trip. You head out on the main road but at some point you want to take a side road to add some axcitement, That is fine but at some point you have to get back to that main road to get to where you are headed, The roadmap (theory) guides you back. :D

Think of theory as a roadmap and you are going on a trip. You head out on the main road but at some point you want to take a side road to add some axcitement, That is fine but at some point you have to get back to that main road to get to where you are headed, The roadmap (theory) guides you back. :D

What happens if you was never on the right road in the first place, and you didn't have a map? You know, like most beginners...

I've been there. I was a month into playing, already working on my first song, and I didn't even know there were chords. Well I knew you played chords, but didn't know they had names, or specific notes and fingerings.

Think of theory as a roadmap and you are going on a trip. You head out on the main road but at some point you want to take a side road to add some axcitement, That is fine but at some point you have to get back to that main road to get to where you are headed, The roadmap (theory) guides you back. :D

What happens if you was never on the right road in the first place, and you didn't have a map? You know, like most beginners...
Well, Some people stop and ask for directions but most men just drive on and never admit they are lost :lol:

I'm thinking with the price of fuel today, a map would be a cheap investment.

However, if you have a 4X4 who cares about the roads? It's the fences, culverts, cows and farmers with shotguns you got to watch out for.

Ummm....what was the topic here? :D

Think of theory as a roadmap and you are going on a trip. You head out on the main road but at some point you want to take a side road to add some axcitement, That is fine but at some point you have to get back to that main road to get to where you are headed, The roadmap (theory) guides you back. :D

What happens if you was never on the right road in the first place, and you didn't have a map? You know, like most beginners...
Well, Some people stop and ask for directions but most men just drive on and never admit they are lost :lol:

And if ya end up in Idaho, there's "Free Taters for Outta Staters" :lol: :lol: :lol:

Sorry Couldn't resist, but I like the road map analogy too.