Another Theory Question and some ...

Very often the first chord will tip you off to the key. But not necessarily. The trick, for me, is to remember the chord progression formula:

Maj Min Min Maj Maj Min m7b5 Maj

and then judge how the chords I've learned fit that pattern. If I can work backward from the chord progression to the scale, then I've got the key.

So, for example, if the chords to my song are

D Bm F#m Em7 A7, G and G#m

I could figure that they fall into this progression:

D Em F#m G A Bm C#m7b5 D

I can't really acount for the G#m, so I'll assume it's something interesting that the songwriter is doing that falls outside the convention.

Otherwise the progression fits the D scale. And, as it turns out, my song begins and ends on a D as well.

Thus I think it's a D. (by the way, those are the chords from "Across the Universe")

Of course, if I've got the sheet music in front of me, I can just read the key signature.

Think of learning the modes as a way of learning how to play the scale up and down the fretboard. Once you're comfortable with doing that, you can work on improvising solos. The two go hand in hand.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Allot Musenfreund.

Minus Human

After I typed in my reply, I was playing Lennon's ballad, "Love". I've got the sheet music for that in two different collections. The arrangements are very similar -- one uses more 7 chords than the other and does a little decorative bit with the A7 chord. Okay, I'm rambling, main point is, the two arrangements are to all intents and purposes identical.

Here are the basic chords:

D F#m A F Em G C#

What key is it in?

One arrangement has the key signature of A. The chord progression for A is:

A Bm C#m D E F#m G#m7b5 A

The other arrangement has the key signature of D. That scale has this chord progression:

D Em F#m G A Bm C#m7b5 D.

I think the second arrangement has the key signature right and the first one's off. Neither progression quite fits but the second one's closer.

It just goes to show that it's not an exact science. Maybe Noteboat can explain the discrepancies?

I had my instructor tell me by using....

Fat
Cats
Get
Drunk
After
Eight
Beers

this is for #s only
we have not done b's yet

the way this works...
count the number of sharps......then go up 1/2 step
so...example....
1 sharp....you will have a F#....your in the key of G
2 sharps...you will have a F# and a C#...this is the key of D
3 sharps...you will have a F#, C# and G#...this will be key of A

I dont have my notes with me from lessons...Tuesday night.
but I am 99% sure this is how it was described.

maybe Noteboat could elaborate more???

You've got them down alright, pcparrothead.

There's a shortcut to figuring out what key something is in from the key signature. You just need to know the names of the staff lines and spaces, and remember two keys: C (no accidentals) and F (one flat). After that...

Sharp keys are always one letter name up from the last sharp that appears in the signature. For instance, if it has four sharps, the last one is D... one letter name up is E, and that's the key. You have to make sure the letter name you end up with isn't already sharped... if the last sharp is E, the next letter is F - but F is already sharped in the key signature, so it's the key of F sharp.

Flat keys are named after the second to last (or penultimate, if you dig big words) flat. If there are five flats, the second to last one will be D, so you're in D flat.

Tim, the one with the A signature is probably wrong, since A has G#, and you have a G major chord. Your arrangement includes a chromatic variation - you have chords Em, F, F#m, and G... so that's four consecutive half steps of the root. Major keys only contain two half steps, and minor ones no more than three... and they're never consecutive in either scale.

So... we know the song includes some chords from outside the key. The question is: which ones belong?

You've got four major chords: D, A, F, G. One key never has four, so at least one isn't a good fit. You can try each one out as the tonic, and see which is most likely... major keys will have major chords on I, IV, and V:

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

So F is the worst fit, and D the best. Let's assume it's in D, and see if the minor chords line up:

D-Em-F#m-G-A-Bm-C#º

The only chords from the original progression that don't fit in are F and C#... so those are departures from the key.

In the song, the C# leads into the F#m chord... a V-i progression in F#m, so he's briefly borrowing from the key of A to make a strong resolution. The F chord is placed between D and G; there are a bunch of Beatles tunes in G which used D-F-C-G, so he was probably falling back on that sound, without the C chord.

That would make the home key D major, with brief forays into A/F#m and G - each one a fifth away from D.

Pretty cool tips of figuring the key of songs. Thanks

Minus Human

You said you have trouble with playing solos. That's perfectly normal. It takes a lot of practice to play good lead.

I think the technique that will help you is vibrato. Vibrato is tough, it really is. You just have to keep practicing it until it becomes natural. Vibrato will make your notes sing and sustain. That is very important. It will give your solos continuity. The notes will flow.

Here's a little blues riff in A. See how much better it sounds with a few little techniques added.
Example 1

OK, Example 1 sounds pretty good. It's a nice little blues lick, it has a nice melody. But look at Example 2. First you start with a slide up to the first note on the D string. Then you have a little hammer on. Then, that last note you give the string some vibrato. Give it a shake and keep that string ringing and sustaining.

Now doesn't that sound a whole lot better? It has more life to it, more feel.
This is how you turn ordinary sounding licks into HOT sounding licks. So, all the techniques you are taught are good and useful, practice them all, but especially practice vibrato.

To add on to what Wes was saying, I think another key technique to master is precise bends. You can really tell how long someone has been playing by how well they will bend a note.

You don't just want to bend a note and hope it sounds right. The point of bending it to take one note in a key and bend it up to another note in the key (there are always exceptions though... :D ).

For example the notes in the key of D are: D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#

You don't want to take an A and bend it up to A# or C. Those notes would sound sour. What I would recommend it take an electronic tuner (or use your ear) and practice accurate bends. Believe me, it makes a world of difference.

Hope this helps!

~Ryan

You don't want to take an A and bend it up to A#

Depends on what you're going for in the melody - I do half-step bends all the time, and microtonal bends (less than 1/2 step) fairly often. As long as you intend it, play it with confidence, and pay attention to the phrasing, they'll give your lines a more vocal quality.

Whoaa thanks very much to all. I'm gonna print this out and run through it with my guitar.

Minus Human