Do chords change shape based on the key or do you only play certain chords when in a certain key i.e. you would only play G,C,D when play in the key of G (I know thats probably wrong.) Do you really have to learn each scale in each key or is there a relationship that exist between them that is a short-cut so you dont have to memorize the pentatonic in every key? I've watched a few videos and I'm still pretty lost lol. Any info would be appreciated.
Keys, Chords, and Scales
- Thread starter MiNDSHiFT
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Hey man. There's so much to say about this and I Just start Out. It's a huge topic I am struggeling with too.
Basicly a Key tells you what notes "to Play" and what chords you can play. You don't need to memorize everything because once you know some chords and scales you can just Shift Most Things around.
Look Into those Videos, they are really helpfull. Also we have a Lot of students that can help you Out with this. @Chris Johnston helped me Out tons with music theory!
Basicly a Key tells you what notes "to Play" and what chords you can play. You don't need to memorize everything because once you know some chords and scales you can just Shift Most Things around.
Look Into those Videos, they are really helpfull. Also we have a Lot of students that can help you Out with this. @Chris Johnston helped me Out tons with music theory!
Hey @MiNDSHiFT !
That's a great question! Here comes a book
Firstly, Think of a Key as an invisible musical handbook - non-physical, not specific to your Guitar but instead to all music. It's like a musical cheat sheet in your head!
To answer your question:
You can use as many chord 'shapes' as you like as long as the chord type (Major/Minor/Diminished) you're selecting falls within the Key. Remember, the physical shape you make on the Guitar is only the result of plotting out the information of each chord.
In short, a Key is just a Family of chords, built from the notes of a Major Scale. It's so easy to build a key too!
G Major Scale: G A B C D E F# - 7 notes
G Major Key: G major A minor B minor C Major D Major E Minor F# diminished - 7 chords
All I did was know all the notes in a G Major scale and follow this pattern to get all the chords in it's Key:
1. Major 2. Minor 3. Minor 4. Major
5. Major 6. Minor 7. Diminished
****The reason the pattern turns out like this is by starting at each note of the scale and building a 3 note chord using the 'pick one, miss one' method - Select a note, miss the next, select the next, miss the next etc until you have 3 notes ****
if you do this from G you get: G B D - a G major Triad - and so on for the other chords kn the Key - for the next chord you'd do the method from A.
So to know all 12 keys, you just have to know all 12 Major scales, and follow the above pattern.
Physically on the Guitar you can learn 1 Major scale shape, 1 Major chord shape, 1 Minor chord shape and 1 diminished chord shape and play the chords/solo in any key you want! You would just move the scale shape/chords around in accordance to which key you're in
Pentatonic wise - the pentatonic scale is just a pattern of 5 notes, cherry picked from your Major Scale, so it still relates directly to the Key.
I know that's a lot to unpack, so try and digest it slowly. It will make sense as soon as you hear it on your instrument
That's a great question! Here comes a book
Firstly, Think of a Key as an invisible musical handbook - non-physical, not specific to your Guitar but instead to all music. It's like a musical cheat sheet in your head!
To answer your question:
You can use as many chord 'shapes' as you like as long as the chord type (Major/Minor/Diminished) you're selecting falls within the Key. Remember, the physical shape you make on the Guitar is only the result of plotting out the information of each chord.
In short, a Key is just a Family of chords, built from the notes of a Major Scale. It's so easy to build a key too!
G Major Scale: G A B C D E F# - 7 notes
G Major Key: G major A minor B minor C Major D Major E Minor F# diminished - 7 chords
All I did was know all the notes in a G Major scale and follow this pattern to get all the chords in it's Key:
1. Major 2. Minor 3. Minor 4. Major
5. Major 6. Minor 7. Diminished
****The reason the pattern turns out like this is by starting at each note of the scale and building a 3 note chord using the 'pick one, miss one' method - Select a note, miss the next, select the next, miss the next etc until you have 3 notes ****
if you do this from G you get: G B D - a G major Triad - and so on for the other chords kn the Key - for the next chord you'd do the method from A.
So to know all 12 keys, you just have to know all 12 Major scales, and follow the above pattern.
Physically on the Guitar you can learn 1 Major scale shape, 1 Major chord shape, 1 Minor chord shape and 1 diminished chord shape and play the chords/solo in any key you want! You would just move the scale shape/chords around in accordance to which key you're in
Pentatonic wise - the pentatonic scale is just a pattern of 5 notes, cherry picked from your Major Scale, so it still relates directly to the Key.
I know that's a lot to unpack, so try and digest it slowly. It will make sense as soon as you hear it on your instrument
Nah.. here's what I learn from just the g minor scale.
Theres the 7 notes. So 7 chords. One of them.is your relative minor. So 2 of the 2 are the same scale. Then you have the pentatonic notes that work well in chord progressions. And again your relative minor is one of those.
You also have the chord family to go into more detail of which chords are within the scale. You could learn 1 scale. And find the relative minor. Then use the pentatonics for the other 2 chords in your progression. Those two pentatonics you could use an altered scale like.. diminished. Which is easy to adapt to at anytime in your playing. Then resolve back to your first scale st the turn around. So really.. you only learned 2 scales there but used 4 chords in the scale.. or 3.. whatever.
I've been working with g minor for so long. I have NOT practiced other scales but inhave used them in songs. So i do work on them at.times when I need To. But I'd say about 90 % of material is g minor influenced.
I'd focus on.one scale.for now. Learn the pentatonics. Make progressions. And when you're ready to go further you can add.another scale in there for the other two penatonic chords. Or just diminished. Either way you are mixing 2 scales in and that's where your tension comes from. But you can easily do the majority with 1 scale. 100% doable.
That might already be too in deep Calvin. I am starting to get a grasp of it all so I might be a step further than @MiNDSHiFT and I still didn't get everything you explained
Yeah I myself haven't focused much on the chord families. I just look at the penatonic scale.make a progression using my relative minor or major. And my melodies work off that.i try to land kn the chord root note while soloing over changing scales rather then mixing another scale in. It's easier to improv that way.
First off in principle there are no shortcuts in learning guitar.
Then on to answering your question. Yes chords are related by keys and G C D is correct(a blues progression in fact). The shape you play them in has nothing to do with the key you're in, that's more what happens to be convenient and what you're ear likes.
There is no shortcuts really, let's say you learned the E natural minor scale and can play it very well, next up there's the E phrygian. This is a good example because the only difference Is one note. For E minor there's an F# while for E phrygian that becomes an F. If you have never learned the F phrygian scale you will get lost even though you know 6 out of 7 notes.
Even if you know the shape/patterns of each scale you don't Nescecarily know how to use them and move them around at will so yes you do need to learn all the scales.
Knowing your circle of fifths also helps a lot, since you just have to know what notes are changing from key to key.
For example, I know F is the only note changing from the key of C to the key of G, where it becomes a F#.
Also, knowing the seventh note of your key (B in the key of C, C# in the key of D...) is very useful, since you can always land on this note without too much risk.
Obviously, it requires you to know your fretboard a bit ^^
For example, I know F is the only note changing from the key of C to the key of G, where it becomes a F#.
Also, knowing the seventh note of your key (B in the key of C, C# in the key of D...) is very useful, since you can always land on this note without too much risk.
Obviously, it requires you to know your fretboard a bit ^^
Thank for the quick reply everyone! So much useful info that I couldn't really find anywhere else. I'm going to have to re-re-re-read all of this, but it definately makes way more sense all ready. I really appreciate it guys!
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