Question:
Pretty much explained in the title... I thought, at first, that it was by taking the chords and finding what scale they fit in, and voila, you have your key... But that doesn't seem right. A song I wrote would be in three keys at one point, then. That's not right. What's the way to do it?
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Ok, let me see the chord progression.
Keys are more like guidelines than rules, too. Keys can change a lot in a song. And chords can have accidentals.
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Originally Posted by Rainer. Ok, let me see the chord progression.
Keys are more like guidelines than rules, too. Keys can change a lot in a song. And chords can have accidentals.
C D in the verses, then the chorus goes Bm G Bm C G D.
And another goes D A Bm G D A D.
So there's no general guideline?
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That would be the key of G.
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Originally Posted by Rainer. That would be the key of G.
Do you tell by the scales? Because it'd also be in the key of C, correct?
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The third part looks more like a standard progression in the key of D. The other ones don't look very standard.
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But how do I tell what key they're in? I'm not necessarily asking what key they're in, but how you can tell.
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The third part looks more like a standard progression in the key of D. The other ones don't look very standard.
agreed. the first one could be G, but I doubt it, and the second one is def in the key of D. One way to tell, though not ALWAYS correct is to look at the first and last chord in a song, especially if the next to last chord is a V(5) chord. It's the most common cadence.
For example, in your second song, the next to last chord is A, which is the fifth of D, thus the V chord (or dominant if you want to sound educated) in the key of D.
Answer:
Originally Posted by DaGeek But how do I tell what key they're in? I'm not necessarily asking what key they're in, but how you can tell.
Break down the triad of each chord. That will give you the harmonic structure from which you can derive the key center.
C D in the verses, then the chorus goes Bm G Bm C G D.
C is the IV of G, D is the V of G, Bm is the iii of G, and G is the I of G.
It's in G.
D A Bm G D A D.
D is the I chord of D, A is the V chord of D, Bm is the vi chord of D, G is the IV of D.
It's in D.
Do you understand the triad of a chord?
Do you understand how to create that triad from a scale?
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an easy way to tell what the key of a song is in is by looking at the 1st and last chord. If there the same thats the key of the song most the time and that would also be the key of the scale you should be using to solo/lead.
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The first and last rule doesn't work all the time, though. Case in point: Wonderful Maker, starts with C, but it's in the key of G.
Because it'd also be in the key of C, correct?
Bm and D have accidentals in the key of C. Namely, F#. Since in all the chords you listed for the first progression have no Fs and have F#s, it's safe to say that F# is in the key of the song, meaning the key of G.
What it really boils down to, however, is what the composer's intended tonality is.
Answer:
Originally Posted by gtrdave Break down the triad of each chord. That will give you the harmonic structure from which you can derive the key center.
C is the IV of G, D is the V of G, Bm is the iii of G, and G is the I of G.
It's in G.
D is the I chord of D, A is the V chord of D, Bm is the vi chord of D, G is the IV of D.
It's in D.
Do you understand the triad of a chord?
Do you understand how to create that triad from a scale?
Yeah, I understand how to make a triad. For example, a C:
C E G as the notes, correct? Thank you, guys, I think I see how you find the key, now
Answer:
Originally Posted by Rainer. The first and last rule doesn't work all the time, though. Case in point: Wonderful Maker, starts with C, but it's in the key of G.
Bm and D have accidentals in the key of C. Namely, F#. Since in all the chords you listed for the first progression have no Fs and have F#s, it's safe to say that F# is in the key of the song, meaning the key of G.
What it really boils down to, however, is what the composer's intended tonality is.
But there's a good chance tho for most worship songs.
If the last and 1st chord arent the same it can sometimes be the 1st.
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If you are going to get serious about song writing it might be helpful to learn some basic music theory. Its okay to break the rules some but I think its best to learn to do it by the rules first.
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Originally Posted by presbystrat If you are going to get serious about song writing it might be helpful to learn some basic music theory. Its okay to break the rules some but I think its best to learn to do it by the rules first.
Sounds like a good plan. Any books you'd suggest? I'm pretty sure I'll have a guitar teacher soon, which is excellent news to me, but I'd like to concentrate on learning how to solo with the teacher, probably... I dunno.