Jam Babble

Understanding keys in music is something beginners often overlook. Whether it’s because they feel it’s too difficult or they just don’t have a need for it I’m not sure. One thing I am sure about is that without some basic understanding of musical theory and how keys work you’ll plateau as a guitar player.

In this lesson I’m going to provide you with a primer on musical keys, how to find the right chords that “fit together” in a particular key as well as provide an example. After reading this article you’ll be able to start figuring out keys for yourself.

What is a Musical Key

The definition of a musical key can get complex. The easiest way to say it is that music in let’s say the Key of D is harmonically centred on the note D major and also uses the notes inside the D major scale. So to fully understand the notes/chords in the Key of D major we must refer to the D major scale, but don’t worry it’s not every note you’re going to be playing. Some sound better then others.

Finding the Right Chords in each Key

There’s an easy method to find the best chords to play together in each key. The method is known as one-four-five, some times written with roman numerals as I-IV-V.

This pattern refers to the note numbers in a given scale. So in our example above in the Key of D major we would refer to the D major scale and pick out the first, fourth and fifth notes that occur. These notes would be the one, the four and the five of the Key of D.

Example in the Key of D

The D major scale looks like this:

D E F# G A B C# D

So from the D major scale we can see that our one is a D, four is a G and five is an A. You can play those notes from the scale as chords and you’ll have a great sounding chord pattern in the key of D.

Watch the following video for some more insight into the I-IV-V pattern and another example.

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Pentatonic guitar scales are usually the first venture outside of chords for most beginners. Pentatonic scales are used in rock & blues guitar music, and are the easiest of most scales to learn since there are one 5 possible variations of shapes to memorize for every possible key you can play in.

This article is going to explain what a pentatonic scale is, show you the first of five shapes you will need to learn and provide an example in A minor using this first shape.

What is a Pentatonic Guitar Scale?

Pentatonic guitar scales are scales made up of only 5 different notes. While you play more then 5 notes during the sale on the neck you only play 5 different notes, that is you play some notes more then once in a different octave. Compared to other scales that contain 7 or more notes, the pentatonic scale is the easiest for beginners to master & memorize.

The A Minor Pentatonic Guitar Scale

Before I describe the scale I want to first show you what it looks like on the guitar neck, you can see it in the first illustration below. Assume that this diagram starts at the fourth fret of your guitar neck, so the second fret in from the left would actually be fret number five.

This diagram shows you first what notes you play during the A minor pentatonic scale in the first shape. Notice how there are 12 notes to be played, how ever there are only 5 different notes: A, C, D G and E.

e|——|–1—|——|——|—4–|——

B|——|–1—|——|——|—4–|——

G|——|–1—|——|—3–|——|——

D|——|–1—|——|—3–|——|——

A|——|–1—|——|—3–|——|——

E|——|–1—|——|——|—4–|——

To understand what fingers to use where I’ve included this second diagram. Keep in mind that we’re assuming the image is starting at the 4th fret, so for the first note you’d be placing for first finger on the 5th fret of the low E string.

e|——|–A—|——|——|—C–|——

B|——|–E—|——|——|—G–|——

G|——|–C—|——|—D–|——|——

D|——|–G—|——|—A–|——|——

A|——|–D—|——|—E–|——|——

E|——|–A—|——|——|—C–|——

Moving this Pentatonic Shape Around the Neck

The great thing about pentatonic guitar scales is the shapes which form the scale (such as the diagram listed above) can be used all over the neck. This example is in the key of A minor, what if you wanted to play it in the Key of G?

Changing the key is easy, slide the shape back two frets and have your starting note now on the 3rd fret of the low E string and you playing in the key of G. By following the exact same pattern but moving everything back two frets you’ll be playing the G major pentatonic scale.

There are 5 different shapes you can play for each key of the pentatonic scales, this is the first. This is an easy position to start with since the root note of the scale is the first note played.

I suggest you go grab you’re guitar and give this scale a go on your own, playing it forwards and backwards. When learning scales with either online guitar lessons, a book or even private lessons learning the material is similar, but practice is what makes it perfect.

If this stuff is a little over your head, don’t worry, you may want to consider trying a beginning guitar dvd. Learning guitar from DVD videos is becoming very popular and is far less expensive then private lessons.