| 1. | THE KEY OF C | ||||||||||||||||||
| NOTES IN THE KEY | |||||||||||||||||||
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Notes In All Major Keys Important Chords All Major Keys Chord Formulas Maj, Min, Dim, Aug Chords 7th Chords: Dominant, Maj, Min 5th, Sus 2nd, Sus 4th Chords Chord Progressions More Chord Progressions |
Musical beginners (and many of us who aren’t) often wonder how to determine the key of a song. And we also wonder "how do you make a C7 (C Seventh) or GMaj7 (G-Major-Seventh) or a C+ (C Augmented) chord?"
Let's start with the key of C, which is the simplest key. We'll see how to define notes in this key, then go on to other keys. | ||||||||||||||||||
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The notes in the key of C are shown in Table 1. (Technically, the key is actually called the key of C Major.) The notes, starting with C, form the familiar sequence Do - Re - Mi - Fa - So - La - Ti - Do (or C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C) that you probably learned in elementary school. The first note in this key, C, is called the root; and is usually indicated by the Roman numeral I. I have put the usual Roman numerals in the first row of the Table. (Note some are upper case, some lower. I will explain the reasons for this in tutorial 4.) The corresponding Arabic numerals, rather than Roman, are in the second row. The next note, D, is called the second relative to C. The one after, E, is the third; the next, F, is the fourth. The fifth is then G, the sixth is A, and the seventh is B. (Recall that once we go past G, we start over at A, and go up the scale again.) The eighth, or octave, is C again. Even though it has the same name, it doesn't have the same pitch; it's an octave higher, so it is double the frequency of the first C. The ninth is D again, same name as the second. The tenth is E, the eleventh is F. G is the twelfth and A the thirteenth. There's seldom any point in going past the eleventh on the guitar. Why will be evident later. We already saw that the octave (which is the eighth) is the same as the first or root. Just think of subtracting seven from each note (if the note is an eighth, ninth, etc.). So the 9th is the same (note, not the same pitch) as the second (9 - 2 = 7), the 10th is the same as the 3rd (10 - 7 = 3), the 11th is the same as the 4th (11 - 7 = 4), and the 13th is the same as the 6th (13 - 7 = 6). |
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| Table 1. Notes In The Key Of C Major. | |||||||||||||||||||
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| SHARPS AND FLATS ON THE GUITAR | |||||||||||||||||||
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Before we examine other keys, we need to get familiar with flats and sharps, and how to construct them. Recall that the note C# (C-sharp) is halfway between C and D in pitch. G# is halfway between G and A, A# is halfway between A and B, F# is halfway between F and G, and so on. I don't have to use the # notation, I can use the flat (b) notation. And G# is the same as Ab, D# is the same as Eb, C# is the same as Db, and so on. Table 1A shows the flats and sharps of the notes in Table 1. (Although Table 1A only goes through one octave.) You may remember that B# is the same as C, and E# is the same as F. This also means that Cb is the same as B and Fb is the same as E. The difference in pitch between G and A or D and E is called a tone or a step. This means the difference between B and C (or between C and C#) is a half step or a semi-tone. |
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| Table 1A. Notes from Table 1, Plus Flats And Sharps. | |||||||||||||||||||
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On the guitar you flat a note (lower its pitch by a half step or a semi-tone) by moving one fret on the neck, farther from the guitar body. To sharp or raise its pitch by a semi-tone or a half step, you move one fret toward the guitar body. So sharping a note is the same as flatting the next higher note. (This means, as I already stated, that C# is the same as Db, and A# is the same as Bb. Also, in effect, C## is the same as D. (Sharp C twice, you get D. But double sharps are seldom seen in musical scores.) And the note Dbb is the same as C. (Flat D twice, you get C. But double flats are seldom seen, as well.) Notes that are neither flatted nor sharped are called natural notes. In order to construct chords, we first have to figure out how to construct notes in keys other than C. That's next. |
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