Guitar Lesson -- Understanding Keys Part 2

In the first part of this series, we discussed major scales and how they are formed

. The first tone of a major scale defines its key.

All songs that you hear in popular music are played in keys.A key, you will remember, can be viewed as a collection of notes and chords that tend to sound well together. But where do chords come from? We will use the C major scale as an example.

C D E F G A B C

Now let's give each of these notes a number.

C...D...E...F...G...A...B...C

1...2...3...4....5...6...7...8

Looking at this, you can now further define the notes of this scale.

C is the root note

D is the 2nd of C

E is the 3rd of C

F is the 4th of C

G is the 5th of C

A is the 6th of C

B is the 7th of C

C is the 8th or octave of C

If we look at this again in a strict mathematical sense, we can also say that in the key of C:

E is the 3rd of C

F is the 3rd of D

G is the 3rd of E

A is the 3rd of F

B is the 3rd of G

C is the 3rd of A

D is the 3rd of B

Looking at the math, we can say also that not only is G the 5th of C, but is also:

the 2nd of F

the 3rd of E

the 4th of D

the 6th of B

the 7th of A

All of these numbers are called intervals. You can see that all of the notes in this scale has multiple interval relationships with the other notes of the scale.

The interval that we are concerned with as far as chords are concerned, is the 3rd. Major chords are built in 3rds.

C D E F G A B C

We know that E is the third of C, and we know that G is the 3rd of E. We also know that G is also the 5th of C. All fundamental chords, being built in 3rds, will have a root, a 3rd, and a 5th. Let's graph this out

5th.....G A B C D E F G (The 5th of the root is also the 3rd of the 3rd)

3rd......E F G A B C D E

R........C D E F G A B C

Without getting into the "why the major or the minor" for the moment, here are the natural chords in the key of C:

The C chord = C E G

The Dm chord = D F A

The Em chord = E G B

The F chord = F A C

The G chord = G B D

The Am chord = A C E

We will not discuss the B D F combination here. Although it is constructed in 3rds, It is a unique combination that you rarely see in popular music..

In volume 3 of this series, we will discuss the difference between major and minor chords and dig further into the chords that make up a key.

by: James Emery Vigh

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