Do you get frustrated not understanding what chords you’re supposed to play in the key of C, or the Key of A? If you don’t have any musical theory understanding then this beginner lesson on keys and the one-four-five concept will help you out a lot.
In this article and the following video I’m going to show you how to find the right chords to play together for any key. After reading you should feel confident that you could go out and find the information to determine what chords belong in any key.
Finding the Right Chords
A musical key is made up of notes from a given scale. So if music is being played in the key of C then the main note is going to be C major but there will also be other notes taken from the C major scale. Which notes you might ask? Well it varies, but for popular music and most songs you will be learning there’s a pattern.
One-Four-Five
If you know what key you are or want to play in you can quickly find the right chords to play together by using a natural pattern known as one-four-five, also written as I-IV-V.
This pattern takes the corresponding scale to the key you want to play in and picks out the first, fourth and fifth degrees of the scale to form the best sounding progression.
Example in the Key of A
Let’s say we want to play a progression that sounds nice in the Key of A. First we would look at the A major scale. We already know that A major is going to be one of our notes. In fact, it will be the one since it’s the root note of the scale.
Here is the rest of the A major scale:
A B C# D E F# G# A
So if A is the one then D and E are the four and five respectively.
Taking these three notes you can formulate a nice progression. This same pattern holds true for all scales in any key.
Take a few minutes to watch the video below. It will explain in more detail exactly what one-four-five means and also provide you with another example.
Like this lesson video, but you ready for more guitar lessons and musical theory? Why not try an acoustic guitar lessons dvd. DVD lessons are becoming the quickest and easiest method of learning to play guitar from home, and for less money then private instruction.
Musical Keys on the Guitar and the Pattern of One-Four-Five
Do you get frustrated not understanding what chords you’re supposed to play in the key of C, or the Key of A? If you don’t have any musical theory understanding then this beginner lesson on keys and the one-four-five concept will help you out a lot.
In this article and the following video I’m going to show you how to find the right chords to play together for any key. After reading you should feel confident that you could go out and find the information to determine what chords belong in any key.
Finding the Right Chords
A musical key is made up of notes from a given scale. So if music is being played in the key of C then the main note is going to be C major but there will also be other notes taken from the C major scale. Which notes you might ask? Well it varies, but for popular music and most songs you will be learning there’s a pattern.
One-Four-Five
If you know what key you are or want to play in you can quickly find the right chords to play together by using a natural pattern known as one-four-five, also written as I-IV-V.
This pattern takes the corresponding scale to the key you want to play in and picks out the first, fourth and fifth degrees of the scale to form the best sounding progression.
Example in the Key of A
Let’s say we want to play a progression that sounds nice in the Key of A. First we would look at the A major scale. We already know that A major is going to be one of our notes. In fact, it will be the one since it’s the root note of the scale.
Here is the rest of the A major scale:
A B C# D E F# G# A
So if A is the one then D and E are the four and five respectively.
Taking these three notes you can formulate a nice progression. This same pattern holds true for all scales in any key.
Take a few minutes to watch the video below. It will explain in more detail exactly what one-four-five means and also provide you with another example.
Like this lesson video, but you ready for more guitar lessons and musical theory? Why not try an acoustic guitar lessons dvd. DVD lessons are becoming the quickest and easiest method of learning to play guitar from home, and for less money then private instruction.