Guitar Keys...Unlock The Door!

Guitar keys. What are they? How are they different from car keys? Will they unlock the door to guitar music theory?

Yes. A basic understanding of them will definitely unlock doors with your guitar playing. How? You'll recognize the basic patterns that happen in most music. You'll eventually even be able to recognize those patterns when you hear them. You'll start developing the ability to play guitar by ear and have a deeper connection to the music you play.

So, what are they? Strictly speaking there are 12 keys altogether. Just like there are 12 frets on a guitar before it repeats. Or 12 keys on a piano --7 white and 5 black.

For our purposes of music theory for guitar, guitar keys are the keys that allow you to play the least amount of barre chords :-) These would be keys that relate to basic open position chords. C A G E D and Ami Emi Dmi.

Simple. I like simple. It doesn't mean that we can't play guitar in other keys. It just means that these keys are guitar friendly. They have more open strings and your fingers will line up with the dots more often :-)

Before we go further…it's important to point out the difference between keys. What's the difference between one key and another key? As you'll see in the guitar video lesson below the same song can be played in 2 different keys -- in 12 different keys for that matter!

First I play and sing the folk song Amazing Grace in the key of D, and then in the key of G. Both times it sounds like the same song -- but in the key of D, I need to pitch my voice differently in order to sing the melody. That's the difference! See the guitar lesson video below and hear the difference for yourself.

Guitar Theory Lessons 101

If you want to learn and master guitar it's imperative to memorize the Primary Chords in the guitar keys. This is actually very easy to do. If you apply yourself it should only take a few weeks before it starts to become a part of your musical expression.

Think in numbers! That way, when you need to play in a certain key you'll be able to do so. It just makes life with music so much simpler :-)

Each key has 3 Primary Chords -- just like there are 3 Primary Colours. (Canadian spelling, eh? ) Think of the chords as being colours. Except instead of seeing them with your eyes, you see them with your ears!

Sidenote: Just to let you know, there are also 3 Secondary Chords in each key. But that's beyond the scope of this lesson. See guitar theory lessons for more on this topic.

These Primary Chords correspond to the numbers 1, 4 and 5 in the major scale. In music we use Roman Numerals for chords -- so we don't get confused with other situations where numbers are also used. In case you don't know, IV is 4 and V is 5. I is 1 . So I , IV and V.

Oh yes…in some places such as classical conservatories the I Chord is called the tonic. The IV Chord is subdominant and the V Chord is dominant.

Important point to be aware of. The V Chord is quite often played as a V7 Chord. For example in the key of C the V Chord would be G and the V7 Chord would be G7. Which one to use? It depends on the style of the song you're playing. The more experience you gain the more you'll be able to trust your own judgement about which one to use :-) For now, just do it!

In the guitar lesson video I show you how to count up in the guitar keys so you can find the 3 Primary Chords. Here's an example. In the key of G, G is obviously 1. So START counting on G and go up 4. You come to C and then D is 5. So the 3 Primary Chords in the key of G are G, C and D -- or D7.

Guitar Keys Exercise ...here's a simple guitar keys exercise. Click here to read as a PDF in your browser, or right-click to download and print it.

Remember…The musical alphabet goes from A to G and then repeats.

Even though we play guitar and mostly concern ourselves with guitar keys it's super helpful to have some music theory basics. I highly recommend picking a few simple songs that use only the Primary Chords. Songs such as Happy Birthday, Kumbaya, Twinkle Twinkle, Feliz Navidad etc. Figure them out by ear. You'll need to sing along.

Not so easy? I've had students who can "wiggle their fingers really fast" but when I asked them if they'd be able to play the chords for Happy Birthday to a family member and sing along, they couldn't! It's actually pretty easy -- and a big part of being musical. Stick with it a bit and you'll see just how much fun playing easy songs in easy guitar keys is! Next family get together or party? :-)

I hope this guitar lesson on guitar keys has helped you on your guitar playing journey. Thanks for tuning in and tuning up!

Dave

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