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Musical Keys

The actual definition of a musical key is rather in depth. If a piece of music is in the Key of A then this states that it harmonically centred on the note A and makes use of those notes in the A major scale. Does it make use of all the notes? Maybe, but probably not. So what notes or chords should you be playing in the key of A major? That’s what we want to find out.

Choosing what chords to play

There’s an easy way to find out what chords you should be playing in each key. It starts by looking at the given scale for the key you want to play in. We’ll continue with the example from above in the key of A major. The pattern we’re going to use is known  as I-IV-V or one-four-five. This takes the first, fourth and fifth notes from a given scale and combines them in a progression which sounds nice together. This same pattern shows up a  lot in popular music and songs. Following our A major example let’s look at the A major scale: A B C# D E F# G# A

The first note is the A, the root note will always be the first note. Next we look to the four which is a D and the five which is an E. So the A chord, D chord and E chord will work really well together in the key of A.

Take a few minutes to watch the video below that goes along with this article. It will provide further explanation and another example to help you understand.

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So how do you determine what chords you should be playing for a 12 bar blues progression. Well it depends what key you want to play in. You start with the scale of the key you want to play in. Let’s say you want to play in the Key of A. So you’d look at the A major scale and from that you’d pick out the first, fourth and fifth notes from that scale. These correspond to the chords you’re going to play for the 12 bar blues in the key of A.

Let’s continue with the idea of the key of A. You’ve got the first, fourth and fifth notes from the scale. We’re going to now plug those into the 12 bar blues pattern which looks like this:

1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 4 – 4 – 1 – 1 – 5 – 4 – 1 – 5

The numbers of course correspond to the notes you would have determined already. Each number stands for one measure in the progression. So if we assume we’re playing 4 beats per measure then each number would be 4 beats of that particular note, or chord.

So let’s look at a short example using what we’ve learned so far. We’ll stick with the Key of A. First we need to review the A major scale:

A – B – C# – D – E – F# – G# – A

Next we pick out the first, fourth and fifth notes from that scale. For the key of A it would be A, D and E.

Finally we place these notes into the 12 bar blues progression above which gives us this:

A – A – A – A – D – D – A – A – E – D – A – E

That’s all there is to the theory behind the 12 bar blues. Of course you need to learn what type of chords to play and what feel to give your strumming. This is best left to the video I’ve recorded that’s below. Take a few minutes to watch that video now and you should be able to go grab your guitar and play a basic 12 bar blues in the Key of A.

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Today I’m going to start you on that journey by teaching you how to properly play the E and G major chords. At the end of this article there is a lesson video that goes through the Tab and finger positions for the chords so I suggest you watch that as well as read this.

Tips Before we Start

Remember to use the tips of your fingers when you’re pressing on the strings. This ensure that you only press on the string you intend to. Using the fleshing part of your finger will most likely cause you to blunt the string above or below.

The E major Chord

E – 0 –
B – 0 –
G – 1 –
D – 2 –
A – 2 –
E – 0 –

To play an E chord you use your first three fingers and position them: second finger on 2nd fret of A string, third finger on 2nd fret of D string and first finger on 1st fret of D string. Play all six strings when you strum the E chord.

The G major Chord

E – 3 –
B – 0 –
G – 0 –
D – 0 –
A – 2 –
E – 3 –

To play a G major chord you also use the first three fingers and position them: second finger on 3rd fret of the low E string, first finger on 2nd fret of the A string and third finger on 3rd fret of the high E string. Strum all six strings when playing the G chord.

Practice making the shapes first before you worry about being able to strum the chord. It will take some time for muscle memory to build up in your hand and for the chord shape to feel second nature.

Take a few minutes to watch the video below that better explains the chord shapes, tab and a practice exercise to use.

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Take your time when learning the D7 chord, the shape can be difficult to make at first on the fret board, but with time it will become easier. A quick mention of the tablature I’ve used to explain the chords below. X’s stand for strings that are not to be strummed, numbers represent the fret number to play on a particular string and 0′s stand for strings to be played open without any frets being pressed.

Beginner C Chord

E — 0 —
B — 1 —
G — 0 —
D — X —
A — X —
E — X —

To play this beginner chord place your first finger on the first fret of the B string, remember to use your finger tip, and strum the bottom three strings.

Beginner G Chord

E — 3 —
B — 0 —
G — 0 —
D — X —
A — X —
E — X —

To play this chord, like the C chord, you only need to use one finger. Press the third fret of the E string down with your 3rd finger and strum the bottom 3 strings.

Beginner D7 Chord

E — 1 —
B — 2 —
G — 1 —
D — X —
A — X —
E — X —

This chord requires you to use three fingers at once, so give it some time to feel right and don’t be frustrated if it doesn’t sound exactly right the first time. Place your second finger on the 1st fret of the E string, your third finger on the 2nd fret of the B string and your first finger on the 1st fret of the G string.

This is the intro to playing chords. Starting playing the chords one at a time before you try switching between them. Switching chord while continuing to strum takes some practice and you’ll get there but don’t try to rush yourself to quickly.

Below is a video that goes over these three chords again and also explains the best method to practice them.

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What if you don’t have a tuner handy? You could be at a store playing a guitar for sale, a friends place who doesn’t own a tuner or around a camp fire trying to play sing-a-long songs.

Knowing how to tune your guitar by ear is an important beginner skill and that’s what we’re going to cover today. At the end of this lesson there’s a short video that covers everything we talk about here and provides a walk-through example. Take a few minutes to watch that video after you’re done reading.

The Magic of the 5th Fret

Tuning your guitar by ear isn’t difficult. There are only three things you must keep in mind.

1.)The note of any given string is the same as the 5th fret played on the string above it
2.)There is one exception, the B string is the same as the 4th fret on the G string above it
3.)To tune the low E, or 6th string either match it to the tone of the open high E string or play the 5th fret of the B string (note the low E should be one octave lower then the E played on the 5th fret of the B string.

Example: The D string seems a bit out of tune on your guitar, to test you can play the 5th Fret of the A string above it and then strike the open D string. If the D seems like it’s lower or higher then the 5th fret of the A string adjust it with the tuning peg.

Be Careful

It can happen that the string you’re tuning to (in above example you would be tuning to the A string on the 5th Fret) is out of tune. If you sense this might be the case take a moment to first check the tuning of the string in question (in example above the A string). You can do this by verifying the tuning with the string above it.

Practicing

It’s a good idea to practice this technique each day you sit down to play. Before you start practicing take a few minutes to check all your strings to ensure they’re in tune. This will get faster as you practice and eventually become second nature.

Take a few minutes now to watch the video below. It covers the same concepts as in this article then walks you through a sample tuning of all the strings on your guitar.

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In this article I’ll show you the simple pattern you can use for learning the guitar notes on each string. We’ll first look at half and whole steps between notes and how they transfer to the guitar neck, next we’ll review the space in steps and frets between each note and finally an example to tie it all together.

After reading this post please watch the video at the end. It covers everything the post talks about plus a more detailed example. You should be able to find each variation of major notes A through G on the neck once you’re done this post and video.

Steps

The first concept to understand is what a step is. Steps, both whole and half steps, come from the concept of the piano keys and the space between each note. Between most notes there is one full step except for between the B and C notes and E and F notes. There is only one half step between these two sets of notes.

Frets as Steps

So that’s great, a half or whole step between notes, how do we play this on the guitar? Well good news, each fret on your guitar neck denotes on half step. So now you can use the space between each note on the guitar neck in terms of frets.

Here’s an overview of the spacing in terms of frets between each major note:

A to B = 2 Frets
B to C = 1 Fret
C to D = 2 Frets
D to E = 2 Frets
E to F = 1 Fret
F to G = 2 Frets
G to A = 2 Frets

Using the above information we now look at a simple example on your guitar neck.

Let’s start with the low E string. Playing that string open is an E note and what comes after an E? An F right? The spacing is only 1 fret between an E and an F so if we play the 1st fret on that E string we’ll be playing an F.

NEXT

After F comes G, from our list above there is 2 frets between an F and a G note so sliding up two frets to the 3rd fret is a G. Finally if we go from our G to the A note, another full step, we’re at the 5th fret.

This pattern will continue all the way up that low E string until you run out of frets, but I’m sure you get the picture with that simple example.

Next take some time to watch the video below. It covers the same concepts but also shows you what we’re talking about and gives a more in depth example. After you watch this video I suggest grabbing your guitar to give it a shot on your own.

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The CAGED system is based on the chord shapes for C, A, G, E and D. The system works so that you can find barre chords on the neck using the five different shapes for the above mentioned chords to make up all of the major chords on the guitar.

EXAMPLE: a barre chord with an E shape at the 3rd fret is a G chord.

By first understanding how the CAGED system works and then finding the different variations of other major chords all over the guitar neck you can easily learn where to play any major chord in a variety of locations.

The video below is an explanation of the CAGED system as well as an example using the E major chord of how it works and the different variations using an A, C, D and G shape to form an E chord on the neck.  Watch the video and take note how you can make an E chord using these different shapes on the 2nd, 4th, 7th and 9th frets. This process can be repeated for any major chord.

I’d suggest after watching the video you grab your guitar and spend a little time finding the different variations of other major chords on the neck. There is value in memorizing all of these variations for each chord, especially if you jam with others a lot.

For starters just focus on learning and using the CAGED system. It makes learning different variations of major chords a lot easier.

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A good rule of thumb is change your guitar strings once every couple of months. You can change them less often if you wipe them down after each use and store your guitar in a cool dry place.

If you replace your string often your guitar will always sound bright and cheerful. Better guitarists tend to change their string regularly while less than average guitarists don’t change them much in order to save a small amount of money. You need to decide what works best for you.

Although strumming is possible using just your fingers there is no point in making life difficult for yourself. Some of the more advanced lessons on this site will deal with finger style guitar in detail.

Holding The Pick

The pick should be held lightly between the thumb and the first finger (index) as shown in the pictures below.The easiest way to find the correct way to hold a pick is to imagine it as an extension of your index finger’s nail.

Holding the pick lightly allows it greater flexibility to move up and down and to the left and right as your play. This slight movement gives you better striking action as you strum.

How To Hold A Guitar Pick

There are several common mistakes beginners make when holding the guitar pick. Nearly all of the mistakes result in the a loss of control when strumming and the pick falling out of your hand, either onto the ground or into the guitar sound hole.

Clenching The Fist

The first mistake is clenching your fist. Holding your pick with a clenched fist restricts the movement of your wrist and the finer movements from your finger tips as your play. Nearly all of your right hand movement will have to come from the movement of your elbow. As you can imagine the difference between moving your elbow to pick each and simply moving your fingers is very noticeable. The more elbow movement required the less precise and accurate your picking will be.

Holding A Guitar Pick With A Clenched Fist

Holding the Pick With Your Finger Tips

This is a very common mistake among new guitarists. Instead of supporting the pick on the side of your index finger you hold it with the finger tip. Doing this will result in poor control when you are strumming.

There is one other thing you need to know about…

Sometimes you will see guitarists (even very good ones) holding the pick using two or even three fingers. Although there is nothing wrong with doing this I advise against it.

The reason is twofold.

First of all there is no advantage to using two fingers. Secondly when you start playing harmonics and tapping later on it is very useful to have that extra finger available.