Rob from Brooklyn NY

[RobertJohann]

Hi everyone and I’m pretty new at this so bare with me. I’m doing the Griffs Guitar Theory Made Easy course which I find is great. However, I’m up to lesson 10 which is What Key Is This In and unfortunately I’m kind
of lost. I know Griff is doing a great job with this course but somehow I’m kind of lost on this lesson. I’m just must be missing something. Can anyone lend a hand so that I can understand it better. I hope I’m doing this right and this message gets through. Ok thanks everyone. Rob

 

[jmin]

Hey, Rob! Welcome! I've been working on Griff's GTMU course, so I may be able to help, but if not, there are plenty "theory" gurus around to answer just about any question you might have. And if they can't, Griff will eventually get to it.
For a "Forum" tip, you have placed this post in the "Introduce Yourself" forum, where folks just typically say hello and tell a little about themselves.
It's not wrong to ask questions, but for specific course questions, like "Guitar Theory Made Useful," it's usually better to put the question in that forum. In this case, since GTMU is a "smaller course," you'll actually use the "Everything Else" forum.
I'll look for your questions in the other forum! Good luck!

 

[artyman]

Hi and welcome from one of the UK mob, great bunch on her with plenty of advice and encouragement, so make yourself at home.

 

[MarkDyson]

Welcome, welcome!

 

[steve o]

Welcome to the forum Rob, it’s awesome having you with us! As far as your theory question, you should get a lot of responses from people on this forum that can help you. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them

 

[PapaBear]

Welcome Rob, by the time the theory buff's get through you'll be well sorted out, or much deeper in confusion!

 

[tommytubetone]

Hi Rob. Welcome to the forum!

 

[arock]

Welcome to the forum, Rob!

 

[CaptainMoto]

Welcome Rob,
I'm a terrible student so, If I took that course, I forgot what it tells you.
I'll offer up a very simple concept though:

Most blues are in a 1, 4, 5 chord progression.
The first chord played in the progression is the 1 chord.
The 1 chord can be any chord and it establishes what key the song is in.

Example:
The 1, 4, 5 progression is A, D, E, making "A" the 1 chord and therefore establishing the song as being in the key of A.
If you combine that knowledge with a basic understanding of the fret board you can find the key to any song.

Example:
You hear a blues song and can hear the chord progression but you're ear is not developed enough to identify a chord just by hearing it.
You can hunt for the root note of that chord by picking each note on the low E string.
Using the Low E string pick the notes on each fret (from 0 -11) until you strike the one that matches the chord you are hearing.
Now you have found the root note of the 1 chord.

While listening to a blues in A.
As you move up the fret board, the note on the 5th fret it sounds right.
The note on the 5th fret of the Low E string is "A".
You have now found the root note of the 1 chord and you know the key is "A"

Now that you found the 1 chord of a 1, 4, 5 progression you will know that the 4 chord is D and the 5 chord is E.

 

[MikeS]

Hi everyone and I’m pretty new at this so bare with me. I’m doing the Griffs Guitar Theory Made Easy course which I find is great. However, I’m up to lesson 10 which is What Key Is This In and unfortunately I’m kind
of lost. I know Griff is doing a great job with this course but somehow I’m kind of lost on this lesson. I’m just must be missing something. Can anyone lend a hand so that I can understand it better. I hope I’m doing this right and this message gets through. Ok thanks everyone. Rob

Hi Rob, first let me welcome you to the Forum (the area that you posted in is for that). I'll copy this question about the course to the appropriate course area. There you should be able to search for your question or give us more specifics about what is stumping you so that we can help.

 

[MikeS]

Hi everyone and I’m pretty new at this so bare with me. I’m doing the Griffs Guitar Theory Made Easy course which I find is great. However, I’m up to lesson 10 which is What Key Is This In and unfortunately I’m kind
of lost. I know Griff is doing a great job with this course but somehow I’m kind of lost on this lesson. I’m just must be missing something. Can anyone lend a hand so that I can understand it better. I hope I’m doing this right and this message gets through. Ok thanks everyone. Rob

Can you give us an example of what has you confused ?
(I admit I struggled with the "What Key Is this " thing because I kept selecting songs that had "Passing Chords" or "changed key just to include a chord", so about half the time the formulas didn't work for me (or they did work but because of the above I didn't realize it).

 

[Paleo]

In Lesson 10, Griff keeps it "simple" and only uses progressions from Major Keys, without any chords from outside the key.

Following the Standard Harmony Rule for harmonizing any Major Scale you will always get the following result:

Maj(I) min(ii) min(iii) Maj(IV) Maj(V) min(vi) dim (viib5)

I, IV &V are always Major; ii,iii,&vi are always minor; viidim(mb5)

Example: C Major: C-Dm-Em-F-G-Am-Bmb5

In Griff's first example you start with an A Major chord, so this has to be a I in A Major or a IV in E Major or a V in D Major.

So you work out the chords in all 3 keys following the SHR and see which key has all the chords in the example.

In the next lesson Griff will give you a couple of "shortcuts".

If you have 2 Major chords a whole step apart, they must be IV & V of a key.

If you have 2 minor chords a whole step apart, they must be ii & iii of a key.

One shortcut I use is to simply make a chart writing out all the chords in all 12 keys, following the Circle of 5ths. It doesn't really take very long, it will be instructive, and once you've done it you always have it for reference.

Then take any chord in a progression, find it in the proper column (Major or minor) and see if the other chords are also in that key. If not, there are only 2 other columns the chord will be in and one of those will match.

Welcome

Good luck

Feel free to follow up and ask for clarification if you're still having difficulty.

 

[david moon]

The first chord of the song is often the key; but not always. Starting on the V is fairly common. Listen to the bass to find the roots.