2 Ways To Find The Key

I was going through my note-taking from Jermaine's teachings and came across some valuable tips. It's about the 2 primary ways to find the key. 

Intuitively

• Any given time, there is one note you can press down while listening to a song and it will always feel like "home." 
• Common Tone
• Home Base
• Harmonics
• The I
• The Tonic
• True Key

Analytically

• Like DNA, every major key has a unique set of chords. For example, take F Major Scale: F G A Bb C D E F. The key of F has 3 different types of chords: major, minor, diminished.

1. Major Chords: F major, Bb major, C major.
2. Minor Chords: G minor, A minor, D minor.
3. Diminished Chord: E diminished.

• There is only ONE key that has this combination of chords... F major! While C major is close, (C Major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A minor, B diminished); it does not contain the exact musical DNA of F major.
• Like a detective, you can learn to follow these clues to lead you to the right key. Of course, your ear and intuition should be the final judge!

Pro Tips

• The key of the song is essentially the first tone of the scale, aka - "the tonic." We're looking for a scale to place the song in so we can work our magic with the number system, chords, and patterns (the subsequent steps to playing by ear! Without a reference point (the "key" or "the 1"), we're lost.
• Every tone of the scale produces a chord. The first tone of the scale produces a major chord (aka - "the 1-chord"). This is the chord you're listening for. It's usually found at the beginning and end of the song (but not always).
• All songs wrap around to the beginning (usually after the end of the verse or chorus).If you can hum the first chord that's played when the song returns to the beginning, that's likely the 1-chord or the key!
• It will sound like a common tone you can hold down during the entire song.
• In fact, even though the song is progressing from chord to chord, pattern to pattern, this ONE tone will never clash with any of the chords, regardless of what's going on in the song. It's always harmonious.
• If you had to close your eyes and imagine the very last chord of the song...the chord that propels the audience to their feet, clapping and cheering (because even they know it's the last ending chord) -- that's most likely the key of the song, the common "home base" tone we're looking for. 
• If you're not good at finding the key of a song, the good news is you can work on it DAILY while driving in your car -- no piano needed!
• It is recommended that you first hum the key with your own voice before jumping on the piano to figure out what key you're humming. If you can heat it, you can sing it, and if you can sing it, you can play it!

More articles I've written:

What If There Isn't A Transpose Button

Nashville Number System Explained

So, you will probably want to look for the 300pg Course Book that is offered from Hear and Play. It's a fantastic music theory resource book that I continually use with my students.

All the best,

-- LadyD

 "The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

Most Common Variations on the Seventh Chord

Image via Wikipedia

Most Common Variations on the Seventh Chord:

* All these chords are possible substitutions for the plain sounding seventh chord, although not every alternative works in all situations. This leaves experimentation up to you.

* All the chords in the group below contain the flat seven (Bb).


* An understanding of these C7 chord types will lead to mastery of the corresponding chords in other keys. Figure them out, write them down, practice them, and memorize them.


C9 = C E G Bb D


Caug7 = C E G# Bb


C7-9 = C E G Bb Db


C7+9 = C E G Bb D#


Csus4(7) = C F G Bb


C11 = C E G Bb D F

Exercises on C Am Dm G7

This simple four-chord progression contains major, minor, and seventh chords. Thus, it makes a wonderful basis for an exercise witht the chord substitutions. Practice using all the substitutions we have learned in this pattern until your hands are familiar with the chords and your ears are familiar with how they sound.


C = C E G

Am = A C E


Dm = D F A


G7 = G B D F

Scale-tone 7th Chords

The Scale-tone 7th chords of the major scale are formed in the same way as the scale-tone triads . For the 7th chords four notes of the major scale are used instead of three.

1. By stacking three alternate notes of the C major scale on top of the tonic C, a C major 7th chord is formed : C - E - G - B
2. Stacking three alternate notes of the C major scale on top of D produces the second scale-tone 7th chord, this time Dm7 : D - F - A - C
3. Stacking three alternate notes of the C major scale on top of E produces the third scale-tone 7th chord, Em7 : E - G - B - D and so on.

Repeating this process for each note of the C major scale produces seven scale-tone 7th chords.

For the major scale in any key :

the I Chord is always a major 7th chord

the II Chord is always a minor 7th chord

the III Chord is always a minor 7th chord

the IV Chord is always a major 7th chord

the V Chord is always a dominant 7th chord

the VI Chord is always a minor 7th chord

the VII Chord is always a half diminished chord

Learn about nearest notes and common notes:
Seventh Chords


Here's a review on altered chords, chord substitutions, secondary chords:
http://mugglinw.ipower.com/chordmaps/part4.htm
 
Thanks for stopping by.
I hope you enjoy your stay at LadyD Piano.

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