Chords and Keys

Guys,

Is there an easy way of working out what chords are in what key?

eg. Key of C major has the notes C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C.

I understand how to get the first chord which involves the 1st 3rd and 5th note of the scale (C, E and G) aka the C major chord

How do I get the 2nd chord 3rd chord and so and so forth. I do have a book that tells me what chords are in what key but I would like to be able to work it out for myself and improve my theory knowledge.

Thanks guys and gals

Matt

there are maaaany tutorials on this site which can help you with answering that question ;)

personally, I'm not that good in theory

there is one basic chord per note you take that note as the root of the chord and find what would be the third and fith of that chord. so if we take the notes from the orrigonal scale we get what is below

second chord is the 2nd 4th 6th note (D,F,A) which will give Dminor
third chord is the 3rd 5th 7th note (E,G,B) which willl give Eminor
fourth chord is the 4th 6th 8th/1st Fmajour
fith chord is the 5th 7th 2nd Gmajour
sixth chord is the 6th 8th/1st 3rd Aminor
seventh is the 7th 2nd 4th B minor flat 5

the seventh chord isnt used much and sometimes is played as b minor with out the flat 5.

(i got lasy and couldnt be bothered to right the notes of the fourth chord onwards)

Originally Posted by: mattoakesGuys,

Is there an easy way of working out what chords are in what key?

eg. Key of C major has the notes C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C.

I understand how to get the first chord which involves the 1st 3rd and 5th note of the scale (C, E and G) aka the C major chord

How do I get the 2nd chord 3rd chord and so and so forth. I do have a book that tells me what chords are in what key but I would like to be able to work it out for myself and improve my theory knowledge.

Thanks guys and gals

Matt

Ok, if you want the basic bottom of the barrel explanation on how to find the other chords like the first one you just follow the same pattern. Pick a note then skip a note, take the next, then skip another and take the last one.

Example: C D E F G A B
C E G
D F A
E G B
F A C
G B D
A C E
B D F

See the pattern? That's essentially what the results look like. However, there's a science behind why those notes are chosen and why it looks like that. The science is chord construction and it's all based around those blasted things we call intervals. I don't know how fluent you are in music theory jargon, so I'm gonna assume the worst so there's no confusion. An interval is just like an inch on a ruler, or a quart in a milk carton. It's a unit of measurement. It measures the distance from one note to another. You're not actually taking the first, third, and fifth notes in that scale, you're actually taking the root, third, and fifth intervals. Here's a little diagram that shows a list of the names of the intervals. On the right I have put notes to give you an idea of where it's going.

root ---------- C
minor 2nd ----- C#/Db
major 2nd ----- D
minor 3rd ------ D#/Eb
major 3rd ----- E
perfect 4th --- F
diminished 5th -F#/Gb
perfect 5th --- G
minor 6th ----- G#/Ab
major 6th ----- A
minor 7th ----- A#/Bb
major 7th ----- B
octave ------- C

Now, that's including every note. Now, the scale that you've posted above (C Major) is a selection of all the notes I just posted. And the type of interval that each note is in comparison to C as our root note all stays the same, we've just omitted the rest of the notes from being played. So when you base a chord off a different note, say D, you've changed the root note, and in turn the whole entire cycle is repeated with D as the beginning where D# would be the new minor 2nd and so forth. So there you have it.

Boy I hope that made sense. Good luck to you.

wow, thnx Cryptic! I got this little theory book which is really great and helpfull, only it's not that detailed in chord construction and progression

allthough I have some questions

is it always the root, 3rd and 5th note that you take for a chord? and why is that?

and with a C-major (--C-E-G-G-E) ah... I see now, lol, so you only play those three notes in that chord, is there a differents in how the notes are arranged? like for instance 2 times G, 2 times G and one time C as it's being played right now

let's see:
D-major (----D-A-D-F)
E-major (E-B-E-G#-B-E)
F-major (--A-F-A-C-F)
G-major (G-B-D-G-D-G)
A-major (E-A-E-A-C#-E)
B-major (E-B-F#-B-D#-F#)

ah I finally understand, why the root note is so important, because it affects the intervals you gotta pick in order to make a chord :)

Awesome,
You guys are hero's, for once I actually understand some theory. My ex tutor always confused me by talking about notes being from a sea of notes and if ur in one key you only take a bag of notes!!!

Thank you very very very much, this is the simplistic approach I have been seeking for over a year now!!

Just proves how good this site is!!

PS Can I register with the highbandwidth lessons without a credit card?

Thanks again

chords can be made of any of the notes in the key. for instance there are ninth chords which have the root 3rd 5th 7th and 9th ( the 9th is a second that has a higher pitch than the 7th) i dunno really y this matters but that is what it is. if u want to get more expresive chords i recomend learnin the main types of 7th chord

Majour seventh root, 3rd, 5th, 7th
minor seventh root, minor 3rd, 5th minor, 7th
dominant 7th or 7th chord root, 3rd, 5th, minor 7th
diminished 7th root, minor 3rd, diminished 5th, minor 7th

A real quick reply.

These are the typically accepted Triads of a C Major Scale.

C Major - C E G
D minor - D F A
E minor - E G B
F Major - F A C
G Major - G B D
A minor - A C E
B diminished - B D F

Hope this helps. Peace.

-Kyle Hicks ( Kole )
-http://www.myspace.com/kolemusic