In a couple previous posts we talked about determining what key we are in
when the tonal center is a minor chord.

But here's a cool trick to figuring out the key really easily, using something
you already know frontwards and backwards.

In other words, you already know this trick, but didn't know
that you knew it! HA!

Previously, we figured out that having a minor chord as the tonal center, as
in, the song "sounds like" it's minor, could be one of 3 keys.

BUT . . We ALL know what a I IV V is! A 1 4 5. Right. All those songs
we've played forever using 3 chords. Blues, Country, Gospel, Folk . . . Let's
look at the key of C . . .

1-C 2-Dm 3-Em 4-F 5-G7 6-Am 7-Bdim 8-C


The BIG SECRET solution to quickly figuring out the key, in many instances, is the 4 and 5 chord!

Most of you can probably name the 3 principle chords in any key. At least in
the common keys, right?

If I say . . . Key of "G", you know the main chords, in most common use, would be G C & D. Key of A, A D E. Key of C, C F G Key of D, D G A.
Key of E, E A B. Etc.

THIS IS THE KEY! There is only ONE place in every chord scale where there are TWO MAJOR CHORDS, SIDE BY SIDE!
C Dm Em F G Am Bdim C

As in . . .
THE 4M AND 5M CHORDS ARE THE ONLY ONES NEXT TO EACH
OTHER! In EVERY chord scale, the chord combinations are IDENTICAL!
Learn one, you got'm ALL!

(M to m = Major to minor chord)
M to m / m to m / m to M / M to M / M to m / m to Dim / Dim to M

Remember these progressions from one of my previous tutorials?
||: Dm F | C G7 :|| % and ||: F C | Am G7 :|| %

What key are these progressions? (Don’t say one is in Dm! That’s a
mode, not a key!) Check out this tutorial if you didn’t know that.
Am What?

Then come back to this one.

Note that there is an F AND a G in the progression. G or G7, doesn't matter here. But there is ONLY ONE key that has these two chords...F & G! Only one! The key of C.

Some keys will have an F and a Gm. The key of F is F Gm Am etc.
Some will have an Fm and a Gm. The key of Eb is Eb Fm Gm etc.

So, you look at the chords in a progression, or you HEAR an F and a G in the
progression, and BINGO! You're in C!

Application: You see a progression with 2 major chords that are chromatically in a row. In this case, F & G. THINK . . . What key has F & G as 2 of the principle chords of that key? The key of C . . . C F G! (Or ask yourself what's the only key with an F & a G!)

EXCEPTION: Rock n Roll breaks a lot of rules from time to time. Take a song like You Really Got Me or All Day and All Of The Night. Put into a simple key, G, the chords rock back and forth between G and F. G' F' G' F' then move up to the 4 chord, C and plays C ' Bb ' C ' Bb '

Or oldies like Hanky Panky, same thing. G ' F ' G ' F ' Then up to C. C ' Bb ' C ' Bb ' Back to G ' F ' G ' F '. Then the turn around, D ' C ' C ' Bb ' G ' ' ' G D ' ' ' D ' ' '

But this is actually a typical 1 4 5, going from G to C to D. It just rocks back and forth between the chords IN the key with chords NOT in the key. In this case, the key a whole step below the key the song is in, F.

But again, if you LISTEN to these songs, the tonal center is on the G, not the F. Right? One other observation you should make, that's kinda related to the "two major chords next to each other" . . . two MINOR chords next to each other! I'll use the same key as above in this example.

1-C 2-Dm 3-Em 4-F 5-G7 6-Am 7-Bdim 8-C

There is only one place in a chord scale where there are TWO minor chords side by side! The 2nd and 3rd chords.

There is only ONE key that has a Dm and an Em! The key of C! As with the major chords, some keys will have a D and an Em. Some a D and an E. But only the key of C has a Dm and an Em.

THAT has to make it EZPZ! : )

Just keep in mind what the 3 principle chords are in any key. You should know these like the back of your hand! CFG DGA EAB FBbC GCD ADE BbEbF Etc!

BONUS . . . I just gotta throw in SOMETHING Mixolydian, or Bob's gonna go nutz! (Ha! Inside joke!)

OK, how about songs like Cant You See, Marshall Tucker (D C G) - Sweet Home Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd (D C G) They SOUND like they're in D, right? Tonal center is D. But they are in G! 3 principle chords in the key of G are G C D, I don't care what order they're in. The key of D doesn't even have a C in it! It has a C#dim.

These songs are in D Mixolydian! Tonal center is the 5th degree of the key. As in, the 5 chord! How about Satisfaction & Last Time, Rolling Stones (E D A) or What I Like About You, Romantics. (E A D A) Or Gloria by Them, or The Shadows of Knight. (E D A) Or a BUNCH of Neil Diamond tunes. (E A D A)

They sound like they're in E, right? But they're in A! The key of E has no D, it has a D#dim.

These songs are in E Mixolydian! Tonal center is the 5th degree of the key. As in, the 5 chord!

In this case, just like when we had to figure out what key a song was in that started with a minor chord, we need to analyze the DCG or EDA progressions.

This follows EXACTLY where we started. DCG . . . What key has 2 major chords side by side, in this case, C & D? The key of G. E D A . . . Key of A has a D & E next to each other.

Again, it's not rocket science. Rocket science is a LOT easier! HA!

BAZINGA!

Back to the Tutorials Index Page

PS: Hope you found this interesting. If you did, please feel welcome
to drop me a line. Email me, or drop me a PM on Facebook!
Email me any time! ~/~ Wayne on Facebook

My Band and Personal Website

Check out my Support Group Musicians and Performers Support Group

My main Backing Tracks Support Website with over 43,813
free MIDI, KAR and BIAB bacing tracks! SoundFont, MIDI
editors and players and more! 260+ WEB PAGES!
All distributed for free!

Visit the MidKar website!

Please help keep us online with a small donation!

This site is free for all. The tutorials, workshops. 43,813 MIDI, KAR &
BIAB backing tracks files, 23 BIAB User Styles. A FREE SoundFont,
Timbres of Heaven. Free MIDI players and editor!

The fees for a site this large (Nearly 200 pages with over 50K files)
is pretty high, as you can imagine.

Please consider making a small donation to help keep us online. It
would help so much! Thanks! Wayne

PS: I pay for the site and all hosting, security and domain related
expenses out of pocket. Donations appreciated. Please click the link below.