Topic: what key is a song in?
how do i figure out what key a song is in? i would like to know so i can start playing with my backing tracks. any help would be appreciated. thanks 
"A bad note is only a fret or two away from a good note." Anonymous
Re: what key is a song in?
Hello.
When you practice alot you will find it easy to find the key of the backing tracks. If you move your scale up and down the fret board you will find the spot where all the notes sound good and you have found the key. The backing tracks I sent you should have the key before or after the title. They will say for instance the Mustang Sally track, mustang120c this means 120 beats per minute which is the tempo and the C after the 120 is the key. You can use a minor pentatonic scale for all the various tracks just move it up or down the fret board for the key.
Have fun jammin
Later, Wayne P
- jerome.oneil
- Honoured Member
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Re: what key is a song in?
Find the one note on the fretboard that sounds OK all the way through the song, and that's probably the key.
Someday we'll win this thing...
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- mekidsmom
- The Chick Moderator
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Re: what key is a song in?
Wayne - that's exactly what he's using, so I think your answer about the song title will be the key here. Son, if you had the sheet music you would be able to tell by looking at it. Remind me to pull out some music and show you. If you're just playing chords, a lot of time the first chord is a give away of the key a song is in too. I like Wayne and Jerome's answers to "hear" it out... You'll know way more before me in no time (you're getting pretty darn close already - and those scales I hear booming through the closed door are AWESOME!)
Art and beauty are in the eyes of the beholder.
What constitutes excellent music is in the ears of the listener.
What constitutes excellent music is in the ears of the listener.
Re: what key is a song in?
Sometimes, if you can find the chord that is played as a seventh (I.e., major or minor with a flatted 7th note in it), it is probably the dominant seventh. That means it is the 5th chord of the key. Once you know what the 5th Key chord is, just count up 5 HALF TONES (ie., 5 fretts) and the note that you come to (whatever it is) will be the ROOT NOTE or the main note of the key. In Major scales, the chords run M, m, m, M, M(usually played as a seventh chord), m, diminished, and finally Major. (M = Major, m= minor). E.g., the basic chords of the key of C major are: C Major, D minor, E minor, F Major, G Major (7th, or better known as the DOMINANT seventh), A minor, B diminished, and finally C Major again. This is the FORMULA for ALL major scales.
Check it out! :-))