Back to school - some basic theory
We all know some chords, but why do certain chords fit together, and other don't? It's all about what KEY your song is in. Almost always the first chord of the song will itself be the ROOT CHORD, i.e. the chord that tells you what key the song is in. So if the opening chord is C, you can be fairly sure the song is in C MAJOR, especially if it also ends with a C chord.
So what other chords fit in the key of C Major? Well, first think of the SCALE (doh, re, me fa, soh, la, ti, doh). In C Major, the scale would be the notes of C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C. If you're familiar with a keyboard, you'll notice that when you go up the scale there are no black notes (sharps/flats) in this key. That's why C Major is an easy key in which to learn basic theory.
Now translate the NOTES of the scale into CHORDS: C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C. But stop - it's not quite that simple! First assign a Roman numerical to each one. You'll notice I've put a lower case numerical to the ii, iii, and vi chords. That's because these three are MINOR chords, whereas the other three (C, F and G) are MAJOR chords.
I ii iii IV V vi (VII) I
C Dm Em F G Am Bdim( or G7) C
To confuse you further (!) the VII chord is B diminished, but in fact we more often use G7 chord, especially as the penultimate chord in a song. Here, the G7 (which is the 7th of the V chord) sounds 'suspended' and feels like it has to go back to the C.
Watch the video to see how this works in terms of a "singing" scale.
So what other chords fit in the key of C Major? Well, first think of the SCALE (doh, re, me fa, soh, la, ti, doh). In C Major, the scale would be the notes of C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C. If you're familiar with a keyboard, you'll notice that when you go up the scale there are no black notes (sharps/flats) in this key. That's why C Major is an easy key in which to learn basic theory.
Now translate the NOTES of the scale into CHORDS: C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C. But stop - it's not quite that simple! First assign a Roman numerical to each one. You'll notice I've put a lower case numerical to the ii, iii, and vi chords. That's because these three are MINOR chords, whereas the other three (C, F and G) are MAJOR chords.
I ii iii IV V vi (VII) I
C Dm Em F G Am Bdim( or G7) C
To confuse you further (!) the VII chord is B diminished, but in fact we more often use G7 chord, especially as the penultimate chord in a song. Here, the G7 (which is the 7th of the V chord) sounds 'suspended' and feels like it has to go back to the C.
Watch the video to see how this works in terms of a "singing" scale.
Here's the clever bit.......the above system works for ANY key. Which means that if you find that a song is too high or too low for your singing voice, you can TRANSPOSE it to another key, simply substituting the I, ii, iii, IV, etc for the corresponding chord in each case. For example, in G Major the SCALE is G, A , B, C, D, E, F#, G. If you go to the piano you'll see why we have F# as the seventh note - it's because there's always half a tone between the 7th and 8th notes of the scale.
I ii iii IV V vi (VII) I
G Am Bm C D Em F"dim (or D7) G
Or in D Major the SCALE is D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D. Again, you'll notice we have two sharps (#). It's because all major scales have a set spacing between each note; and the formula is this - whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half . This is easy to see/hear on the piano where the black note between two white notes is the half.
I ii iii IV V vi (VII) I
D Em F#m G A Bm C"dim (or A7) D
So why all this theory? Let's return to C Major and a simple song. It's bound to have at least three, if not four, of the above C Major chords in it. It also will almost always start with C chord, and end with a C chord. And, interestingly, the penultimate chord is almost always going to be G7, leading back to C. For example:
I ii iii IV V vi (VII) I
G Am Bm C D Em F"dim (or D7) G
Or in D Major the SCALE is D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D. Again, you'll notice we have two sharps (#). It's because all major scales have a set spacing between each note; and the formula is this - whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half . This is easy to see/hear on the piano where the black note between two white notes is the half.
I ii iii IV V vi (VII) I
D Em F#m G A Bm C"dim (or A7) D
So why all this theory? Let's return to C Major and a simple song. It's bound to have at least three, if not four, of the above C Major chords in it. It also will almost always start with C chord, and end with a C chord. And, interestingly, the penultimate chord is almost always going to be G7, leading back to C. For example:
C C7 You are my sunshine, my only sunshine F C You make me happy when skies are grey F C You'll never know dear how much I love you C G7 C F C Please don't take my sunshine away. |
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For slightly more advanced players
A more sophisticated version of the song might use some of the minor chords from the Key of C simply to dress up the harmony possibilities and make it a little more interesting. I have an arrangement of this on the "videos" page (click above).