This session is one of our Music Corner Drop-in series with Jamie McCredie. Generally we run them weekly each Tuesday at 7.30pm and delve into a broad range of subjects relating to technique, theory, know-how, practice or something topical in the guitar world.
This session looks at how to find the key of a song/tune without having the key signature given to you; this is a classic situation we often find in jam sessions or when you’re listening to a piece and trying to work it out.
Overview
To state the obvious – knowing the key of a song is critical – it immediately tells you the chords that will probably be present in the tune.
The Key Signature will give you this information but sometimes we’ll need to work it out for ourselves. With a little knowledge it’s relatively easy to determine the key but it can sometimes be a tricky with multiple options.
We explore how to determine the key from what we hear e.g. in a jam situation or when you’re listening to a song and trying to work it out from scratch. You might pick up the end chord? We might manage to play from of the melody? We could work out two or three of the chords? Is this it?
You can’t always see the player leading a song in a jam session and so your ears have to do their job.
Music Corners in general
These weekly one hour sessions are designed to give us the tools to self-improve and widen our knowledge in the following general areas: rhythm, reading music, improvising, understanding music theory, getting good tone, how to play a solo, how to play with a group, how to develop your ear, learning the rules of music through transcribing the history of a genre. Our tutor, Jamie McCredie, will share key things he has learned over years that have helped to make him the professional guitarist and musician he is today.
Materials:
Relevant materials will be available for each session.
Session suitability
This lesson is most suitable for intermediate players with a tad of music theory/knowledge but players of all standards will register some lightbulb moments and pick up some great ideas and approaches.