Comments on: Determining the Key https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/determining-the-key/ Play better with free online guitar lessons. Sun, 16 May 2021 10:50:40 +0000 hourly 1 By: Patrick MacFarlane https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/determining-the-key/#comment-32443 Sun, 16 May 2021 01:45:23 +0000 http://www.guitarlessonworld.com/2016/?p=206#comment-32443 In reply to Noah Hochfelder.

Yes, it appears to be the key of C# minor.

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By: Patrick MacFarlane https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/determining-the-key/#comment-32441 Sun, 16 May 2021 01:43:42 +0000 http://www.guitarlessonworld.com/2016/?p=206#comment-32441 In reply to Rafal.

Hi Rafal, you can tell right away that it doesn’t stick to a single diatonic key because it has both a Bdim and an Fdim. If you’re using lowercase to indicate minor chords, then I think it is based in A minor. However, the shift to F#/D7 indicates that you are departing from A minor key. Dm7 would make sense for the key of A minor, but D7 has that F#. Fdim has a G#. I hope this helps!

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By: Patrick MacFarlane https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/determining-the-key/#comment-32430 Sat, 15 May 2021 09:48:36 +0000 http://www.guitarlessonworld.com/2016/?p=206#comment-32430 In reply to Aaron Davis.

Thanks for the question. This looks like A minor to me. It’s an intesting progression so I’m adding some additional thoughts. The sus chords take the major third out of the C chords. The Csus2/B adds the minor 7th of C back with the B so it’s not quite a C minor or Dominant 7. G add 11 adds the F which theoretically pairs well with the F chord that follows. I’d be curious to know how that sounds as Gsus4 vs G add 11 as the B seems to be a specified with the add11 notation to resolve to the C in F/A.

In any case, it is a fun progression. I hope this helped and provided a little more insight. As always, musicians can go out of key from time to time, which can make key-determination a bit of an art.

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By: Aaron Davis https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/determining-the-key/#comment-32369 Sun, 09 May 2021 13:13:54 +0000 http://www.guitarlessonworld.com/2016/?p=206#comment-32369 This one was a little confusing for me. I seem to be in the key of A minor. The chords or:
Am7, Csus2/B, Csus2, Gadd11, F/A

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By: Patrick MacFarlane https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/determining-the-key/#comment-32238 Fri, 30 Apr 2021 18:55:14 +0000 http://www.guitarlessonworld.com/2016/?p=206#comment-32238 In reply to Ben.

Thanks for the question. This is very close to the key of E minor (as you mentioned), which is the relative minor of G major. The exception is that the Dmaj11 has a major 7th in it (C#) instead of C. B minor does not include C# unless you’re playing a Bm9 chord. The C# would resolve nicely to the Am7 (1/2 step movement between chords). This is a case where the out-of-key note may add interest to the progression. An easy way to test this is by omitting the C#. I hope this helps.

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By: Ben https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/determining-the-key/#comment-32089 Mon, 12 Apr 2021 05:08:05 +0000 http://www.guitarlessonworld.com/2016/?p=206#comment-32089 This is a fantastic article, thanks. I think I’ve been able to figure out the key(s) of my weird chord progression, but could someone confirm for me?

Em7 > Dmaj11 > Am7 > Bm

It’s basically Emin with a C# note during the Dmaj11 and Bm chords, which means the progression shifts from Em to Bm each chord change. Is this correct?

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By: Patrick MacFarlane https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/determining-the-key/#comment-31957 Tue, 30 Mar 2021 02:01:54 +0000 http://www.guitarlessonworld.com/2016/?p=206#comment-31957 In reply to Rose.

Sorry for the very late reply, but it looks like the key of A minor to me.

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By: Rafal https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/determining-the-key/#comment-31657 Sat, 13 Feb 2021 21:59:55 +0000 http://www.guitarlessonworld.com/2016/?p=206#comment-31657 Hi Patrick, I appreciate your engagement in replying for yeaaars!
What’s they for the following progressions. Is there any chance these chord are in some key?
a, d6, F, a, Bdim, C, F#/D7, Fdim

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By: Noah Hochfelder https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/determining-the-key/#comment-31201 Wed, 16 Dec 2020 22:23:25 +0000 http://www.guitarlessonworld.com/2016/?p=206#comment-31201 My song has chords C#m, A, E and B. Is the key C#m?

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By: Rose https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/determining-the-key/#comment-30634 Sun, 11 Oct 2020 09:18:08 +0000 http://www.guitarlessonworld.com/2016/?p=206#comment-30634 Hello!
I wrote a chord progression, and they completely unintentionally ended up being minor chords. What is key are these chords in?
Am, Em, Dm, and G
Thanks!

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