may sound stupid but

[ionian]

how do u find out what key a song is in like what chrods make the key of A please help ...............................

this site is well good

[Nightwish]

Its almost easy, you should sit thier for while practicing the song you want to figure out and eventually you'll the notes of the chords. If I were you I would just go out and find out what chords are uesed for that particular song.

[ionian]

yeah but how do u know what key somehing is in?

[fightforlove]

Generally the chord the song ends on is the key it's in. Sometimes it will end 'suspended', which is ending on the IV of the key, but that is rare.

[ionian]

ok thanks i been playing 1yr and 3 months and im just turned 13 what dso u think i shood be abvle to play?

[Malcolm]

Yep, the song normaly will end on the tonic or key chord.

Here are some other ways to make sure you have the key the song is written in.

Look at the verses. Do they start and stop with the same chord. If so that is your key chord. If they do not start and stop with the same chord what the verse ends with will probably be your key chord.

As a lot of songs use the IV, V progression somewhere in the song I look to see if I have two major chords in alphebatical order. If so I assume they are th IV and V chord and then work backward to see if the key (the song IS written in) fits.

I like to have at least two things point me to the key so...

Next I look at any minor chord and see if they fit into the key I'm assuming i.e. the ii, iii, vi, viidim. And in general look at all the chords in the song and see if these chords fall into the key I picked. If they do not then I've got the wrong key, and it's back to the drawing board.

For example; If you picked C as your key and you have a F# chord in the song you probably picked the wrong Key as C does not have any sharps. ..... see what I mean?

[ionian]

yeah but i dont know ahat chrods fall into place that wwhat i was asking read what i put

[Malcolm]

... first things first.

You need a Major scale chart that you can look at.

CLICK HERE (http://www.ezfolk.com/guitar/Tutorials/Music_Theory/Major_Scale/major_scale.html) to find one.

The key of A has the following notes A,B,C#,D,E,F#,G#,A.
BUT YOU ASKED WHAT CHORDS are in the key of A....... well there are:
I = A
ii = Bm
iii = C#m
IV = D
V = E
vi = F#m
viidim = G

Now I know that is confusing.............. A Major scale will have three Major chords, the I, the IV, and the V. Everything else will be minor chords. So the ii, iii, vi and viidim will be minor chords, except for that viidim. The dim takes the G# back to a G. so to find the chords in a scale you have to change the ii, iii, vi and viidim to minor.

This site's lesons will get you started.

[WildBill]

You can use the Chart that Malcolm gave you, and you should take a look at intervals, and key signatures that way you'll be able to figure them out on your own with a little practise..

[killeraxeman]

Originally posted by Malcolm
Yep, the song normaly will end on the tonic or key chord.

I thought the tonic was usually the starting chord...

[Mettra]

Originally posted by killeraxeman
I thought the tonic was usually the starting chord...

It usually is. You stereotypically start and end on the tonic to kinda say "this is the key I'm" or "this is the basis of my song". If you started on, for example, the 4th or the 5th people's ears will be listening for you to be in the key of the 4th or 5th and it will 'confuse' their ears when they discover the real root.

[beautiful_dae]

Learn major scales, then you'll be able to figure out the key of a song easily.

[The Mick]

1, 4, and 5

K, check this out. I know there are other chords in a key, but just in terms of the simplest way possible.

Key of A

A..B..C..D..E..F..G

So, numbers 1, 4, and 5 are in the key of A. That means A, D, and E.


Key of C

C..D..E..F..G..A..B

C, F, G are in the key of C

[AMP]

Originally posted by The Mick
1, 4, and 5

K, check this out. I know there are other chords in a key, but just in terms of the simplest way possible.

Key of A

A..B..C..D..E..F..G

So, numbers 1, 4, and 5 are in the key of A. That means A, D, and E.


Key of C

C..D..E..F..G..A..B

C, F, G are in the key of C

?

I am not exactly sure what you are explaining there. I may have missed something.


The key of C (C major) is indeed C D E F G A B
The key of Am (A Minor) is A B C D E F G

however

The key of A (A Major) is A B C# D E F# G#)
The key of F#m (F# Minor) is F# G# A B C# D E)

Anywho...

They key of the song is normally the chord which begins the song (or note). That is typically. If the chord begins and ends with the same note or chord most likely that is your key.

Once you know the key, you need to figure out the scale, plenty of books, online stuff to find the scale for a given key.


Once you know the key, you can EITHER build your major chords (1 3 5: 1st, 3rd, 5th note of the scale). OR make your life easier and go find an online resource or another book and you can look up chords in the key of <x>

If you want to do this all on your own without books, or what not, then you have to learn your scales by memory.