Quote:
Originally Posted by blackfoot
I am learning to play the CAGED chords but when I transfer the notes as played on to music paper I see that effectively each chord is in its own key since variably, they are playing a major so for instance the C is playing in the C key (the C scale CEG) and A is playing in the A key since it is playing A C# and E and in the key of A I know that C, F and G are raised by a semitone. Similarly G is G, B and E. |
What you are describing are the notes in a chord, this is very different from the concept of keys. Any one of those chords can belong to more than one key. For example, the C chord can belong to the keys of C major, F major, or G major.
Keys consist of a group of chords built off of the major scale (for major keys) or the minor scale (for minor keys). Of this group of chords, there will be one specific chord that is the "home" chord called the tonic. In other words, this tonic provides the best resolution (or "ending"). To hear what the tonic sounds like here is an example:
Play the following chords and on the D7 let it ring out for a little while before playing the G chord.
G C D7 ....... G
Holding that D7 out allows you to really hear how well the G chord resolves (ends) the progression. In this example G is the tonic.
So to answer your question on keys, the
tonic chord of any song (or progression) is the
key of the song.
But how do you know what chords you can play in any given key? The answer comes from the major/minor scales.
I have a very detailed explanation of this in the lessons forum, I would recommend starting from the top and reading down to the section on keys called "
Keys - Creating Chords from the Major Scale".
Here's the link:
Music Theory Basics
I would start there, make sure you have a very firm grasp on this before attacking the CAGED system. Also, I highly recommend Kirk's
PlaneTalk book/DVD. It is EXCELLENT! Much more useful than the CAGED system IMO.
Quote:
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(say a blues rythmn in the key of say G) then I would play a I-IV-V sequence which would be the chords of GCD. So are these chords GCD all played in the key of G (with the F#) or are they to be played in their individual keys? Surely we do not change key in mid-tune?
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Those chords are all in the key of G.
You can change keys in mid-tune (via different methods) or use chords that are "outside" the key, but your example with G C D (and the F# diminished) is
definitely all in the key of G.
Hope that helps. And if you have any questions, we'll try our best to answer them.
-tkr