{"id":3759,"date":"2010-10-11T16:55:06","date_gmt":"2010-10-11T16:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/?p=3759"},"modified":"2019-08-01T17:24:22","modified_gmt":"2019-08-01T17:24:22","slug":"which-chords-fit-a-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/which-chords-fit-a-key\/","title":{"rendered":"The failsafe method of working out which chords fit a key"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know the scenario, you\u2019re either trying to remember the chords for a song that you don\u2019t have music for, or you\u2019re trying to find some chords to accompany a new melody, so you stab at all sorts \u2013 G F<\/strong><\/em>, C Em<\/strong><\/em>, A<\/strong><\/em>, Bb<\/strong><\/em> \u2013 some seem to work but some don\u2019t. There is, however, a method of narrowing down the options to just seven chords \u2013 you just need to know what key the song is in.<\/p>\n

Each major scale is made up of seven notes so the scale of C<\/strong><\/em> major is made up of C D E F G A B<\/strong><\/em>. Other scales will have sharps or flats instead of some of those notes. In addition to the notes in the major scale or key, there are also seven chords that fit over the individual notes.<\/p>\n

The chords are either major or minor in sound and all follow the same major\/minor order sequence:<\/p>\n

Major Minor Minor Major Major Minor Minor (actually \u00bd diminished but a minor will work fine)<\/p>\n

So the chords in the key of C<\/strong><\/em> are:<\/p>\n

C Dm Em F G Am Bm<\/strong><\/em> (or Bdim<\/strong><\/em>)<\/p>\n

So if your song is in C<\/strong><\/em>, these are the chords that you will need. Some chords are more common than others \u2013 generally the root (C<\/strong><\/em>), the 4th (F<\/strong><\/em>), 5th (G<\/strong><\/em>) and 6th (Am<\/strong><\/em>).<\/p>\n

You can apply this formula to every major key so songs in D <\/strong><\/em>would have the following chords:<\/p>\n

D Em F#m<\/strong><\/em>, G A Bm<\/strong><\/em>, C#m<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to read more, including how to work out which sharps and flats are in which keys, download the free article Playing By Ear<\/a> on our Members Area \u2013 you\u2019ll need to register <\/a>first. Create an account and then go to the Members Area.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Where to go for further learning on Playing By Ear<\/h2>\n

This methodology is explained in detail on our Playing By Ear DVDs and Download<\/a>s as well as other steps that will help you learn to play by ear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other posts you might like:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Playing by ear part 1<\/a><\/p>\n

Playing by ear part 2<\/a><\/p>\n

And a whole bunch of posts on substitute chords for guitarists:<\/p>\n

Substitute chords in G <\/a><\/p>\n

Substitute chords in B<\/a><\/p>\n

Substitute guitar chords in A<\/a><\/p>\n

Substitute guitar chords in E<\/a><\/p>\n

Substitute guitar chords in D<\/a><\/p>\n

Substitute chords for the key of C<\/a><\/p>\n

Add9 guitar chords for adding beauty<\/a><\/p>\n

\u20185\u2032 chords for strength and power<\/a><\/p>\n

Substitute chords \u2013 B with a detuned E<\/a><\/p>\n

Capo positions for awkward keys<\/a><\/p>\n

Easy chords for the key of F<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You know the scenario, you\u2019re either trying to remember the chords for a song that you don\u2019t have music for, or you\u2019re trying to find some chords to accompany a new melody, so you stab at all sorts \u2013 G F, C Em, A, Bb \u2013 some seem to work but some don\u2019t. There is, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":22561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[113,7,27],"tags":[104,1181],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChords in a key<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A failsafe method to work out which chords fit in a key. Part of learning how to play by ear.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/which-chords-fit-a-key\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chords in a key\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A failsafe method to work out which chords fit in a key. Part of learning how to play by ear.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/which-chords-fit-a-key\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Musicademy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Musicademy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-10-11T16:55:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-08-01T17:24:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/drc0fhsrp02et.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/01172406\/which-chords-go-in-which-key.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"801\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andy@Musicademy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@musicademy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@musicademy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andy@Musicademy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/which-chords-fit-a-key\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/which-chords-fit-a-key\/\",\"name\":\"Chords in a key\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-10-11T16:55:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-08-01T17:24:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/74b3a3a4fc00dc6fbf71c3a055780253\"},\"description\":\"A failsafe method to work out which chords fit in a key. Part of learning how to play by ear.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/which-chords-fit-a-key\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Musicademy\",\"description\":\"Award-winning training resources for church based musicians\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/74b3a3a4fc00dc6fbf71c3a055780253\",\"name\":\"Andy@Musicademy\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/musicademy.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chords in a key","description":"A failsafe method to work out which chords fit in a key. Part of learning how to play by ear.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/which-chords-fit-a-key\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chords in a key","og_description":"A failsafe method to work out which chords fit in a key. Part of learning how to play by ear.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/which-chords-fit-a-key\/","og_site_name":"Musicademy","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Musicademy","article_published_time":"2010-10-11T16:55:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-08-01T17:24:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":801,"url":"https:\/\/drc0fhsrp02et.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/01172406\/which-chords-go-in-which-key.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Andy@Musicademy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@musicademy","twitter_site":"@musicademy","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andy@Musicademy","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/which-chords-fit-a-key\/","url":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/which-chords-fit-a-key\/","name":"Chords in a key","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-10-11T16:55:06+00:00","dateModified":"2019-08-01T17:24:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/74b3a3a4fc00dc6fbf71c3a055780253"},"description":"A failsafe method to work out which chords fit in a key. Part of learning how to play by ear.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/which-chords-fit-a-key\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/","name":"Musicademy","description":"Award-winning training resources for church based musicians","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/74b3a3a4fc00dc6fbf71c3a055780253","name":"Andy@Musicademy","sameAs":["http:\/\/musicademy.com"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3759"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3759"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22562,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3759\/revisions\/22562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}