How to understand basic keys/chords: FOR BEGINNERS

[Addi]

I noticed Boss101 made a thread regarding how to know what key your working in and how to know what keys go together, and it made me think about the first time I was diving into production. I had never learnt music theory and really had NO CLUE what the keys were and how to figure out which keys work together or even what a chord was. My tracks were sounding rubbish because I was just guessing.

But I was given a good piece of advice which changed everything about how I work and made it seem so easy and definitely helped me getting started. This does not even really touch into the depths of music theory at all, but it is so necessary for anyone that was in a similar position to me and didn't even know where start in terms of music theory or just making a basic song that sounds in key.

To keep it REALLY simple for you and to just make basic tracks with either Minor or Major chords, follow this basic algorithm and it all makes sense. Forgive the lack of proper terminology, its just easier to explain/understand haha.

This formula includes both black and white keys. A semi-tone relates to a key on the keyboard.

To play a minor chord (sad) with 3 keys: ROOT NOTE > skip 2 semi-tones (keys) > key > skip 3 semi-tones (keys) > key

To play a major chord (happy) with 3 keys: ROOT NOTE > skip 3 semi-tones (keys) > key > skip 2 semi-tones (keys) > key

So you are just changing the middle key to get either a minor or major chord. Just remember, skip 2 then 3 keys for a minor, and skip 3 then 2 for a major.

Examples (works for any key)

D Minor - Start with D, skip TWO keys, you get F, skip THREE keys and you get A. Hold them together and you have a D minor chord.

D Major - Start with D, skip THREE keys, get to F#, skip TWO keys and your at A again.

A Minor - Start with A, skip TWO, hit C, skip THREE, and you get E.

A Major - Start with A, skip THREE, hit C#, skip TWO, and your at E again.

G# Minor - Start with G#, skip TWO, hit B, skip THREE, hit D#

G# Major - Start with G#, skip THREE, hit C, skip TWO, hit D# again.

Simple hey!

I understand to some people this is equivalent to me writing a post on how to breathe but hopefully this is helpful to those who were like me and didn't even know where to begin, as there is way too much info out there assuming people know the basics.

If i've made any mistakes let me know. And if anyone wants to add to this, go for it!

Cheers!

UPDATED: I just found this video, watch it to see what I mean in practice.

[AlexJ]

nice read. i can see how this would be easy to follow for beginners

[Kodiak]

What Addi has described is the major/minor triads which are your basis for chords for A minor and C major chords. Now which ones you chose is the next step, and this is where knowing your keys and what notes are in them.

Let's use the key A minor as it is very prevalent in EDM. I assume due to lack of musical theory knowledge.... Most logical starting point is A right and play all the white keys? Well not really.... But anyway...

A Minor

Notes: A, B, C, D, E, F, G,

Chords: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

For universal sake chords are often numbered, so chord 1 (typical in roman numerals ie I, II, III, IV so on) in the key of A minor will have the minor triad of A, C, E. Chord 2 - B, D, F. Chord 5 - E, G, B. etc....

Now chords 1, 4 & 5 will have a minor sound. Whilst 3, 6 & 7 will have a major sound...... In a minor key. Major key mixes this up. What about 2? This one is called diminished.

C Major

Notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B,

Chords: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

Notice, same notes as A Minor but starts differently. Not the only similarities.

Major chords: 1, 4, 5

Minor chords: 2, 3, 6

Diminished: 7

If you look the chords are the same too. C major (1), D minor (2), E minor (3), F major (4), G major (5), A minor (6) B Dim

So how do you know if you are playing in A minor or C major? Well that depends on the chords you are using and basing you song around. The primary chords for songs are typically 1, 4 and 5, with 2 and 6 thrown in for good measure. Generally chords 3 and 7 don't play a major part in any song (generally... no absolute rules on anything). But moving between chords 1, 4 and 5 sounds very natural as they share many notes. You may also recognise this from the Camelot wheel mixing in key theory (the song you are playing is 1 and either side on the wheel is 4 and 5).

So from here once you have decided your key, you know know the typical chords to use. How you use and order them is up to you. The most famous chord progression is the 12 bar blues:

1, 1, 1, 1, 4, 4, 1, 1, 5, 4, 1, 1

Certain chord progressions have typical sounds. 5 to 1 has a finished sound to it (as in the end of the song) so does a 5, 4, 1 progression. 4 to 1 is the "Amen" progression which is the "Amen" at the end of a hymn.

This is all very, very basic. Music theory is a very complex beast. And it has been almost 20 years since I studied it so some of this is a bit sketchy. But I have been thinking we need a basic music thread for ages.

[Mitch]

Nice writeups guys. I'm sure lots of people coming to the forum will find this useful

[Addi]

Yeah nice tips there too drc1.

[BeatLeSS]

Addi, DrC1.. You both have just blown my mind! Top posts guys. And definitely a great idea for a thread, Basic Music Theory for Dummies #101.

[Kodiak]

Here are some more basics to get people going....

The staff

This is the thing with lots of lines that music is written on. One of the most common staves seen is the piano staff which consists of two, a treble staff (top) and bass staff (bottom), noted with a treble clef and a bass clef...

On a piano typically the bass is played with the left hand and the treble the right. But they can intertwine in complex scores (notably classical and blues/jazz). Looking at the treble staff the lines and spaces represent notes. From the bottom going up they are E, G, B, D, F, (Every, Good, Boy, Deserves, Fruit) and the spaces in the middle are F, A, C, E (umm... FACE, simple). notes can extend past the staff and are written with their own line just through that note. Most noticeable is "Middle C" which is one line below the bottom E on the Treble Staff and 1 line above the bass Staff. Each note on the staff represents a very specific key on a piano (or any instrument). That bottom line doesn't represent any old E. The middle C is the C note about 1/3 from the left on a full 88 note piano. This is usually the note used to orientate oneself with all the others and also why typically C major is the "normal" key most people are taught to work with rather than the seemingly logical A minor.

Bass clef is similar. Just everything is moved down a line. So G, B, D, F, A for the lines and A, C, E, G for the spaces.

Key signatures and music timing will be noted at the beginning of the stave just after the clef.

Key Signatures

The vast majority of keys found in EDM are minor. As previously explained minor key will be dominated by the minor sounding 1, 4 and 5 chords. What does a "minor sound" sound like? Well it has historically been used to convey sadness, but in saying that it does also tend to have a "pretty" sound which may explain it's prevalence in EDM. Or as I previously speculated A minor is popular because people with no theory knowledge would take this to be the easiest and most natural key to play.

Certain keys suit certain musical styles and are more convenient to play with instruments of that genre. For this reason many rock n roll and guitar driven pop songs are commonly in D major or G major as the chords of those keys are easy to play and well known with guitarist. For piano music and therefore synth based EDM this isn't as important as most keys are the same to play, although I am better keys that use lots of sharps/flats would be mostly avoided as they are more complex to play for the less experienced.

Some common EDM keys

A Minor

C Minor

G Minor

D Minor

There are many, many more possibilties. These are just a few common ones I have noticed. Look up Wikipedia if you want to know a specific key.

[yizzle]

I have seen this kinda thread pop up a fair bit. Personally, its super important to be able to understand the 'language' you speak.

so i bookmarked this youtube vid a long time ago for when this comes up. The guy is young (dont let it fool or intimidate you) and starts at the VERY most beginner stages. Be patient and watch.

This guy could be getting could some serious coin for some in house tutoring for some snob kid but puts it up on youtube for free.

it wont start where you want it to, with keys, modulation or strange time signatures etc that probably ambitious producers want to skip straight to to get the next track done.

but its very worth watching

i studied music for years and still find the need to go back a few lessons just to keep the brain on top of shit.

hope it helps

[yizzle]

To keep it REALLY simple for you and to just make basic tracks with either Minor or Major chords, follow this basic algorithm and it all makes sense. Forgive the lack of proper terminology, its just easier to explain/understand haha.

To play a minor chord (sad) with 3 keys: BASE key > skip 2 > key > skip 3 > key

To play a major chord (happy) with 3 keys: BASE key > skip 3 > key > skip 2 > key

and honestly. that confuses me..

i think when i say BASE key, i think you mean 'root note'.

and 'skip 3 or 2'.. confusing i think, that might be a good rule if you are in say Cmaj with no sharps of flats. but if you want to branch out of the most over used key in the world. that formula wont work

[russell]

and honestly. that confuses me..

i think when i say BASE key, i think you mean 'root note'.

and 'skip 3 or 2'.. confusing i think, that might be a good rule if you are in say Cmaj with no sharps of flats. but if you want to branch out of the most over used key in the world. that formula wont work

should really use semi-tones (white and black keys) to create your chords.

root note + 4 semi-tones + 3 semi tones for a major triad

root note + 3 semi-tones + 4 semi tones for a minor triad

[Chenny88]

Awesome read! top job guys!!

[Addi]

and honestly. that confuses me..

i think when i say BASE key, i think you mean 'root note'.

and 'skip 3 or 2'.. confusing i think, that might be a good rule if you are in say Cmaj with no sharps of flats. but if you want to branch out of the most over used key in the world. that formula wont work

should really use semi-tones (white and black keys) to create your chords.

root note + 4 semi-tones + 3 semi tones for a major triad

root note + 3 semi-tones + 4 semi tones for a minor triad

Yeah, as stated I don't really have any knowledge on music theory and terminology, just all self taught so it made sense to me.

I think you may have incorrectly interpreted what I wrote though. By keys, I mean the black keys as well, so that formula literally unlocks the major and minor chords regardless of what key you are playing.

Maybe I didn't explain it correctly but I know what I meant haha. As I said this is for beginners, a lot of the information out there is so overwhelming and too complicated at first. Definitely worth diving into eventually though, and of course there is a lot more too it than basic minor and major chords.

What if I explain it like this... This is always the structure for every major and minor chord isn't it? Remember, including the black keys.

Minor:

Root note > skip 2 semi-tones (keys) > note > skip 3 semi-tones (keys) > note

Major

Root note > skip 3 semi-tones > note > skip 2 semi-tones > note

I actually just found this video, which explains everything I got told and am trying to explain.

p.s updated the first post, hopefully its clearer.

[russell]

and honestly. that confuses me..

i think when i say BASE key, i think you mean 'root note'.

and 'skip 3 or 2'.. confusing i think, that might be a good rule if you are in say Cmaj with no sharps of flats. but if you want to branch out of the most over used key in the world. that formula wont work

should really use semi-tones (white and black keys) to create your chords.

root note + 4 semi-tones + 3 semi tones for a major triad

root note + 3 semi-tones + 4 semi tones for a minor triad

What if I explain it like this... This is always the structure for every major and minor chord isn't it? Remember, including the black keys.

Minor:

Root note > skip 2 semi-tones (keys) > note > skip 3 semi-tones (keys) > note

Major

Root note > skip 3 semi-tones > note > skip 2 semi-tones > note

Yeah that's right but it's much clearer if you say the root note plus however many semi-tones. The terminology 'skip' could confuse someone quite easily.

[Cee]

I am currently getting piano lessons and we are covering all this basic music theory and it's awesome. I would highly recommend investing in some lessons I love being able to talk to someone about music theory every week and the piano practises is tuning my ears into what sounds right and that is what all music theory is fundamentally about.

[Boss101]

Only just found this post. Thanks though Addi!!

Really much appreciated that you took the time to write this for me.

Thanks man!

[Boss101]

Is there a way I can study these chords without having a piano/keyboard.

Also I would love a bit of help with putting these into practice on Ableton?

Like if I have a percussion break on my track and I'm writing in A Minor do I have to use these in order? or which keys can I use?

Is this using the 3 keys at the same time on the track then moving onto different ones?

A Minor - Start with A, skip TWO, hit C, skip THREE, and you get E.

Sorry for the noob questions.

[Addi]

So in Ableton or any DAW its even easier as you can move the notes vertically in the piano roll. Makes counting each semi-tone heaps easier!

Yeah, so holding ALL 3 keys at the same time will give you the A Minor Chord (or any chord you want, using that formula). Thats not completely necessary though. You can just use the A key if you like, but that wont give you the A Minor Chord. Gets a bit tricky to explain haha.

[Boss101]

THanks dude!

Are there any tutorials that teach you how use music theory is Ableton?

[wrxfiend]

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