Finding the key/root fret

[Chris O]

I’m going through the Blues course and finished the lesson on finding the root fret and key. Brian says he walks up the string until he finds the note that fits what’s playing and then he can use pattern one to start playing along. Here’s where I’m confused. If I put my first finger on the 5th fret 1st or 6th string then using pattern 1 I’m playing the Am pentatonic scale. However, the Am pentatonic scale is also the same scale as the C major pentatonic scale. So in my mind, if my pinky starts a note on the 8th fret, 1st/6th string, I’m in the C major pentatonic scale, but if my first finger starts a note on the 5th fret 1st/6th string I’m in the Am pentatonic scale. So, how do I know which key is being used when jamming? Am or C major? Or maybe I’m reading too much into this.

Thanks for your input.

[charjo]

Chris,
They are the same notes and, in fact, Am is called the relative minor of the key of C. This set of notes can always be referred to as the parent major key, ie. C. However, in common usage, the note or tonic chord that your scale or chord progression resolves to would be considered the key.
There is a concept called modes of the major scale where a new scale is created by starting a new 7 note scale on each note of the parent major scale. The natural minor scale is the 6th mode of the major scale and goes by the name of the Aeolian mode. Each mode has a major or minor feel depending on the quality of it’s 3rd interval and each has it’s own unique character based on certain other intervals that colour it. You may hear Brian mention other modes of the major scale like Dorian or Myxolydian. All these wonders await you on this journey.
John

[sunjamr]

Hey Chris, I’m guessing you can just listen to any song and tell by the sound of the chords whether it is in a major or minor key. I’m also guessing that you can easily detect the root note of almost any song on your 6th string, since it’s the note that phrases usually resolve to. So if it’s a major song and you want to give it a bluesy feel, put your pointy finger on the root note and you can start there to play the minor pent scale 1st position. UNLESS you want that happy Allman Brothers feel. In that case, put your pinky on the root note and play that 1st position 3 frets lower.

Sunjamr Steve

[James M]

I’m new to the forum and not sure where to begin.

My question is about a blues chord progression Brian uses in EP224, which is a solo Bm blues. The chords he uses are: Bm – A – G – Bm. When I think of a blues progression I think I – IV – V. How can I think of this Bm – A – G – Bm progression. Where does it comes from?

Thank you for any thoughts on this.
james

[Tremelow]

Hi James. Like John @charjo further up noted, every major key has a minor parallel. In his example, Am was the parallel (or relative) minor to C. The relative minor of D is Bm. So in your I-IV-V progression the D (I) was simply replaced by its relative minor chord Bm.

[James M]

Thank you, Tremelow, much appreciated, another guitar fretboard mystery solved!

[Author]

Posts