how do i know what key the song is in, and can i tranfer guitar picking tabs to uke?

keithy351 · Oct 26, 2009

ok, so ive got a serious question, how do i know what key guitar and ukulele tabs are in?? is there like a key sign i thought i read somewhere that its something like that ever the first note is in a song its in the key, ie if the chord progressions is G B A C then its in the key G or something like that???? also i really want to learn to play the into to some songs that are played on guitar that are picking intros, are there any sites where i might be able to do that??? and also verus' and things like that?

Gaby · Oct 26, 2009

Hi Keith,

There are heaps of web sites with music theory, so I would check them out. As for converting tabs, WS64 has written a nifty little program to do this, check it out: http://tabtransposer.com

keithy351 · Oct 26, 2009

Gaby said:
Hi Keith,

There are heaps of web sites with music theory, so I would check them out. As for converting tabs, WS64 has written a nifty little program to do this, check it out: http://tabtransposer.com

thanks gaby, very helpful

buddhuu · Oct 26, 2009

It's equally likely that the last chord in a song will be the key tonic. Sometimes the first will be, sometimes both will be, sometimes neither! Looking at the first and last chords can give you a clue.

Also look to see what chords are in the song. Each key has a defined set of chords that fall within it. If you find many chords present that should not be in the key you suspect the song to be in, you may have to guess again.

Check the attached chart which shows which chords are in which keys.

Once you have an idea of what key a song might be in, if it's in a major key, you could try noodling along using the major scale from that key and see how it sounds. You can generally hear pretty quickly if you're way off.

Another clue can be to look out for the song using a common chord progression. For example, a song that repeatedly cycles through C, Am, F and G7 can safely be assumed to be in the key of C. Those are the I, iv, IV and V7 (1, 6 minor, 4 and 5dom7) chords of C Major, and one of the most common chord progressions.

Similarly, a 12-bar blues using the chords of G, C, D7 is using the I, IV, V7 chords from the key of G.

It's a knack that develops with practice.

cornfedgroove · Oct 26, 2009

buddhuu said:
It's equally likely that the last chord in a song will be the key tonic. Sometimes the first will be, sometimes both will be, sometimes neither! Looking at the first and last chords can give you a clue.

Also look to see what chords are in the song. Each key has a defined set of chords that fall within it. If you find many chords present that should not be in the key you suspect the song to be in, you may have to guess again.

Check the attached chart which shows which chords are in which keys.

Once you have an idea of what key a song might be in, if it's in a major key, you could try noodling along using the major scale from that key and see how it sounds. You can generally hear pretty quickly if you're way off.

Another clue can be to look out for the song using a common chord progression. For example, a song that repeatedly cycles through C, Am, F and G7 can safely be assumed to be in the key of C. Those are the I, iv, IV and V7 (1, 6 minor, 4 and 5dom7) chords of C Major, and one of the most common chord progressions.

Similarly, a 12-bar blues using the chords of G, C, D7 is using the I, IV, V7 chords from the key of G.

It's a knack that develops with practice.

crap, I forgot what diminished was...5th up half a step?

buddhuu · Oct 26, 2009

Nah, flatten the 5th.

It's similar to a minor triad, but the 5th is flattened by taking it down (diminishing) by a semitone. So it's 1, 3b, 5b - or root, minor 3rd, diminished 5th.

PoisonDart · Oct 26, 2009

Practice.

First find notes, then find chords with that note in them.

See which of those chords fit.

Try chords other chords that are frequently heard around that chord to fill in the rest of the song.

how do i know what key the song is in, and can i tranfer guitar picking tabs to uke?

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