Hear and Play Music Learning Center » “What Key” Game

The “What Key Am I In” Game 7

Jermaine — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:45:23 +0000

Welcome to another edition of “What Key Am I In?”

If you haven’t seen my past ones, click here to check them out.

Ok… here we go:

What minor key am I in if I have these chords:

F major
Bb major
C major

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Answer:

D minor

Explanation:

D is the relative minor of F major, so had you used these clues to figure out the “major” side of things (which would have been “F” had I asked for the major key), then the minor key would be a piece of cake.

Why? Because relative major and minor keys share the same key signature, scale tones, and chords.

So if you take the chords associated with the F major scale and simply “shift” them over so that “D” starts and ends the series of chords, you’re good to go! It’s that simple.

1st tone - F major (F A C)
2nd tone - G minor (G Bb D)
3rd tone - A minor (A C E)
4th tone - Bb major (Bb D F)
5th tone - C major (C E G)
6th tone - D minor (D F A)
7th tone - E diminished (E G Bb)
1st tone - F major (F A C)
2nd tone - G minor (G Bb D)
3rd tone - A minor (A C E)
4th tone - Bb major (Bb D F)
5th tone - C major (C E G)
6th tone - D minor (D F A)
7th tone - E diminished (E G Bb)

See the chords I’ve bold? Those are the same exact chords but instead of thinking of them in terms of “F major” (that is, with “F” as the starting and ending tone), I’ve emphasized them so that you can see how it works when you’re looking at the relative minor of the key. Same notes, same chords — DIFFERENT reference points… starting and ending notes. That’s it.

So when someone asks you to play in a minor key, if you know how to play in the relative major key, you should be fine!

(Oh, and just in case… you find the relative minor of any major key by going to the 6th tone. “D” is the 6th tone of “F major.” If you’re in a minor key and want to find the relative major, just go to the third tone of the minor scale. “F” is the 3rd tone of “D minor.” So that’s how all this works).

Here are all the relative major/minor relationships:

Relative Major / Relative Minor

C major / A minor
Db major / Bb minor
D major / B minor
Eb major / C minor
E major / C# minor
F major / D minor
F# major / D# minor
G major / E minor
Ab major / F minor
A major / F# minor
Bb major / G minor
B major / G# minor

I hope this helps.

Until next time —

The “What Key Am I In” Game 6

Jermaine — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:49:02 +0000

Welcome to another edition of “What Key Am I In?”

If you haven’t seen my past ones, click here to check them out.

Ok… here we go:

What major key am I in if I have these chords:

A# minor
D# minor
G# minor

Answer:

F# major

Explanation:

Remember this chart from other posts?

The first degree of a scale is associated with the major chord.

The second degree of a scale is associated with the minor chord.

The third degree of a scale is associated with the minor chord.

The fourth degree of a scale is associated with the major chord.

The fifth degree of a scale is associated with the major chord.

The sixth degree of a scale is associated with the minor chord.

The seventh degree of a scale is associated with the diminished chord.

Recap:

The 1st, 4th, 5th degrees are major chords.

The 2nd, 3rd, and 6th degrees are minor chords.

The 7th degree is a diminished chord.

*Of course, when you play 4-toned chords, all these change to “seventh” chords (and the 5th tone becomes a “dominant seventh” chord and the 7th tone becomes a “half-diminished seventh” chord… but you didn’t need to know that for this lesson).

There’s only one key that has a G#, A# and D# as minor chords… and that key is F# major!

Let’s take a look at the F# major scale:

F# G# A# B C# D# E# F#

Now, if we apply the rules from above, we’ll be able to figure out which tones are minor:

F# - major chord
G# - minor chord
A# - minor chord
B - major chord
C# - major chord
D# - minor chord
E# - diminished chord

So if you got this one right, way 2 go! :-)

Until next time —

The “What Key Am I In” Game 5

Jermaine — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:39:21 +0000

Welcome to another edition of “What Key Am I In?”

If you haven’t seen my past ones, click here to check them out.

Ok… here we go:

What major key am I in if I have these chords:

A minor
B minor
E minor

Answer:

G major

Explanation:

Remember this chart from other posts?

The first degree of a scale is associated with the major chord.

The second degree of a scale is associated with the minor chord.

The third degree of a scale is associated with the minor chord.

The fourth degree of a scale is associated with the major chord.

The fifth degree of a scale is associated with the major chord.

The sixth degree of a scale is associated with the minor chord.

The seventh degree of a scale is associated with the diminished chord.

Recap:

The 1st, 4th, 5th degrees are major chords.

The 2nd, 3rd, and 6th degrees are minor chords.

The 7th degree is a diminished chord.

*Of course, when you play 4-toned chords, all these change to “seventh” chords (and the 5th tone becomes a “dominant seventh” chord and the 7th tone becomes a “half-diminished seventh” chord… but you didn’t need to know that for this lesson).

There’s only one key that has A, B and E as minor chords… and that key is G major!

Let’s take a look at the G major scale:

G A B C D E F# G

Now, if we apply the rules from above, we’ll be able to figure out which tones are minor:

G - major chord
A - minor chord
B - minor chord
C - major chord
D - major chord
E - minor chord
F# - diminished chord

So if you got this one right, good job! :-)

Until next time —

The “What Key Am I In” Game 4

Jermaine — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:23:12 +0000

Welcome to another edition of “What Key Am I In?”

If you haven’t seen my past ones, click here to check them out.

Ok… here we go:

What major key am I in if I have these chords:

A# minor
D# minor
E# minor

Answer:

C# major

Explanation:

Remember this chart from other posts?

The first degree of a scale is associated with the major chord.

The second degree of a scale is associated with the minor chord.

The third degree of a scale is associated with the minor chord.

The fourth degree of a scale is associated with the major chord.

The fifth degree of a scale is associated with the major chord.

The sixth degree of a scale is associated with the minor chord.

The seventh degree of a scale is associated with the diminished chord.

Recap:

The 1st, 4th, 5th degrees are major chords.

The 2nd, 3rd, and 6th degrees are minor chords.

The 7th degree is a diminished chord.

*Of course, when you play 4-toned chords, all these change to “seventh” chords (and the 5th tone becomes a “dominant seventh” chord and the 7th tone becomes a “half-diminished seventh” chord… but you didn’t need to know that for this lesson).

There’s only one key that has A#, D# and E# as minor chords… and that key is C#!

Let’s take a look at the C# major scale:

C# D# E# F# G# A# B# C#

It’s the only scale with 7 sharps! Literally every tone of the scale is a sharp.

Now, if we apply the rules from above, we’ll be able to figure out which tones are minor:

C# - major chord
D# - minor chord
E# - minor chord
F# - major chord
G# - major chord
A# - minor chord
B# - diminished chord

So if you got this one right, pat yourself on the back! :)

(I have a confession to make. I was really trying to stump you on this one with the use of C#. Normally this scale would be Db, which only has 5 flats and doesn’t use any of these crazy E# or B# enharmonic notes. But my point is… even when you’re in C#, the rules stay the same. You just gotta think in terms of sharps and some notes you’re used to calling “F” and “C” will be called “E#” and “B#,” respectively. Congrats if this was a piece of cake. It’s means you’re getting it!)

Until next time —

The “What Key Am I In” Game 3

Jermaine — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:06:53 +0000

Welcome to another edition of “What Key Am I In?”

If you haven’t seen my past ones, click here to check out game #1, or here for game #2. (It’ll really help, especially if you feel lost below).

Since yesterday’s post was about minor keys, I want to keep it going by asking you, “What Minor Key Am I In?”

In my minor key, I have these chords:

Ab major 7
Bb minor 7
Db major 7

Answer:

F minor

Explanation:

Remember that F is the relative minor of Ab major and they share the same exact key signature, notes in their scale, and chords that correspond to their scale tones.

If you think in terms of the relative major keys, it’s a lot easier because you’ll probably be more familiar with them.

So basically, ask yourself “what major key has an Abmaj7, Bbmin7, and Dbmaj7?” There’s only one and it’s Ab major.

Then, from there, you just figure out the relative minor of Ab.

That gives you F minor!

Any questions? Post em below…

Until next time!

The “What Key Am I In” Game 2

Jermaine — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:45:58 +0000

This episode of the game was inspired by my good friend Rodney. He posted it as a comment on this lesson. So I decided to syndicate it to everyone!

I have modified some stuff below to transform it into a full lesson. Thanks Rodney! :)

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What key am I in if i play…

D diminished
G minor
B flat major

Possible answers:

(a) C Minor
(b) E flat Major
(c) Both of the above

(here’s a hint… know the pattern.)

The answer is BOTH!

See, because major and minor scales overlap at the sixth tone; chords also overlap. For example, if you play the “C Major” scale all the way up the piano and listen closely, you may start to hear an “A minor” scale… because it is!

Simply put, if you play the “C major” scale from “A” to “A,” you’re playing an “A minor” scale. This is the aeolian mode.

This pattern is true for any major scale. To create the minor scale that goes with that major scale, start at the 6th tone and play the same exact notes of that major scale beginning and ending on the sixth tone! Simple!

C major (two octaves):
C D E F G [A B C D E F G A] B C

A minor (two octaves)
A B [C D E F G A B C] D E F G A

I have used brackets [ ] intentionally. Notice the “A minor” scale is clearly in the “C major” scale and the “C major” scale is clearly in the “A minor” scale.
That’s because they have a relative major / relative minor relationship. They share the same number of sharps and flats (0 in this case as C major doesn’t have any sharps or flats).

The chords happen to go along as well.

Now, let’s go to the question at hand which deals with Eb major and C minor…

Compare the chords of Eb major with the chords of C minor:

Eb major:

1 - Eb maj
2 - F min
3 - G min
4 - Ab maj
5 - Bb maj
6 - C min
7 - D dim

C minor:

1 - C min
2 - D dim
3 - Eb maj
4 - F min
5 - G min
6 - Ab maj
7 - Bb maj

Same chords! Just different starting and ending points! It’s almost like taking a magnifying glass and just zeroing in on the 6th tone as the starting point and moving up until you get back to that 6th tone. The substance doesn’t change… just the end points.

So, in future “What key am I in” games, if you’re ever faced with major and minor answers, make sure the minor key choice isn’t the relative minor of the correct major key because if it is, it could also be the answer! (Remember, the relative minor is on the 6th tone of the major key in question).

Does this make sense? Post your comments to let me know!

The “What Key Am I In” Game 1

Jermaine — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:23:02 +0000

This is the first episode of a series of posts that I’ll do from time to time called “What Key Am I In?”

Basically, I give you chords and you tell me the major key they’re from.

Here’s a list to help you out:

The first degree of a scale is associated with the major seventh chord.

The second degree of a scale is associated with the minor seventh chord.

The third degree of a scale is associated with the minor seventh chord.

The fourth degree of a scale is associated with the major seventh chord.

The fifth degree of a scale is associated with the dominant seventh chord.

The sixth degree of a scale is associated with the minor seventh chord.

The seventh degree of a scale is associated with the half-diminished seventh chord.

Recap:

The 1st and 4th degrees are major seventh chords.

The 2nd, 3rd, and 6th degrees are minor seventh chords.

The 5th degree is a dominant seventh chord.

The 7th degree is a half-diminished seventh chord.

So what key am I in?

I have an “A minor 7″ chord.
I have an “E minor 7″ chord.
I have a “G major 7″ chord.

(scroll down for answer but don’t peak until you think you’ve got one!)

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Answer: G major

Explanation: Since minor seventh chords are found on the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th tones, I used the process of elimination to rule out keys that didn’t have “A” or “E” as their 2nd, 3rd, or 6th tone.

This left me with the key of C major and G major.

C major has an E minor seventh as its 3rd chord and an A minor seventh as its 6th chord.

G major has an E minor seventh as its 6th chord and an A minor seventh as its 3rd chord (sort of like the opposite of C).

The chord that gives it away is the “G major seventh chord.”

C major doesn’t have a G major seventh chord… only a G dominant seventh chord.

So it was this one little nuance that gave it away.

G major takes this round of “What Key Am I In!”

Until next time,
JG