Favorite Key and Chord

[kaysettes]

I've always been interested in what other people's favorite keys to play in are. Just thought I'd ask around here. For me:

 

Key: Am

 

Chord: Dm7

[Groo]

Key: G

 

Chord: G

[Kalle]

Key: E or F (both very happy)

 

Chord Emaj7add9 x7987x

[TCP]

Well, for guitar G is the best key, it is open and easy to play in and easy to sing in. On piano I prefer C though (duh).

I like the augmented and diminshed chords the best.

[Ralph]

I've always been interested in what other people's favorite keys to play in are. Just thought I'd ask around here. For me:

 

Key: Am

 

Chord: Dm7

 

....mmmmmmm...Am

 

You must love Townes VanZandt...lots of songs in Am...you should learn Our Mother the Mountain if you don't already play it...makes the hair on my neck stand up every time...

[Atticus]

D minor's still the saddest key, no?

 

[jhc]

D minor's still the saddest key, no?

 

 

lick my love pump

[danelectro]

I like E and A7.

[kaysettes]

....mmmmmmm...Am

 

You must love Townes VanZandt...lots of songs in Am...you should learn Our Mother the Mountain if you don't already play it...makes the hair on my neck stand up every time...

 

To be honest, I've never listened to him. Heard a lot about him, but never listened. Any starting album to suggest?

[jhh4321]

I like to play in D shapes, dropped D. Actual key doesn't really matter (capo between 2 and 5 is usually how i like to play acoustic). I like maj7 chords. This is a strange question, I gave a strange answer.

[jhc]

 

 

[Smokestack Joe]

dropped D chord, jealous of Tweedy's Laminated Cat, thats how you play Dropped D or various Neil Young renditions.

[Smokestack Joe]

thats you i meant i guess.

[H to the ickle]

I like to play in D shapes, dropped D. Actual key doesn't really matter (capo between 2 and 5 is usually how i like to play acoustic). I like maj7 chords. This is a strange question, I gave a strange answer.

 

Definately.

[froggie]

Key: E

 

Chord: D

[Ralph]

To be honest, I've never listened to him. Heard a lot about him, but never listened. Any starting album to suggest?

There is a double CD with The Late Great Townes VanZandt and High Low and In Between that's very good...OR there is a new CD that goes with the documentary Be Here To Love Me with a compilation of stuff.

 

I would really recommend seeing the documentary too.

 

I'd be interested if you listened to any of this stuff and what you think.

 

Steve Earle once said " I'd stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say Townes is the best songwrighter that ever lived!" ...or something like that.

[cmackey34]

Favorite Key: tie between Am and C#

 

Favorite Chord: tie between C#add9 and Dmaj7sus4

[benjamin]

Fave Chord - B7

 

 

(Fighting the urge to make you sunk my battleship jokes)

[Tweedling]

Key: E or F (both very happy)

 

Chord Emaj7add9 x7987x

that chord is sweet sounding. gimme a song to use it in....please

[a.miller]

Music theory question:

So in major keys, chords I, IV and V represent the major chords and all others are minor.

 

Given this, Key of C = C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bm

 

My question is, if you are playing in minor key where do your major and minor chords fall. Is it exactly opposite?

[Kalle]

Well first off in the key of C there would be no Bm it would be Bdim. The relative minor for the key of C and for every other major key is on the sixth or submediant note, in the key of C this is A. So Am would look like this.

 

Am, Bdim, C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am.

 

So the major chords fall on the 3rd, 6th and 7th spots.

[Tweedling]

Well first off in the key of C there would be no Bm it would be Bdim. The relative minor for the key of C and for every other major key is on the sixth or submediant note, in the key of C this is A. So Am would look like this.

 

Am, Bdim, C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am.

 

So the major chords fall on the 3rd, 6th and 7th spots.

 

Uhmm....what did you say?

[a.miller]

Well first off in the key of C there would be no Bm it would be Bdim. The relative minor for the key of C and for every other major key is on the sixth or submediant note, in the key of C this is A. So Am would look like this.

 

Am, Bdim, C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am.

 

So the major chords fall on the 3rd, 6th and 7th spots.

Thanks for the info, Kalle. Given some of your other posts, I figured your (incredible) knowledge of theory could answer this question.

 

So, across the board, in a minor key, the major chords fall on the 3rd, 6th and 7th -- if I follow correctly. Just as in a major key, the major chords fall on I, IV and V.

 

BTW, I think I noticed from one of the age threads, your're fairly young (16?). How on earth have you accomplished this much knowledge of theory? I'm simply very impressed.

 

 

EDIT: So, I played around with some notes and what not on paper and have some more brain picking ()

Is the 7th chord in any given key always diminished? And, by definition, is "diminished" a flatted 6th? I apologize, I'm not that familiar with diminished chords. But I did look up a common fingering for Bdim and came back with xx0101 fingering, which is where I came up with the notion that a diminished was a flatted 6th, given the A is flat in that chord and the 6th in the key of C. Perhaps I'm way off.

[Kalle]

Thanks for the info, Kalle. Given some of your other posts, I figured your (incredible) knowledge of theory could answer this question.

 

So, across the board, in a minor key, the major chords fall on the 3rd, 6th and 7th -- if I follow correctly. Just as in a major key, the major chords fall on I, IV and V.

 

BTW, I think I noticed from one of the age threads, your're fairly young (16?). How on earth have you accomplished this much knowledge of theory? I'm simply very impressed.

EDIT: So, I played around with some notes and what not on paper and have some more brain picking ()

Is the 7th chord in any given key always diminished? And, by definition, is "diminished" a flatted 6th? I apologize, I'm not that familiar with diminished chords. But I did look up a common fingering for Bdim and came back with xx0101 fingering, which is where I came up with the notion that a diminished was a flatted 6th, given the A is flat in that chord and the 6th in the key of C. Perhaps I'm way off.

 

Ok well thanks for the compliments abuharabi. Yes I am 16 and I just really love theory and just retain alot of it.

 

But to be politically correct major chords only fall on the 3rd, 6th, and 7th only in NATURAL MINOR scales.

 

In a HARMONIC version of a minor scale you sharpen the 7th note. So in an A minor harmonic you sharpen the G to a G#. This allows you to make the 5th chord, E, major as well. As well as adding quite a few more possibilities.

 

Now in the MELODIC version of the minor scale the 6th is sharpened, in A minors case the F to an F#. This allows you to play even more major chords, D major etc. But there are sort of "rules" on how to use the melodic minor properly.

 

Ok and now for the diminished chord. Yes in every major scale the 7th will be a diminished chord. Major triad consist of a R 3rd 5th combination, minor triads a R minor3rd 5th, augmented triads R 3rd aug5th, and diminished triads R minor3rd minor5th. Now the way I have always played a Bdim chord is x2323x. Hope that helps you out a bit.

[mfwahl]

Well first off in the key of C there would be no Bm it would be Bdim. The relative minor for the key of C and for every other major key is on the sixth or submediant note, in the key of C this is A. So Am would look like this.

 

Am, Bdim, C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am.

 

So the major chords fall on the 3rd, 6th and 7th spots.

It would actually be Bm(b5).

Dim implies that the seventh would be G# but in A natural it's A