Try figuring out all the chords in that key on your own before continuing. We can use the same pattern as shown in the earlier example to figure out what chords fit in the key of G. The G Major scale uses the notes: G A B C D E F# The key of G uses the G Major Scale (link to scale resources) Let’s go through another scale as practice. Finding Chords in the Key of G (Example 2) It’s a fancy name for figuring out which chords fit in a scale.ĭon’t worry if this doesn’t make 100% sense yet, once you go through the rest of the examples below, it will become clearer. What we have just done is called harmonizing the scale. We now know that the chords in the key of C are: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim. B D F: B diminished (minor triad on top of a minor triad).Here are all the chords highlighted above: Here are all seven chords highlighted from the scale (the dark green circles show each chord’s root note):īy following the same pattern on each note in the scale, we’re able to easily figure out all seven main chords that fit in the key.įor example, the fourth chord in the key of C uses the notes: F A C, which gives us the chord F Major. There are seven notes in the Major scale, so if we continue this process, we will end up with seven chords. The second note, D, gives us the D minor chord. The first note, C, gives us the C Major chord. The way to figure out what chords are in a key is to look at each note in the key and use a pattern to figure out each chord. So the third chord in the C Major scale is E minor.įor every note in the scale, there is a chord that starts on that note. You might recognize these notes as part of the E minor chord. Let’s repeat this starting on the third note of the scale: This means the second chord in the C Major scale is D minor. If you know your basic Major and minor chords, you might recognize these notes (don’t worry if you don’t). We’re using the same pattern of skipping every second note, but this time we’re starting on the scale’s second note, D. Now, what if we take that same pattern and start on the second note of the scale instead? The first chord in a scale always follows this pattern as you will see later. We highlight the first note, skip a note, highlight the next note, skip a note, highlight the next note. Take a look at the pattern those notes follow in the scale. The notes in the chord C Major are C E G. So let’s highlight the notes in the C Major chord from the notes in the C Major scale below: The C Major Scale uses the C Major chord, the D Major Scale uses the D Major chord and so on. So you can easily figure out the first chord in any key by looking at the scale name. Once you know what notes are in the scale, you can start figuring out what chords fit in that scale.Īs you might guess, the chord C Major fits in the C Major scale. If you want to be able to figure out what notes are in any Major or minor scale, read this guide on Scales Explained Simple. The notes in the C Major Scale are: C D E F G A B To figure out what chords are used in a scale, we need to know what notes are in that scale. The ‘key of C’ uses the C Major Scale (link to scale resources). Let’s use the key of C as an example and figure out all of the chords that fit in that scale. 6.1 Related Guides and Lessons: Finding Chords in the Key of C (Example 1)

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