Lesson 5 - Harmonized Major
ScaleLyle: One of the big questions I get from guitar
students is “How do I know what key I'm in and what scales should I use”? If you
know how to analyze the chord progression you'll be able to see how each chord
relates to each other. What you need to know is the resulting chords of the
harmonized major scale.
Lyle: Here we take a C major scale, stack it on
itself at the interval of a third (starting on 'e'), again at the interval of a
fifth (starting on 'g'), and again at the seventh (starting on 'b'), and the
result is a harmonized scale in the key of
ex. 1 - C maj
ex. 2 - stacked
3 - stacked triads
ex. 4 - 4 voice
ex. 5 - other
The resulting chords are:
Lyle: Notice that the II and II minor chords are
a whole step apart. Notice that the IV and V are a whole step apart. Things like
this will help you analyze a chord progression quickly. Through the process of
elimination, you'll be able to come up with the key center of the chords being
Only four different chord types:
I & IV = Major
II, III, VI =
= Dominant 7
= Minor 7b5
Lyle: This formula works for ANY harmonized major
scale.Lyle: If you saw a chord progression of G - F -
C, you would have the V - IV - I in the key of C.
Lyle: If you saw a chord progression of C - Dm -
Em - Dm, this would have to be the I, II, III, II chords related to the key of
This means you could play the C major scale and any of the modes for the key of
C against this chord progression.
C major scale - basic pattern
Jam Track 1 in
Play a C major scale against this jam track that uses these chords and you'll
hear how everything blends and harmonizes together.
Lyle: If you saw a chord progression of Am, Dm,
and Em, you would be looking at the VI, II, III chords in the key of C.
You can still play the C major scale and all of its modes against this chord
progression since these chords are related to the key of C. Here's a jam track
of these chords, try playing the C major scale against this jam
Jam Track 2
Jam Track 3 in
Jazz style you find this type of progression many times, the II - V - I. In C
this would be Dm, G7, Cmaj:
chord progression 4
Jam Track 4 in
Key and Chord Chart
Lyle: Look at the chart above. Note that a Major
7 chord is related to a Major chord, and a Minor 7 is related to a Minor chord.
The only position that holds the dominant 7 chord is the V
Lyle: If you had a chord progression of G7 only,
what major key is this chord related to and what major scale could you play over
Jam Track 5 in
Joel: G major?
The G7 chord is the V chord in the key of C major. You could play the C major
scale over the G7 chord.
Lyle: If you had a chord progression of Am and
Bm, what key is that in and what major scale could you play over
And why are you picking G?
Bart: Am is the II chord of G and Bm is the III chord of
Am7 and Bm7 are the IIm7 and the IIIm7 of
Lyle: If you had a chord progression of Bm7, E7,
what key is that in and what major scale could you play over
tallpaulonline: E7 is the 5th
is the right answer! Bm7 is the II, E7 is the V, both in the key of
This means you could play the A major scale over this progression and any of the
modes in the key of A.
BigTX: Could you play a A pent?
Lyle: minor or major?
Lyle: No, you would probably want to play the A
Major pentatonic because you're in the key of A Major.
dh: or F#
is the realitive minor and therefore you could play an F# pentatonic
Lyle: F# Minor pentatonic
floydwhammy: You mean you can play A Ionian, B Dorian, C
Phrygian etc., right not A Dorian, A Phrygian, A Lydian etc.?
Lyle: Not all chord progressions stay in the same
Lyle: If you had a chord progression of A7 to D7,
you would technically be switching to two different keys becasue these are both
dominant chords. Only one dominant chord is found in each
Lyle: A7 is the V in D Major, D7 is the V in G
and D7 progressions are the heart of
Lyle: Dominant chords are used in Blues style all
Lyle: Try playing the D major scale then the G
Major scale against this jam track:
Jam Track 8 - A7 to D7
A7 to D7
erlon: so A
mixolydian then A dorian?
Lyle: Nice one erlon, that is
Lyle: Takes awhile to sort all this new
information out. You simply look at this chart:
Key and Chord
Lyle: Understand that in ANY key, there are
chords that relate to it.
Lyle: By the huge process of elimination, you
come up with what key you're in.
BigTX: the 7 confuse me. is that it could be a 7th
Lyle: You start to recognize certian "red flags"
when analyzing a chord progression, like two minor chords a whole step apart =
the II and II chords of a key....
Lyle: There are Major 7 chords, there are Minor 7
chords, there are Dominant 7 chords.
Lyle: There is also the VII chord, which is
refering to the VII degree of the Major scale.
cool, I get the jist of it.
Lyle: Good time to take a
bluesguitarmp3: thanx teach
Lyle: Welcome, hope this
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