Today's chord is G-sharp, which is more commonly known by its enharmonic equivalent, A-flat. Because G-sharp has eight sharps (meaning one of the notes, F, has two sharps, making it actually a G) it's considered a theoretical key.
There is actually NO difference between a musical key and a guitar key. What people are often referring to when they talk about guitar keys, are the keys C, G,D, A and E. The reasons for this, is that the chords in this key are more suitable for the guitar.
Play on SoundCloud Listen in browser. As a major triad, the E-flat chord consists of a major third plus a minor third. The interval from E-flat to G is a major third, while the interval between G and B-flat is a minor third.
To identify the
key of a song by it's chords choose the chords below and see the highlighted slices on the circle of fifths to the right.
#2 See The Key.
The C Minor chord, which forms the root of the C Minor scale, is made up of the notes C, Eb, and G— the first, third, and fifth notes of the key of C Minor. On the guitar, using the C Minor chord shape shown in the diagram, these notes arrive in this order: Mute, C, G, C, Eb, G.
Eb is a black key on the piano. Another name for Eb is D#, which has the same note pitch / sound, which means that the two note names are enharmonic to each other. It is called flat because it is 1 half-tone(s) / semitone(s) down from the white note after which is is named - note E. The next note down from Eb is D.
The E Major chord, which forms the root of this scale, is made up of the notes E, G#, and B— the first, third, and fifth notes of the key of E. On the guitar, using the basic E Major chord position, these notes arrive in this order: E, B, E, G#, B, E.
With capo on third fret - if you play chords for key of G - take G and add 3 semitones and you get Bb or A#.
Do not leave the capo on the instrument when not playing it. The capo, when clamped on the neck, holds the strings down on the fretboard and creates extra tension on the neck and the top of the guitar. All acoustic guitars are destined, at some point in time, to have problems due to the tension of the strings.
The song is in the key of F major, one of the acoustic guitarist's least-favorite keys. However, capo the guitar at that same 8th fret and think in the key of A major.
I'm fairly certain that the guitar is in the key of E minor when no capo is used, but that may be wrong. When playing some songs, the instructions for capo position aren't something like "Capo on fret 3", but, instead, "Capo: C Major" or "Key: C Major".
If you play with a capo on the 2nd fret a song with chords like G, C and D will sound like A major. If you play with a capo on the 4th fret a song with chords like C, F and G will sound like E major.
5th fret
The top line lists the chords commonly used in the key of C. The vertical green column shows what chords and keys are achieved as you move the capo along the fretboard but continue to use the chord shapes from the key of C.G – A – B – C – D – E – F#
(By the way, if you want to learn how to quickly memorise the notes on your guitar's fretboard, be sure to read this!) The G Major chord, which forms the root of the G scale, is made up of the notes G, B, and D— the first, third, and fifth notes of the key of G.Guitar Capo Chart
| Open Chord | 1st fret | 7th fret |
|---|
| B | | E |
| C | B | F |
| C♯ (D♭) | C | |
| D | | G |
You start with an Open E string, so therefore with a capo on the 1st fret that note is now an F note, the A string is now Bb, The D string is now Eb The G string is now Ab The B string is now C, The top E is now also an F note. The capo allows us to play familiar open chords in different keys, which is very handy.
Using a capo to instantly change the key of a song
Put your capo at the second fret and simply play the song in C as you normally do. The capo causes all the strings to sound two half steps higher than normal, and the music sounds in D! A capo on the guitar neck.back to guitar. So the rule of thumb that I get into in the video is basically this: If you move the capo UP X number of frets, you need to transpose your guitar chords DOWN by the same number of semitones.
Transpose with help of the capo
| Capo 2 | D | E |
| Capo 3 | D#/Eb | F |
| Capo 4 | E | F#/Gb |
| Capo 5 | F | G |
| Capo 6 | F#/Gb | G#/Ab |
You can use a capo, play a song in bar chords and then move all the chords up or down, or write down all the chords of the song in the appropriate key. Those are good solid ways, but sometimes it's just nice to transpose without capo, bar chords or too much hassle of writing things down.
This means that the scale of the key of D is made up of the notes D, E F#, G, A, B, and C#. Here is the D scale, with D at its root and another D, an octave higher, at its summit. On the guitar this D can be played on the fourth string, open. The higher D can be played on the second string, third fret.
If you place the capo at the third fret, for example, the open E strings become Gs (three half steps higher in pitch than E). All the strings become correspondingly higher in pitch as well — B becomes D; G becomes Bb; D becomes F; and A becomes C. You can't play anything below the capo — only above it on the neck.
The D Major chord, which forms the root of this scale, is made up of the notes D, F#, and A— the first, third, and fifth notes of the key of D. On the guitar, using the basic D chord position, these notes arrive in this order: A, D, A, D, and F#.
