Determining the Key of A Piece

Lesson 5/168 | Study Time: 5 Min

Course: Complete Classical Guitar

Determining the Key of A Piece

It is important for you to be able to recognise what key a piece is in and the way to do this is to identify it from the sharps or flats of the key signature. The key signature, however, does not distinguish between major and relative minor keys; for example, a key signature of F sharp, (as in the previous page) could indicate either G major or E minor. The two main guidelines for determining whether a piece is in the major or relative minor key are:

The presence of the 7th note of the minor scale (the leading note). This is the only note of a minor scale (except the 'pure' minor) which is not found in its relative major, thus a D? note in the music will strongly suggest the key of E minor rather than G major.
The name of the finishing note (or chord). A piece very often finishes on its root note and thus an E note at the end would suggest the key of E minor (quite often a piece will also begin on the root note).

In the following piece D.C. al Fine means to return to the beginning (D.C stands for Da Capo, which means "the head") and play through to Fine (finish). Note how the study changes key from Em - G - Em. The process of a key change within a piece is called modulation.

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1- About the Author 2- The Full Bar and The Half Bar 3- First String Notes (or Notes on !)* 4- Third String Notes (Or Notes on #) 5- Thumb Plucking Action 6- Finger Plucking Action 7- Combining Fingers and Thumb 8- Fifth String Notes (Or Notes on %) 9- Chords and Arpeggios 10- Sharps 11- Scales and Key Signatures Scales 12- Major and Minor Keys 13- Key of a Minor 14- Key of a Major 15- The Fifth Position 16- Altered Tuning 17- Notes Above the Twelfth Fret 18- Electronic Tuner 19- Key of F Major 20- The First Position 21- Note summary (one octave G-G) 22- Fourth String Notes (or Notes On $) 23- Open String Free Stroke Exercises 24- Note Summary 25- Two Notes Played Together 26- Flats 27- The Major Scale 28- Chords 29- Key of E Minor 30- Transcription 31- Scales Using Altered Tuning 32- Playing Above the 12th Fret 33- The Classical Guitar 34- Pivot Finger 35- Saying The Names of The Notes and Counting 36- Mary hand a Little Lamb 37- Re-Examining Left Hand Position 38- Two and More Notes Played Together 39- Checklist 40- Note Summary 41- Sound Production 42- One Octave, C Major Scale 43- Chord Symbols 44- Variation 45- Chromatic Scale in Octaves 46- Demonstrating Altered Tuning 47- Scales Above The Twelfth Fret 48- History of The Guitar 49- Key of D Minor 50- Second String Notes (or Notes on @) 51- The Rests 52- Right Hand Independence Exercises 53- Sixth String Notes (Or notes on ^) 54- Tone Contrasts Along the String 55- Minor Scales 56- Chord Voicings 57- Determining the Key of A Piece 58- Diatonic Scale in Octaves (to Fifth Position) 59- Syncopation 60- Rest Stroke Using Right Hand Thumb (p) 61- How to Read Music 62- Introduction To Harmony 63- Checklist 64- Note Summary 65- Composite Nature of The Guitar 66- Melodic Minor Scales in all Keys 67- Dominant 7th Chords 68- Key of Bb Major 69- The Ninth Position 70- Rest Stroke P With Chords 71- Tablature 72- Intervals 73- Crossing Strings 74- Important Note 75- Keys and key signatures 76- Chords I IV and V in All Keys 77- Key of G Major 78- Ninth Position Scales 79- Double and Triple Rest Stroke p (h) 80- Music Notation 81- The Third 82- Duets 83- Open Position Notes 84- Relative Keys 85- Technical Common Denominators 86- The Seventh Position 87- Vibrato 88- Silencing Bass Strings 89- Bar Llines 90- The Sixth 91- Checklist 92- Collecting Guitar Music 93- Slide Finger Techniques 94- Preliminary Exercises For Study in a Minor 95- Useful Guitaristic Effects Pizzicato (Pizz.) 96- Note Values 97- The Tenth 98- Musical Form 99- Key of E Major 100- Tremolo 101- Tambour (or Drum Effect) 102- Time Signatures 103- 3rds, 6ths, 10ths and octaves 104- Right Hand Technique Review 105- Arpeggio 106- Legato and Staccato 107- Rasgueado 108- Three Four Time (^) 109- Rest Stroke and Free Stroke in Combination 110- Triplets 111- Fourth Position E Major Scale 112- Harmonics 113- Triplet Strum 114- Sitting Position 115- Important Note 116- Sixteenth Notes 117- Key of C# Minor 118- Artificial (or Octave) Harmonics 119- Quadruple Strum 120- Right Hand Notation 121- Learning the Fingerboard 122- Demonstrating The Use of The Bar to Play The Same Piece in A Different Key 123- Arranging Tremolo Pieces 124- Right Hand Fingernails 125- Table of Unisons 126- Creating Variations From an Existing Piece 127- Tremolo on The Inside Strings 128- Right Arm Placement 129- New Positions 130- Double Sharps and Flats 131- The Study of Scales 132- Right Hand Position 133- The Shift From 1st To 2nd Position 134- Counting The Scale 135- Method of Placement 136- Key of D Major 137- The Chromatic Scale 138- Finger Plucking Action 139- Demonstrating The Second Position 140- Chromatic Scale Exercises 141- Alternation 142- Listening to Music 143- Moveable Bar Chords 144- Left Hand Notation 145- Key of B Minor 146- Root Six Major Bar Chord 147- Left Hand Position and Finger Placement 148- Tone, Tempo and Dynamics Tone 149- Notes on The Sixth String 150- Left Hand Thumb 151- The Tempo (speed) 152- Root Five Major Bar Chords 153- Dynamics 154- Notes on The Fifth String 155- Double Dotting 156- Root Four With Optional Bar 157- Ligado Technique 158- Notes on The Fourth String 159- Ascending Ligado 160- Moveable Chord Shapes in Five Forms 161- Descending Ligado 162- Appendix One - Tuning 163- Ligado Studies 164- The Round Arpeggio 165- Broken Chords 166- Key of a Major 167- Ornaments 168- Key of F# Minor

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Determining the Key of A Piece