Playing in all Keys
After you have learnt all the notes of the chromatic scale, it is a good idea to practice playing in every key. If you are playing with a singer, you will have to play songs in whatever key suits their particular voice. That could be F# or Db for example. Keyboard players tend to like the keys of C, F and G, while E and A are fairly common keys for guitar. Horn players like flat keys such as F, Bb and Eb. So you can see it is essential to learn to play equally well in every key.
A good way to learn to play in all keys is to use the key cycle (also called the cycle of 5ths or cycle of 4ths). It contains the names of all the keys and is fairly easy to memorise.
Think of the key cycle like a clock. Just as there are 12 points on the clock, there are also 12 keys. C is at the top and it contains no sharps or flats. Moving around clockwise you will find the next key is G, which contains one sharp (F#). The next key is D, which contains two sharps (F# and C#). Progressing further through the sharp keys each key contains an extra sharp, with the new sharp being the 7th note of the new key, the other sharps being any which were contained in the previous key. Therefore the key of A would automatically contain F# and C# which were in the key of D, plus G# which is the 7th note of the A major scale. As you progress around the cycle, each key introduces a new sharp. When you get to F# (at 6 o’clock), the new sharp is called E# which is enharmonically the same as F. Remember that enharmonic means two different ways of writing the same note. Another example of enharmonic spelling would be F# and Gb. This means that Gb could become the name of the key of F#. The key of F# contains six sharps, while the key of Gb contains six flats.
If you start at C again at the top of the cycle and go anti-clockwise you will progress through the flat keys. The key of F contains one flat (Bb), which then becomes the name of the next key around the cycle. In flat keys, the new flat is always the 4th degree of the new key. Continuing around the cycle, the key of Bb contains two flats (Bb and Eb) and so on.
Written below are the key signatures for all the major scales that contain sharps.
The sharp key signatures are summarised in the table below.
Written below are the key signatures for all the major scales that contain flats.
The flat key signatures are summarised in the table below.
* Intervals are discussed in detail in lesson 21.
The following example demonstrates one octave of the major scale ascending and descending in every key. Learning scales may not seem as interesting as playing tunes, but a little effort at this stage will pay off very well later on. Memorise the fingering for each scale and then try playing it with your eyes closed while imagining how the notation for the scale would look. Once you have learnt all the scales, you will be able to play melodies confidently in any key and be able to improvise in any key much more easily.
Here are some exercises to help you get more comfortable playing in any particular key. Each of them is written in a different key, but they are intended to be played in all keys. The first one shows the use of third intervals in the key of Eb major. You could also play a scale in fourths, fifths sixths or sevenths. Intervals are the subject of lesson 21.
This one alternates between the note B and every other note in the B major scale, both ascending and descending.
Don’t forget to practice the chromatic scale in every key. Here it is in the key of Gb.
Finally, here is one which alternates between the note A and every other note in the A chromatic scale, once again ascending and descending. This one covers all possible intervals within an octave.
