Pick a key: G
Key of G has one sharp and not too many bar chords.
1. Notes in the key of G
g - a - b - c - d - e - f#
2. There are (W)hole and (H)alf STEPS between each note.
G - A - B - C - D - E - F#
W W H W W H
3. Each note (chord) assigned a NUMBER
G-A-B-C- D- E- F#
1- 2- 3- 4- 5 - 6 - 7
4. There are 7 possible chords you can use in the key of G:
The 1, 4 and 5 chords are Major
The 2, 3 and 6 chords are Minor
The 7th chord is diminished (not used much)
The chords I can use then are:
1-G 2-Am 3-Bm 4-C 5-D 6-Em
5. Verse - play a 1-6-2-5 progression
G - Em - Am - D
6. Chorus - play a 1-2-4-5 progression
G - Am - C - D
7. For the melody, start on one of 4 notes from the G chord:
B, D, G or B
+-----+-----+--G-+
B+-----+-----+-----+
G+-----+-----+-----+
D+-----+-----+-----+
+-----+--B-+-----+
+-----+-----+--G-+
Finally, use other notes out of the key to fill in the rest of the melody.
8. Write down major scale in G
e +-----+--f#-+---g-+-----+---a-+-----+---b-+---c-+-----+
b +---c-+-----+---d-+-----+---e-+-----+--f#-+---g-+-----+
g +-----+---a-+-----+---b-+---c+------+---d+------+---e-+
d +-----+---e-+-----+--f#-+---g-+-----+---a-+------+--b-+
a +-----+---b-+---c-+-----+---d-+-----+---e-+-----+--f#-+
e +-----+--f#-+---g-+-----+---a-+-----+---b-+---c-+-----+
1 3 5 7 9
or numerically...
e +-----+---7-+---G-+-----+-----+
b +-----+-----+---5-+------+---6-+
g +-----+---2-+-----+---3-+---4-+
d +-----+---6-+-----+--7--+---G-+
a +-----+---3-+---4-+-----+---5-+
e +-----+-----+---G-+-----+---2-+
9. An alternate form is playing the relative minor pentatonic scale. To find the relative
minor to G: find 6th note of the G scale, g-a-b-c-d-Em-f
Notes are e-g-a-b-d (1-3-4-5-7)
Em Pentatonic
e +-----+-----+---g-+-----+---a-+
b +-----+-----+---d-+-----+-----+
g +-----+---a-+-----+---b-+-----+
d +-----+---e+-----+------+-----+
a +-----+---b-+-----+-----+-----+
e +-----+-----+---g-+-----+---a-+
