Song Writing

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-+