The Secret Power of I, IV, V (and beyond!)

Description

In this lesson, we'll quickly work out the One, Four, and Five chords in the key of A, and in the key of E

Armed with the basic chords in the five keys we're covering, (the keys of C, G, D, A, & E), you'll have access to tons and tons of music in the 5 mostly commonly used keys in guitar music.

Why these five keys? Because most of the chords you encounter in these five keys can be played in the First Position (lowest 3 frets) of the guitar. In other words, there is a minimum of barre chords needed to play in these five keys.

Plus, by using a capo, you can easily play these "open" (first position) chords in ANY KEY that exists.

Alas, that topic is beyond the scope of this tutorial. So, without further ado, let's keep on our topic.

Here are your chords for the key of A:

In the key of A, the 'One Chord' is A.

Make a numbered list, 1 through six. Starting with A in position number 1, fill in the letters in alphabetical order.

Find the Three Major Chord
in the Key of A


1 = A

2 = B

3 = C#

4 = D

5 = E

6 = F#

These letter names will correspond with the first six tones of the major scale in the key of A.

Circle number 1, number 4, and number 5. You'll end up with A, D and E.

That's your 'One, Four, Five', or in other words, those are the three major chords that work together to accompany the vast majority of basic songs in the key of A.

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Now let's look at the key of E. In the key of E, the 'One Chord' is E.

Make a numbered list, 1 through six. Starting with E in position number 1, fill in the letters in alphabetical order.

Find the Three Major Chords
in the Key of E

1 = E

2 = F#

3 = G#

4 = A

5 = B

6 = C#

These letter names will correspond with the first six tones of the major scale in the key of E.

Circle number 1, number 4, and number 5. You'll end up with E, A and B.

That's your 'One, Four, Five', or in other words, those are the three major chords that work together to accompany the vast majority of basic songs in the key of E.

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Now, we have a couple of other technicalities to catch up on.

First, the MAJOR SCALE actually has SEVEN TONES, NOT SIX.

Think: Do, Re, Me, Fa, Sol, La Ti, Do

There are seven distinct tones there, before you recycle back to Do and start again. S

So why are we using only six tones?

Because the chord that is built on the seventh tone of the scale is a pretty rare bird in most of the music we are talking about. It simply does not show up very often on the vast majority of songs. Therefore, it is beyond the scope of this tutorial, as this tutorial is all about the COMMONLY OCCURRING CHORDS, and not about rarer exceptions.

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ROMAN NUMERALS: It is the rule in music theory, when referring to chords and their relative positioning within a key, to refer to them by Roman Numerals.

1 = I

2 = II

3 = III

4 = IV

5 = V

6 = VI

For the remainder of this tutorial, we will switch over to Roman Numerals when referring to chords in relation to their key. This way you'll be speaking the same language as other musicians.

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Note: This is lesson #5 in a series of 11 lessons on Basic Chord Theory for guitar.
If you happened to join us partway through, feel free to go back to Lesson 1 to catch up! (click)