Chord/Key Theory

Hello again. I know your time is valuable, so let's get right to it. Last time we learned some basic chords in the key of G, and we played a simple progression. But what really is a progression? Look at the basic chords in the key of G:

I ii iii IV V vi Vii
G Am Bm C D Em D7

Now, what're you looking at? We've got 7 basic chords in the key of G, with roman numerals. That's obvious. Those numerals are there to help you in your chord progressions. The lowercase letters are for minor chords, the uppercase for major chords. As a reference, this works for writing chord names as well. G major can be written as just G, and G minor can be written either Gm or g. It's really a style choice, but for reference most people use the Gm instead of g. This works for all other chord names as well. An important thing to note is that the V and the Vii are variations of each other, and the Vii is usually a -7 or a -dim chord. One more is when certain keys have a sharp in them, like E having a sharp vi chord. But we'll worry about those later.

Another important thing to note is that memorizing song keys isn't as hard as you'd think. The roman numeral map applies to all keys that you'd like to know, so the key of C would contain the chords:
C Dm Em F G Am G7. Cool, eh?

Now, on to common chord progressions. You'll see that one of them is I IV V IV, or (when in the key of G) G C D C. here are some more, but not all:
I V
I vi ii V
I IV
I IV V
I vi V

One last thing before I end this post prematurely (on account of it being so theory heavy), this system really helps you remember how to form chords as well. Just like on the piano, a major chord is formed using the I iii and V tones from the key for the chord you wish to play. A G, for example, would contain a G, B, and a D in it. A minor chord has a flat iii, just like on the piano. This helps when you want to play a lead containing only chord notes, or just when trying to form your own chords.

That's it for today guys. Try not to get overwhelmed by this theory stuff, and next post we will get to adding on to that G riff and a nice strum pattern. Have fun!