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I’ve started the Blues Lead Course. I am trying to develop my ear while navigating through the course. In Pattern 1 / Lick 1, I assume the accompanying Blues jam track should be in the key of C as the lick uses the 8th root fret. However, when I try to find the key by ear, it sounds to me like it is in the key of G.
Is it my ear that is the problem or is it my misunderstanding that the jam track is in the key of C? -
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Hi David, I just took a look and it seems the Funky track is key of C, the Rock track is key of A, and the Blues track is key of G. This has come up before in the forum. I think the consensus was that Brian provides multiple track to help us understand how a lick can be moved from key to key, style to style, etc. And, I don’t know if that’s explained anywhere. So, good ear!
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Hey David, in olden days we had several discussions on the forum about how to tell what key a song is in. The goal is to be able to just put on some random jamtrack, and grab your guitar and play along…..without having to ask what key it’s in. So having the jamtracks in a different key from the lick lessons is a test. You passed!
Sunjamr Steve
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Hi,
As Michael indicates, all three examples are played over different chords and the lick that is tabbed is transposed accordingly (that is, it’s not always played at the tabbed frets although the intervals between the notes are preserved).
It is not very relevant to ask what key a lick is in.
A better question is to ask what tension it brings to the underlying chord (and the function of that chord in the harmony should also be taken into consideration).For example, the notes that are tabbed are: (F Eb) (F Eb) (C Eb) (C -)
– Could you play that over a C chord? Yes, of course. The lick highlights the b3 (Eb) and resolves on the root of the chord (C). In a blues context, that will sound great. You can also play it over a Cm chord of course.
– But on an A chord, for example, it would sound very “out”, to put it mildly…Let’s assume that you are playing a blues in the key of C; the chords are C7, F7 and G7.
We just saw that you can play that lick over the C7 chord. How about the other two chords?
– Over F7 (F A C Eb) the lick also works fine, ending on the 5th
– Over G7 however, it will clash severely with the chordal B; therefore you probably don’t want to play it as such over the V7 chord.-
@Jean-Michel G – This is an advanced explanation for where I currently am in my journey, but very much appreciated. I think you are referring to chord tone targeting. I’ve read and watched videos about this but haven’t really delved into it yet. If you could suggest any lessons from this site it would be very much appreciated, just like your detailed responses.
Cheers!!!
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You are welcome!
Yes, chord tones are definitely part of it.
The main point however, is that a lick in and by itself is not in any particular key. It’s just a bunch of notes that will sound differently depending on the chord that you play them over.If you enter “chord tone targeting” in the lesson search bar you will get a whole list of lessons that address this topic. Here are three of them: EP280, EP535, EP537.
But don’t rush. Targeting chord tones is something that you will do naturally as you discover that some notes you play over certain chords don’t sound very well.
Enjoy!
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