FW: [Harp-L] Key of song from Guitar Chords

["Bill Kumpe" <bkumpe@xxxxxxx>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Kumpe [mailto:bkumpe@xxxxxxx] 
Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2012 12:41 PM
To: 'Vern'
Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Key of song from Guitar Chords

Vern said: "I would not call the first note or chord a rule at all. "

I'm not looking for an argument here.  I know almost no music theory.  I
learned to "three chord" by ear (with maybe some added seventh chords)  when
I was a small child. I didn't even know I was playing 1-4-5 for decades
until I started learning the Nashville system.  Having said that, the old
rule of thumb for "three chording" was that you always started and ended in
your key chord.  It was a pretty good rule for the simple music we played
back then.  If you were playing in G you would start in G and end in G.
After learning basic chord shapes that was the first lesson taught by my
music mentors.  I don't know what percentage of country, blues, rock and pop
are straight 1-4-5 but it has to be significant.  And, I know that there is
a lot of more sophisticated music out there where this "rule" does not
apply.  But, the question I am asking, and I am asking this because I
occasionally work with people just starting to play, "Doesn't the 1-4-5
first chord key rule apply often enough to be taught to beginning musicians
who are not interested in learning a lot of theory?  And, can't they learn
the exceptions later and use this simple rule until they move on to more
complicated music?"  

Bill Kumpe
Tulsa, OK