How to Write a Song Songwriting Tips and Chords of a Major Key - Theory of the Major Scale and Key

[francenefallin]

@VASINGER ...The Melodies the Beatles used redefined POP music!!

[alphasxsignal]

Are there any rules for how many chords a song should have?

[tegsar88]

@alphasxsignal there are no rules in music

[alphasxsignal]

Thanks for doing this video. I hope you do alot more on writing a song and ideas to help.

Ive been getting into writing songs and lyrics.

[recomputed]

Thanks Commentator ..... i found a reference for the chords of G and can see all the chords so i guess i can safely conclude the key of G is what i use .......cheers

[recomputed]

I have a song with C G D but the d is a major open chord , would this still be in key of C i wonder ? .....grateful for any replies

[Theonlinecommentator]

@recomputed No this wouldn't be in the key of C, it doesn't matter if the chord is open or barre but you cant substitute a major for a minor. Try to keep it in a key that you know or you wont know what scales to use when writing lead for the song.

[darkroomxvii]

Hey, can you do a minor key lesson? Sounds darker/sadder

[MrWildboy214]

he farts at 9:28

[ratchetxrc]

Wow, this video has helped me out a lot. I've been playing for over a year and people say I'm pretty good, but I never understood how scales really worked. Thanks Marty this should really help me with my song writing

[livingvessel11]

marty looks like he had a long night lolol...good lesson tho



[feelpiranha]

what scales can i use to improvise in the key of C ?

Only c major scale?

[erniedouglas123]

@feelpiranha D Dorian, E Phrygian, F Lydian, G Mixolydian, A Aeolian, and B Locrian. These are modes using the notes in the c major scale but start on a different note of the scale. Also you can always use the relative minor(in this case A) and use the A pentatonic scale(or A blues scale).

[arit34]

e mak...E MINOR chords!!...LOL

[throcks483]

ok i didnt want to get to this point of watching a tutorial because for me the composing process is completely creative and not with a tutorial but my final test for my music class in university its to compose a song for next tuesday and sing it in front of the class with a guitar and....now i found out that my old songs are not exactly the type of song i would like to sing for it so now ill do a new one ,but its too much pressure!!:S

[jimiydoorshamelech]

Saying that they couldnt read music is a bit deceiving, whatever it was, they defacto "knew" these things, whether they knew it or not, if that makes sense.

In fact, even though the beatles couldnt read music, I bet they knew A B C D E F G and all the sharps and flats, I mean, what else would you call those notes right? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ? even if they did, thats really the same thing

[Stephenobrien28]

Thanks again big M!

[mrharrytoyou1]

fuck off

[AugustInAdelaide]

Does anyone care that I write songs? If you couldn't give a flying turd, have a look at my songs and let me know what you think. I DO THE SCARY 'C' CHORD lots of times.

[rossi1605]

/watch?v=tiEGkFqQLAo please watch and comment :)

[ciaranofficialmusic]

nice bro!

[PianoPlayingDave69]

Spilt my tea when he did the C chord :/

[Bulletwithguns]

jsyk, a great song to c how this all relates is "hallelujah" by jeff buckley without the capo.

[evolutionist2010]

why does a 1234567 have to change from major to minor/7ths? why not just straight major all the way? like he said iv heard of 145 before but i never realised the 2367 were not major...can someone help? i get the whole steps half steps stuff and i know scales but the reason for these changes has thrown me!

[naturesuphoria]

I liked it so much I had to!

[jsdoddy]

that fender amp is so powerful!

[geneclart1]

This has very little to do with songwriting.

[thebestevar525252]

r u randy from george lopez???

lol jk but thanks 4 the video it helped a lot

[padshardbank]

When you say the 5 chord, in this case the g, is the only dominant chord, what do you mean by dominant?

[Yannickl96]

@padshardbank it's a technical term I guess. I know three of this kind I guess. The Tonika (in this case the C) is the main note. Then the fourth note/chord is the subdominant (the F) and the fifth is the Dominant (the G).

The fourth chord is called subdominant because if you go back five steps its the dominant. so: C D E F G <= Dominant. C H A G F <= 'Dominant'. hope it was correct and helped.

[YourDailyTheory]

@Yannickl96 leading tone? the 7th step is called the leading tone, which you probably knew, just saying :)

[Yannickl96]

@YourDailyTheory actually i didn't but thanks :) I love learnin new stuff music related. I only knew them in german so I tried to translate the ones I knew ;) like I said: thanks m8 :D

[cptennisplaya]

I'll never learn this over the internet:/ I'll just ask my guitar teacher.

[ccmicoman]

@himynameisbrendo yea it should for the people like me who cant afford lessons

[UpyurfAtbuttux]

6:25 hes flipping me off

[Snakbratsch]

thats great, i got it, but i have one question anyway..

it doesnt matter which chord i start whith right? i could start with dm or whatever, its still in the key of c when i use those chords?

and same if i take any other chord as the first?

just an example to make my question clear, ive done the same thing to the e note but changed the chord order randomly

so would this song still be in the key of e?

F#m-B-E-A-C-G#m-D also if i take only 3 or 4 chords of this scale?

thanks

[UpyurfAtbuttux]

@Snakbratsch watch the video again i think he answers your question a 7:09 , not sure

[Snakbratsch]

@UpyurfAtbuttux yes i think he does, thanks! got to pay more attention..

[kate1994xX]

this feels like maths to me ..... wish i knew what u meant

[elithomast]

I don't understand any of this -.-

[DrakenGuardz]

@elithomast It's easy. Go get a chord book, and keep experimenting.

[JohnnyElsewhereTV]

You forgot the 7th chord. What do I do with B? Major, Minor, 7th?

[manu1695]

@JohnnyElsewhereTV It's a Diminished B (B°, Bdim). Dim. chords are rare outside of jazz/blues.

[krawn1]

im just curious why the 2 chord id d minor and not d major? is is because of the notes in the d major chord having sharps?

[MyGuitarAndMyVoice]

open up yours eyes and tell me, what it is u see, now i can write some original songs thanks to martyyyy...lol awsome stuff marty now im starting to understand chord structure!! love ya man! send me a dvd since i love u so much dog..lol

[reniisgod]

As much as i like what he's doing here, when im writing, i play what sounds good to me. Be it with simple chords or more complex chords, thats all i need. All my favourite musicians couldn't read music anyway...Hendrix being the obvious one and believe it or not that actually influences me further

[jwalsh8]

@reniisgod Thats a fantastic way to look at it many students just expect to be told where to put their fingers and let their teacher do the hard work but developing an ear for music is essential. That said learning theory opens up a knowledge of what the guitar is capable of and gives you the ability to work through more options that you might not have known existed otherwise i.e. a chord u use in a song might sound better on another area of the neck etc. You dont ned it but its usefull

[jimiydoorshamelech]

@reniisgod

Keeping it simple is important, i live by that as well. One Caveat though-

-Jimi couldnt read music, but if you read books dissecting his playing, he alludes to the dorian and mixolydian and other modes in his playing.

-The beatles couldnt read music, and they wrote some of the most complex melodies of all time for pop music.

[VASINGER]

@jimiydoorshamelech the beatles did not write complex melodies. Besides, thats not what makes a song great. Its about the lyrics.

[Theonlinecommentator]

@VASINGER Are you kidding??????????????? read the lyrics of nearly any song and they are basically meaningless crap made to fit with the melody. There are a few exceptions though.

[12345mutherfucker]

Nice Guitar!

[MyRocketer]

showing some luv, from da U.K

[MyRocketer]

showign some luv, from da U.K

[MyRocketer]

Thanks alot, from U.K

[backplommer]

MARTY, YOUR A FERKIN CHAMPION MATE, KEEP IT COMING,



[spartacus1125]

dude i totally freaking get it now. except for one thing, how do you know if the chord is gonna be a major or minor or 7 or m7?

Like you were saying that the 2 chord is Dm, why isnt it a major or something?

and also when you say your embellishing and stuff at around 2:20 what do you mean?

sorry for all the questions, i just really wanna have a good understanding of the guitar and the creation of music and stuff.

Gracias.

[iTzaEvilTurnip]

@spartacus1125 g major is g on low e string, b on a string, open d, g, and b strings, and g on high e

g minor is a full bar on the third fret, and 6th fret on the a and d strings

[pointypencil1]

the 7th chord is the diminished chord

[jimmeejommee]

This video was helpful to me because Ive been playing a single note instrument my whole life so I know scales but I never learned anything about chord structures. This video was very helpful in that it assumed I knew something about music but not specific parts

[Mcccooper1]

Marty, You've helped me so much on guitar lessons. But I'm in the middle of writing a song for this girl. I was wondering if you could make a video on how to make one.

[PassionOfTheDevil666]

Gah.. Guitar..

[3abedthedude]

Thanks

[sanddance82]

Hey great stuff. You obviously know your guitar. Thats great. However, Ill say, you didn't really teach a whole lot in this video. To a new guitarist, your words sounded like japanese. Give them the basics and in lay-mans terms. Otherwise you're doing the exact opposite of what Einstein said; No matter how much knowledge you have, its worth nothing unless you can teach someone else the knowledge you know. All you did in this video was say 'bla bla bla' and prove you know YOUR guitar. Thats it

[SchmockwithCream]

@sanddance82

What youre sayin might be true, if this was the only video in which he taught how to play the guitar. He's got all the basics in his other video, i was a complete beginner when i started and with the help of his vids i got muuch better in no time

 :)

[TheMythwatcher]

where did you get those gituars?

[MILEYAPPLEMONTANA1]

Can you help me finish this song: I don't love you no I don't need you I don't get you so why would I belive you can't you just take a step and get the heck out of here

[meezahmed]

@MILEYAPPLEMONTANA1 -- So i'll either hire a hitman or jump off a cliff

but most of all I hope you get my drift.

[luisrockstar]

excelent job thanks man, you guys can use Bdim as well on the C major key

[hto1971]

i can tell you now you know wht you talking about this what they go by in nasville they dont call cords by abcdefg they call it mag1-7 and so on

[luckyjrs]

your guitar is way louder than your voice and it hurts to listen on my monitors so i didnt complete the tutorial but it seemed like you had goof stuff to say.

[doodofrock]

does this guy seem high as balls to anyone else?

[NorthPolean]

@doodofrock Why does it matter?

[adiolf123]

Music only should inspire. Thank you for the inspiration.

[jcoldham1]

this may sound silly but would this be in the key of c?

[916marine]

Marty...so what it is that makes chords "go together"? This was a good lesson, but I'm confused as to why it is that these five chords you talked about work together. Is this easy to explain, or is this delve much deeper into music theory?

[cjkeegan100]

why G7 why not a normal G major?

[Songwriter8484]

Hey guys, license your music direct to tv and film around the world on Smashsongs. You set the price and stay in control.

Join up for free today ;)

[jik1992]

scared the shit outa me when he played the first C chord. Great lesson BTW

[jangel2771]

you forgot B diminishedd stupid

[deansparker]

i can write proper songs now!

[chambousmc]

Wow, this just blew my mind bro. I thought I knew a little somethin about chords and theory with the 1,4, and 5, but I've been throwing away 2,3,6, and 7. Really great, thanks for the video!!

[concreatcreativity]

like a rolling stone...

[bsdguitar1]

this is good

[torsutton]

very helpful!! :-)

[keithshapiro]

A key is a discipline of intervals.

[skint0n0minted]

or you could use a D major or whatever chords sound good

[Prcho88]

sweeet ! :)

[jemguitar89]

Good video for people who don't know a lot of theory but you forgot the seventh position my friend.....7 flat 5 chord

[nickfoxer]

"We could go 6 to the 2 which would be Em to Am".... not in the key of C. Totally not correct.

[acdcfan53]

thnks for the lessons marty u rock

[Mazeltof90]

I've been checkin out these lessons for a while now, and at first Im a bit sceptic but everytime that turns to optimism. A good teacher can never be underrated . Thanks so mutch!

[SilenceXCore]

for someone that never had theory study before it can be hard to understand. You forget some notion like Degree. The chord above C isn't minor. It's the DEGREE over C that's minor. Anyway, can be good vid' for someone that got the basic.

[marcushendriksen]

@ qwertyarchex - the chord pattern for a minor scale is i iidim III iv v VI VII

[saxplayerale]

My girlfriend has a hat like yours

[ABBAriginal]

@saxplayerale - my grandma has a cat ...

[saxplayerale]

@ABBAriginal meoww

[trile666]

YOU ARE BEST. If I get any money from my songs first cash I will send you man XD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[qwertyarchex]

Hey marty, wad chords is in the key of C minor? I noe the C minor scale but how do i noe whether is it a major or minor chord?

[SilenceXCore]

@qwertyarchex Write down the Tonic+third+fifth and look at the intervals. Tonic to Third that is a 2 whole step is major, 1and half step is minor. The fifth didn't change anything for the minor/major, but look if it's dim or aug.

[tiernanog53]

he looks like he's taking a massive dump at 5:00

[bbro2312]

ahahaha lolz

[thebeatschool]

check out my channel for more vids on chord progressions and melodies.

[CrSS85]

great video. I don't understand why he used G7 and not Gmaj, but still it's a great video

[benruegg]

@CrSS85 Its quiet common in music to use V 7 chord as it gives a sense of resolution to the progression, a Perfect Cadence if you will.

[ManOwarIdk]

u kidding me that was awesome

thank u

[fdgh1000]

you suck, i didn't get any thing you are saying you need to explain better

[Sqroob]

@fdgh1000 If you didn't get something this basic, you probably cant play guitar...

[vinbasshred]

love this guy, improved my abilities every time I see a vid.

[jlaw666]

can't the g just be a g and not a g7?

[rockstar20977]

@jlaw666 nope i think its the only one tht NEEDS to be a 7

[PurpleUkuleleGuy]

he says G is the only dominant chord in the scale, well duh; dominant is the name of note which is 5th in any scale.

[Deathization]

im just making up for no one criticizing the video - this is a good video for soley tab readers and beginners though : )

[Deathization]

this really didnt help with writing a song like the title said and this really isnt a theory because he just basically said to try random shit and see what happens except he did say g and c go together which i guess is a little helpful but common knowlegde to those of us that dont just look at tabs-maybe he could give tips to make a major key song sound less classical-like or less major-y if anyone knows what i mean?

[JonnyRakeRemix]

dude, i all ready know this stuff from years of trying to understand it.

If only somebody would have explained it so simply to me.

This guy knows his stuff

[Russell572]

holy shit huge guitar man

[singerangel908]

G7??? why not just a normal G???

[Yungblade41]

play some mixolydian =]

[regnier958]

as someone like myself that knows how to play guitar.. thx to this video im beggining to understand how to play guitar like radioheadfauxlife said

[Gpsurf40]

Question: the F chord that you did was just a normal F open chord, but you say F major, and it should be an F major since its the F its the 4° note of the scale, im just a little confuse on that one, please if somene can explain me

[CayanMagusson]

This was a very nice lessons for beginners, but can anyone else see why he decided to skip out on the vii diminished?

[radioheadfauxlife]

There's a difference between knowing how to play guitar, and understanding how to play guitar. Now i'm starting to understand how to play. Thanks a million, keep up the good work!

[educate1self]

@radioheadfauxlife

Me too. At first its just a swirl of info that seems to all get muddied together to be meaningless.

W-W-H-W-W-W-H for a major scale coupled with this 1-4-5 rule is starting to make a bit more sense. I often wonder how players remember all this stuff, but I guess repetition helps and also someone to explain it in a digestable way. Not easy though. It took me all my time just to learn the half tone progression in notes. How do people recall all this info while playing.

[zaqwertyuiopasdfgh]

dude i  love that guitar you should review it please im thinking of buying one

[shawn2571]

very nice lesson dude. it does get confusing of which chords to switch to when writing a song sometimes. thanks for the pointers :0)

[J0nnan]

The song that you begin to play at 2:16 ... I recognize the song :s What is it?

[doucher3391]

sounds kind of like imagine by john lennon

[J0nnan]

Yeah I know, but there's some other song that sounds just like this one :O

[alexmasucci55]

Those are the same chords for the first part of the intro to Dust in the Wind.

[J0nnan]

ah, that's it! thanks man

[gearedmah]

Very awesome...thank you for the easy to understand theory! You just solidified some info that's been in my head forever that I couldn't quite put together.

Your lessons are always easy to follow and very informative...so...THANKS!

[sonyplusgigabyte]

Hey Marty you rock!! Can you please explain the theory of getting a chord pattern for blues. I would like to learn how which chords to play for a blues riff so i can practice some licks over it....thanx alot man

[PommyBastard]

Marty, just wanted to say thanks man. I had been stuck in a rut with my playing and my guitar had started to collect dust.

Your GuitarJamzDotCom chan reminded me it's good to just take a step back and learn some basic strum along songs.

Loving the new channel as you make everything so easy to understand.

Thanks again man, I feel like my passion for the guitar has been re-energized.

[TengoAkira]

Thanks for this.That helped.

[Mikeytron6000]

thank you for this marty

[yopatao]

I'm diggin' the new page Marty.

I like the way you're separating the song lessons from guitar lessons.

I'll be visiting both pages often.

[HARDOZ30]

Thanks Marty, good lesson on the major scale with chords. I like the new channel too. Now I just have to figure out the circle of 5th's thing...sounds like a secret club only musicians know about.

[sexdrugsnmaximilian]

lmao

[nygrow10]

Bob Dylan - Rolling Stone

[CareyMathews12]

I just wanna say that I've been playing about 3 years and Ive watched a lot of video lessons and had a lot of guitar "teachers" but Marty here is the absolute best. He moves quick enough that your not bored but slow enough so you can soak it all in. Thank you Marty i hope you keep doing this for along time!

[kevlar1818]

so marty, are you doing any lessons on your martyfs account anymore?

[guitarjamzdotcom]

yah, once a few months go by, it will make sense which kind of videos go where. probably wont do lessons on martyfs74 unless its with another student. martyfs74 is basically my personal page where i just do whatever i feel like. gonna focus on this one quite a bit in the near future

[Vic3D]

marty you rock. this is probably your best lesson so far. At least is the most helpful for me this far!!

[Ducethedragon]

could you do a video on minor chord

[b00gymaster]

Totally agree with the comments, finally i can comprehend. Thank you for a great lesson. Much appreciated. All the best.

[gmlamr]

this is the most important lesson would help us to learn guitar the right way

the way you handled the theory is very very good

please we need more time with this lessons

thanks marty

[Itsooz]

Great lesson. Finally I comprehend what's going on with all those keys people talk about in videos.

[caddis05]

I'm liking tis new channel!! It's good to know the How & Why!!

Thank you for brining this to the masses!!!

[Pookie4795]

thanks marty that was an awesome lesson

[NearlyNormalSteve]

Thanks, I like it when you explain it from the beginning. It gives me a base to build on rather than just trying stuff-which is good too, but....

[guitar0person]

congrats on the new channal! this is exactly what i needed!

[ajworky]

Great lesson marty, these song structure lessons are excellent..You look a happy man now your site and channels are up and running.. got your mojo back!

[mossyx360]

Awesome Marty, Helped so much (:

I Love this new channel.