Searching for the key

James P. on "Lesson 5: Streets of Laredo"
My pinky finger is a little slow to get to that B-flat chord!

James Hill replies "Lesson 5: Streets of Laredo
Not to worry, James... it will come with practise! You can try rolling the chord (i.e. dragging the thumb across the strings so that the onset of each note in the chord is slightly staggered). This will give your pinky finger a *fraction* of a second more time to get in place. That might be all it needs.

--

Amy on "Lesson 1: The F Major Scale"
I like your color coordination - the colour of the shirt matches the colour of the book!!

James Hill on "Lesson 1: The F Major Scale"
Shucks... thanks, Amy!

--

Sibo Wang on "Lesson 1: The F Major Scale"
If I'm reading the sheet correctly, those mystery melodies are also using notes from the C major scale only, right? Then, for music which uses C,D,E,F,G, and A only, how do we know it's in the key of F major or C major? And why do we need to make this distinction?

James Hill on "Lesson 1: The F Major Scale"
Great question, Sibo. Only ONE note changes between the key of C and the key of F (b becomes b-flat). So if you’re only using the notes c, d, e, f, g and a and your only playing melody, in a sense there’s no difference. However, if you’re strumming things will be quite different. Also, the “roles” of the notes change. In the key of C, for example, the note c is the tonic. The “home” note where the music feels at rest. In the key of F, however, the c note is the “away” note where the melody can feel unresolved. It might sound like a subtle thing but it has an impact on the way you feel the music. I hope that helps!