Video Cliffs:

0:00 – Intro
0:44 – Intro to the 5 Steps
2:22 – Part 1: Using the ‘Pentatonic Box Method’ to Quickly Find the Key
4:27 – Quick Demo of the ‘Pentatonic Box Method’
7:13 – Part 2: Using the Circle of Fifths to Determine the ‘in-key’ Chords
8:32 – Quick Demo of Strumming Along with “November Rain” by Guns n Roses
10:16 – Part 3: Understanding the Function of Each Chord Within the Key
14:22 – Part 4: How to Quickly Recognize Out-of-Key Chords
16:38 – 2 Very Commonly Used Out-of-Key Chords
19:09 – Part 5: Learning Leads and Solos by Ear

1 – Understand What Key You’re in

There are many ways to figure out the key that a song is in, but when it comes to using just your ear and your guitar, the quickest way that I have found is what I refer to as the “Pentatonic Box Method”.

• The Pentatonic Box Method – Simply take the above scale pattern, which is Pentatonic Position #1, and try it starting on every fret on the low E-string. Your first finger will dictate your starting point. There are only 12 possible “starting points” on the low E-string before things begin to repeat themselves. Likewise, there are only 12 possible keys that a chord progression could be in. With this method, you simply try out each “pentatonic box” starting as low as you possibly can on the fretboard until you find the one that sounds PERFECT when played along with the song that you are learning.

After you find the “box” that works the best, you can determine the key by where your first finger and pinky finger are located.

• Your first finger will give you the answer in terms of which MINOR key that the song or chord progression is in
• Your pinky finger will give you the answer in terms of which MAJOR key that the song or chord progression is in

2 – Every Key has Exactly 3 Major Chords and 3 Minor Chords in it

Regardless of whether you are viewing a particular key from the major perspective or the minor perspective, there are exactly 3 major chords and 3 minor chords found within each key. The circle of 5ths groups these 6 chords together for each key like so:

Key of C major/A minor:

Key of G major/E minor:

Key of B major/G# minor:

One you know the key that you are in, along with the 3 major and 3 minor chords found within that key, it makes figuring out songs by ear MUCH EASIER! Rather then trying to just guess which chords are thrown together at random, you instead have a great point to start from with the 6 “in-key” chords.

3 – For Each of the 12 Possible Keys, Each Chord has a Specific Function

Within each grouping of 6 on the circle of fifths, you can apply a Roman Numeral to each chord depending on its’ position. Major chords get an uppercase roman numeral, and minor chords get a lowercase roman numeral…

“I chord” – Outer-circle, center position:

“ii chord” – Inner-circle, counter-clockwise position:

“iii chord” – Inner-circle, clockwise position:

“IV chord” – Outer-circle, counter-clockwise position:

“V chord” – Outer-circle, clockwise position:

“vi chord” – Inner-circle, center position:

This positioning within the grouping of 6 will remain the same for all 12 keys.

To demonstrate 3 different examples, try playing a IV – ii – I progression in 3 different keys:

• Key of C major/A minor: F – Dm – C
• Key of G major/E minor: C – Am – G
• Key of B major/G# minor: E – C#m – B

The more songs you learn, the more you will recognize common chord progressions being used very often. One of the most common chord progressions that you will hear in modern music is the “I – V – vi – IV” Progression. Try it out, and you will see what I’m talking about!

4 – Listen for Out-of-Key Chords

Out-of-key chords (aka. “non-diatonic” chords) usually aren’t just selected at random. More often then not, they are “borrowed” from parallel keys. Let’s say that our original starting key is C major/A minor:

C major/A minor:

Assuming you are referring to this key as the key of C major, if you wanted to “borrow” some chords from the parallel key, you would look to the key of C minor:

Assuming you are referring to this key as the key of A minor, if you wanted to “borrow” some chords from the parallel key, you would look to the key of A major:

Within these parallel keys, you will often find the major chords being used more often. Not to say that minor chords are never “borrowed” from parallel keys. It’s just that “borrowed major chords” tend to be used more. Therefore, within the key of C major/A minor, you will often hear these chords thrown into the mix:

2 Commonly Used “Borrowed Chords”:

• Extremely Common “Borrowed Chord” #1 – You will often see that the minor “iii chord” is made into a major “III chord”:

*Note: If you are looking at this key from the minor perspective, which in this case would be A minor, and you are treating the A minor chord as the “i chord”, this chord would considered the “V chord”.

• Extremely Common “Borrowed Chord” #2 – You will often see a minor “iv chord” following a major “IV chord” which then leads very nicely back to the “I chord”:

Example: Try playing this progression, and listen to the sound. I’m sure you will recognize it:

• F – Fm – C

*Note: This is also referred to as a Plagal Cadence.

5 – Figuring Solos out by Ear

Once you know the key you are in, you can figure out solos pretty quickly by simply using the key-scale.

In the video example above, I show you how you can use your ear to figure out Solo #1 from November Rain by Guns n Roses.

If you have a guitar that is in standard tuning, and you are listening to the album version of November Rain, then the B major key-scale will be your overall framework of notes to use:

B major scale:

This may be overwhelming at first, but if you just focus on a few positions (namely the “home box” and the “A-string home box”), then you will find that you are able to figure out some of Slash’s licks and solos:

“Home Box” for the key of B Major (lower):

“A-String Home Box” for the key of B Major:

“Home Box” for the key of B Major (higher):

Between just these 2 positions, you will find that you can learn A LOT of solos. All you need to know is what key you are in. From there, just simply apply the pattern(s), and you are left with a nice road map of notes to choose from!

That’s it for this lesson. Thanks for following along!