GUITAR AND PIANO KEY PROGRESSION FOR BEGINNERS

This page is for complete beginners to piano and guitar. Basically if you know one, the key progression is kind of the same for the other. This page will give you an idea of how the keys are arranged in piano and guitar.

In western musical notation the natural key progression goes:  C D E F G A B. The keys C D F G A have sharps. Keys E and B do not have sharps. The symbol for sharp is #.

In a piano, the white keys are the natural keys and the black keys are the sharps. The white key just before the 2 consecutive black keys is the first key, C of an octave. The entire piano is made up of repeating  octaves. 

figure shows an octave

A black key is the sharp of the preceding white key and is also called the flat of the next white key. For example, C# is also called  D flat (denoted D). The black key immediately following C is C#. The key immediately before D is D flat. As you would notice in a piano, there are 2 empty spaces in an octave. These are the places where E and B sharps are absent. The figure would make it simpler.

As you can see, when we progress to higher pitches, you have to go from C to C# and then to D and then to D#.. and so on. So the key progression in piano will be:

…-C-C#-D-D#-E-F-F#-G-G#-A-A#-B-C-C#-….

Now the progression in guitar is exactly the same but in a lil more messier way. In a guitar the same key progression as in a piano is there along the strings. But usually its just the first 4 frets that we use to get the same key progression along different strings.

STRING   .....................FRET NUMBER.................................................
...…........0…..1.....2.....3…….4….........5…....6…...7…..8…...9......10.......11…..12.. .

   E |-----E-----F----F#---G----G#--|---A----A#---B----C----C#----D----D#----E---

   B |-----B----C----C#---D----D#---|--E----F-----F#---G----G#----A----A#----B---

   G |-----G---G#---A----A#---B----|--C----C#----D----D#---E-----F----F#----G---

   D |-----D---D#---E----F-----F#----|--G----G#---A----A#---B-----C----C#----D---

   A |-----A---A#---B----C-----C#----|--D----D#---E----F----F#----G----G#----A---

   e |-----E----F----F#----G-----G#--|---A----A#---B----C----C#----D----D#----E---

             ---->         

Note: ‘e’ is the lower E. It is written in small letters to differentiate it from higher E.           

In a guitar, a note is denoted by the string number and fret number.  For eg. a C-note is played by placing your left hand on the 2^nd string first fret.

If you take a look at the figure, the 6 strings (from top to bottom of the guitar as you strum it) are e A D G B E and by convention from bottom to top it is also numbered 1 2 3 4 5 6. The name of the string is basically the note sounded when you play the string open. Open string is denoted by fret number 0. The first fret will be the next note after the name of the string on a particular string. For example, the note for first fret of A string will be the next note, i.e. A#. 

Here again the progression is the same as in piano: …-C-C#-D-D#-E-F-F#-G-G#-A-A#-B-C-C#-….

The key progression is there along a single string. The key progression is also there along different strings. For example, after G# which is on e-string 4^th fret, the next note, which is A, starts from next open string and then on the first fret of that string and so on . 

The note on the fifth fret of any string and the next open string will be same, except for the 3^rd string. In the 3^rd string(G), the note on the 4^th fret and next open string will be same. This is the basis for guitar tuning, but beginners better use a guitar tuner for tuning your guitar!