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Major Key Cheat Sheets! Must-Know Chords, Scales, and Fretboard Diagrams

Lesson #518 • Sep 25, 2023

Hey there, friends! I’ve been busy at work putting together something that’s been on my list for a couple years — a bundle of cheat sheets showing you must-know info for the five most common major keys. This is something I started in lesson #388 and #407, but never finished for the other keys. Finally, I’ve got them at a place where they’re worth sharing!

In today’s video (linked above), I’ll give a walkthrough of the first page of each cheat sheet.

Specifically, I’m looking at the keys of C, G, D, A, and E major. In my experience of almost 25 years of guitar playing, these are the five keys that 95% of all pop/rock/folk/country songs are going to use. Learn the common chords in each, and you’ll get a ton of mileage you can apply to your guitar playing. Looking for somewhere to start? Key of C and Key of G are what I’d recommend. They use almost all open chords - requiring very when it comes to barre chords.

I do plan on adding to these cheat sheets as time goes on, starting very soon in fact! Scales, triads, walking bass lines, and must-know chord tricks per each key… there’s a ton of stuff I’m excited to add. But for now, I’m excited to have these initial versions complete and ready to share. I hope you enjoy!

  • 0:00 Overview
  • 1:59 Major Scale in Each Key
  • 2:58 Fretboard Map of Each Key
  • 4:13 Common Scales in Each Key
  • 7:51 Common Chords in Each Key
  • 10:50 Non-Diatonic Chords in Each Key

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Get the Major Key Cheat Sheets!

If you want, you can download all the cheat sheets as one file — it’s a single ten-page PDF, including each of the five cheat sheets.

Download All Major Key Cheat Sheets

If you want to download them individually (two pages each), use the links below.

Membership to Song Notes Premium is required to download these cheat sheets. Premium membership also gives you access to all my other instructional PDFs.

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