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Learning path, lesson 3 of 8

Four chords from the key

A key is a set of seven notes, and each of those notes carries a chord built only from the others. Pick four of those chords and they will sound like they belong together, because they do.

Try it in the studio Opens a new song with lessons 1 and 2 already done, so you start right here. Free, no account.

The lesson, step by step

In the studio each step is one sentence in a strip over the real controls. Its check lights when your song does what the step says; Show me opens the tool and points at the control.

  1. Put four chords from A minor in bars 1 to 4 of the chord lane: click a bar, then pick from the "In A minor" row.
  2. Add a Keys track to play them: + Add track, then Keys.
  3. Give it a four-bar clip: double-click its lane at bar 1, then drag the clip's right edge to bar 5.
  4. Write each bar's chord in the note editor: the tinted rows are its notes (or press Strum).

The seven chords of A minor

Stack every other note of the scale A B C D E F G and you get these. The numeral is the chord's place in the key; lower case is minor, the circle is diminished.

NumeralChordNotes
iAmA C E
ii°B dimB D F
IIICC E G
ivDmD F A
vEmE G B
VIFF A C
VIIGG B D

Am, F, C, G (i, VI, III, VII) is a good first loop: it starts at home, moves away and comes back round.

What the studio checks

Bars 1 to 4 of the chord lane each start with a chord, at least four chords begin there, not all the same one, and every chord is from the key: all its notes up to the seventh are in the scale. A borrowed chord is explained, not marked wrong; this lesson is simply about the key's own seven.

The chords part passes when, in each of the four bars, notes struck together hold the chord's root and at least one more of its notes, with most of them from the chord. A strum counts, and so does an arpeggio whose notes are at least 70% chord tones.

E is not in A minor (it needs G#). It can sound great, but this lesson is about the key's own chords: the "In A minor" row has them.

In bar 2 the chord is F (F, A and C), but Keys plays G, B and D there. Stack two or three of the tinted rows.

Questions

What is the chord lane?

A row above the timeline that holds the song's chords, one box per bar. The note editor tints each chord's notes under it, and parts can follow it when you change a chord.

Can I use chords from outside the key?

Of course, and good songs do. The chord lane offers a few borrowed ones next to the key's seven. This lesson asks for the seven first so you learn what "in key" sounds like before you leave it.

Do I need the AI to finish the lesson?

No. Every lesson is done by hand, with a check that reads your song. Gusta, the studio's AI, can make an example you can study, keep or undo, but that is optional and it uses tokens; the lessons themselves are free.

The whole path

Eight lessons of about ten minutes, each building part of the same song, ending with a finished file.

Next lesson: A bass that follows the chords.

  1. A beat
  2. Hats and groove
  3. Chords from the key
  4. A bass that follows the chords
  5. A melody hook
  6. A verse and a chorus
  7. A clear mix
  8. Out the door

Learn it in the real studio

Gusta Music is a free browser studio: a timeline, a note editor, a mixer and an AI copilot that edits your song with you instead of generating one for you. The lessons run on top of it, and the song you make is yours.

Start lesson 3