Hey Friend,

We flew back home yesterday and for the most part, our trip gave us some nice down  time with family. It was good to get away from everything and just veg out - no real schedule or agenda to follow. Even our time in the airports and on the planes was good despite all the warnings from talking heads about the headaches associated with traveling over Thanksgiving.

C# Diminished was the last chord we covered in the key of D major, so I guess it's time to start looking  at the next key. To do that, we turn to the Circle of Fifths. The Circle of Fifths provides us a handy visual tool to quickly see the relative major and minor keys, and it guides us to successive keys based on the perfect fifth intervals.

It also tells us quickly how many sharp or flat notes we'll encounter in each key. With D major, we had two sharp notes, so the next key we study will have three.

To figure out the next key, it's as simple as counting to five (remember, perfect fifth intervals). Since D was the last tonic note, we  start with that and count up five notes. Don't worry about whether a note is sharp or flat - just count up five notes. Like this...

A major is the lucky winner in this game. 

So what notes are in the key of A major? To easily pick them out, remember our lovely major scale pattern:

The intervals between each note are either a whole step (two frets) or a half step (one fret).

We also have to remember that there are specific intervals between each natural note. The easiest way to remember these intervals is by applying the scale pattern to the key of C. Because each note in the key of C major IS a natural note (not a sharp or flat), you can quickly see what the intervals are between the natural notes.

Take that same pattern and build out any other major scale. Here it is applied to the A major scale:

Using the pattern on the A major key, A to B is a whole step, so we're good there. B to C is normally a half step, but because we need a whole step for the major scale to sound right, we need to raise the pitch to C#.

Another handy thing to remember is that the last key we studied (D major) has a C# note, and as we move around the Circle of Fifths, the sharp notes are cumulative. So the C# note (as well as the F# from the key of G major) carry over.

The interval between C# and D should be a half step, so no worries there. D to E is good with  whole step. E to F is naturally a half step, but we need a whole step, so F is raised to F#. We need another whole step in the scale for the sixth interval, so G become G#.

Lastly, a half step finishes the scale as it heads to the octave. Since we already have G# in place, G# to A works as is.

That gives us the scale, and also tells us the root notes for the chords we'll find in the key of A. Using the basic harmonic progression, these are the chords we will study:

That gives a good place to stop for the day. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Y'all have a great one!

Peace~

Dave