03 How to Jam in the Key of C

The key of C is absolutely crucial in understanding the concept of diatonic chords as the key of C has no sharps or flats! Playing this scale is the equivalent of playing all the white notes on the piano, what we call the natural notes (natural note means not a sharp or a flat, so a 'normal' note)

If this concept in general is proving too confusing, please visit or re-visit my lesson on what musical keys are here.

Essential theory

C major scale

 C  D  E  F   G  A  B  C

 1   2   3  4   5   6  7  8

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The notes of the major scale are used as the root notes of the chords in the key of C. We number these to refer to these chords as the one, four, five, etc because all keys sound basically the same relative to the one chord, i.e. the tonal centre or key. We use roman numerals to differentiate this concept from other similar concepts.

Chords in the Key of C

C   Dm Em F  G  Am   

 I    ii    iii   IV   V   vi

1     2    3     4   5    6

Theory states that the 7th chord would be B diminished. However, in real songs the C/B chord is far more common.

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Interactive TAB - Essential Music Theory Points

Here we have taken the essential music theory points from the lesson video and synced them to tab for easy learning! This clip shows how the notes from the major scale give us all the chords in the key of C major.

Example chord progression 1

|C                             |C/B                         |Am                         |F                              |

Example chord progression 2

Chords progressing in diatonic chord order from the tonic aka the 'one chord'.. from the start of the video above!

|C                Dm                         |Em              F                              |

Interactive TAB - Jamming examples

Here we have tabbed out the improvisation examples from the lesson video, which is synced to video for easy learning! These can be used as inspiration for you own jams, or learn them note for note to get you started.

Song examples in C major

Key of C Song examples include;

• Let It Be by The Beatles

• La Bamba by Ritchie Vallens

• Don’t Look Back in Anger by Oasis

If you don't know it already, learn the C major scale and some melodies with the C major scale to get your started here.

Here's position one of the C major scale, which you can use for lead lines, riffs, or improvisation!

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Relative minor key - A minor

Relative major and minor keys have the same chords. Therefore, the chords that occur in the key of C major and the key of A minor are the same. This is because they have the same key signature, meaning those keys have the same amount of sharps and flats.

The relative minor key is always the minor chord of the 6ths note in the major scale!

Example A minor chord progression

|Am                        |G                             |F                              |E                              |

Song Examples in A minor

Songs in the key of A minor include;

• House of the rising sun

• Rolling In The Deep by Adele (with capo like in this video)

• REM - Losing my religion

Keep Learning!

Want to learn more about how to improvise your own lead guitar lines?

When you finish this module, keep learning lead guitar with my new course Lead Guitar 1

> Click here to go to Lead Guitar 1