Teori: Kekunci (Key)

Ok, cam yang aku sebut sebelum ni, cari key satu lagu tu adalah step paling awal aku buat. Knowledge of the key is extremely important and useful. So here’s a short lesson about Key, untuk sape yang tak tau. But don’t expect to learn everything there is to know about key from this article.

So ape itu Key? There’s a lot of ways to describe it. But to me, key ni cam background lagu tu. It’s something that unites the notes in the song. It’s like a home to it.

Satu lagu tak semestinya ade satu key jek. But usually, when the key changes, you can feel it. Here’s an example, lagu C.I.N.T.A dari XPDC album Darjah Satu (yes, I had that album :P). Mase lagu tu start, key dia E minor (G Major), pastu bile kat 0:23, key dia tukar jadi F# minor (A Major). Pastu kat 0:45 tuka jadi G minor (B♭ Major) pulak. Each time tuka key tu, you can feel like you’re entering a different room, different environment.

Another example that I like to use is Carole Kings' Tapestry (probably not what you guys listen to, but she’s an amazing songwriter). Key dia ditukar at 1:18 and 1:32 (and maybe other places too).

So, meh blaja sket pasal key.

Chromatic Scale

Dalam popular western music punya theory, ade satu scale yang paling basic, yang dipanggil Chromatic Scale. Chromatic scale ni adalah scale yang mengandungi semua note. Amik gitar ko, and petik open A string (5th string). Now main 1st fret of that string plak. That’s A#/Bb. And then main 2nd fret of the string. That’s B. Do it until you reach the 11th fret, which is a G#/Ab. You have played one octave of chromatic scale. Kalo ko main fret ke 12 pulak, that’s gonna be A again, one octave higher than open string A, not note H.

Note-note dalam chromatic scale ni distance dia ialah one semitone (or half tone) from the next note. Jarak dia dalam gitar ialah satu fret.

Kalo ko peratikan, between B & C, and between E & F, takde # (sharp) or ♭ (flat) (note: only in a few keys jek ade C♭, F♭ and E#). That’s just how it is. Dalam gitar tak jelas sangat. Kat piano/keyboard jelas sket. See the following.

Major Scale

Ok, after chromatic scale, the next scale you need to know is the Major scale. Major scale ni formula dia W-W-H-W-W-W-H. W tu maksud dia whole, one whole tone (2 fret), and H plak half.

So, ikut formula tu, try buat C Major scale. Start on the 3rd fret of the 5th string. Jawapannya di bawah kalo malas (jangan malas!!).

It turned out that C Major scale ni takde note dia yang sharp or flat. And Major scale ni, whatever Major scale it is, sounds like the familiar Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do melody. And kalo bace C Major scale ni dari note kedua jadi nama kumpulan Def-Gab-C (you don’t need to remember that).

Now try buat G Major scale plak (start dari fret ke 3 on the 6th string).

Ape note dia?

G-A-B-C-D-E-F#. Kenapa F#, bukan Gb?

Walaupon F# ngan Gb ni benda yang sama, satu huruf tu boleh sebut skali jek dalam scale tu. So kalau dah ade G, tak leh ade Gb. And since takde F lagi, we use F#.

How about F major scale plak.

F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E.

Kenapa Bb, tak A#? You  know the answer.

Minor Scale

Minor scale ni, or relative minor ni ialah note ke 6 dalam Major scale tu. So kalau C Major scale, note ke 6 dia adalah note A. So C Major scale ngan A minor scale have the same notes.

The relative minor of G Major scale plak ialah E minor scale. And so on.

Key

So kalau lagu tu note dia mostly in a specific major/minor scale, we can assume yang key dia adalah scale tu. Contohnya cam lagu Srikandi Cintaku tu.

“Dingin malam tirai kenangan ku”

Note yang dia nyanyikan ialah B, low G, B, high G, high G, F#, E, D, C, B.

Part “dingin malam” tu note dia B, G, B, G. It can be C Major scale, G Major scale, or D Major scale.

But masuk part “tirai kenangan ku” tu ade note G, F#, E, D, C. Most probably not C Major sebab ade F#, and most probably not D Major sebab ade C. So it’s most likely a G Major (E minor) key.

Triads

Setiap key ade chords yang semua note dia belongs to the key. Contohnya C Major key.

Semua note dalam C Major, D minor, E minor, F Major, G Major, A minor and B diminished chords ade dalam key C Major. Those are the basic triads, basic chords dalam key tu. Gi tengok table ni.

Now berbalik kepada lagu Srikandi Cintaku tu. Cam dalam video tu, aku cakap key dia G Major/E minor. And aku cakap chords yang possible dalam lagu ni ialah G Major, A minor, B minor, C Major, D Major, E minor. Yang aku tak sebut ialah F# diminished. Sebabnye chord ni jarang dipakai. So, kalo korang tengok table tu tadi, you’ll see chords yang aku sebutkan under G Major key or E minor key.

And kalo tengok balik kat chords lagu tu yang aku post, you’ll see that most of the chords belong to G Major/E minor key.

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So that’s the basic of keys, particularly untuk belajar lagu by ear. If you wanna learn more about keys (you should), google it.

Tip: Aku rasa kebanyakan lagu-lagu rock Melayu zaman 80-90an ni ditulis dalam key C Major (A minor), G Major (E minor), atau F Major (D minor).