Guitar (Theory)

[bassdrummer2333]

So my theory class uses piano as an example for everything and because of this I have learned more about piano than I ever knew. So I have a few basic theory questions.

1) When writing guitar, how do you know if it's in the same key? I don't know any scales yet, i'm a beginner. And how do you figure out the key of a song you wrote?

2) Can someone post links to diagrams/sites with all the frets on a guitar translated into notes so I can visualize things better, a piano one would be helpful too.

3) I've gone through the whole 1,3,5 notes in a scale for a chord on piano, what are these on a guitar? Power chords?

[oh totes]

i'm pretty sure i can answer one of these questions, but i'm pretty new to theory as well so someone will probably correct me.

the key of a song is based on how many sharps or flats you're playing. its the same for guitar as piano, but for piano they're probably teaching you "how many black keys" are included in the scale you're playing. and the scales are used so that you know what notes are included in the key. for example: if you're writing in D Major, you'll be using the notes- D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#. You dont want to stray from those notes because it'll sound off. and the scales are determinded by how many half steps/whole steps are between each note. for a major scale the formula is "whole step, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half" or "2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1" (in terms of half steps).

i can also kind of answer number three. they're teaching you 1, 3, 5 as the fingers you use to press the notes for the chord on piano. what you need to know is that the root, third and fifth of a scale create a major chord. using the example of D Major from above: D, F# and A create the D Major chord. again to figure out what notes are in the D Major chord you need to know the formula which is: 4 half steps from the root, then 3 half steps from that note (the third) to get the fifth. but there are tons of other chords that can be created in a key that aren't just the root, third and fifth. (i would think this applies to all instruments but i'm really not sure, honestly).

and i havent really ventured into trying to learn how to read sheet music for guitar so i don't know how to explain to you what note the 4th fret on the E string is yet. which i think is maybe what you were asking for? sorry.

i hope i explained that thoroughly enough. i just saw no one had answered your questions yet and figured i could help a bit haha. also buy this http://tinyurl.com/5vw7wg. i have it, and while i dont play guitar very often (i'll be taking a guitar class next semester though) a friend bought this for me and it has all the chords with finger placements and scales all spelled out for you. you can find them at regular bookstores and stuff.

hopefully someone much more knowledgeable comes in to better help you! i think you were kind of looking for more guitar specific help, sorry. any other more specific theory questions just let me know and i'll try to help as much as possible. good luck!