Keep Your Guitar Players CAGED

In the last post, we looked at how high or low songs should be pitched for congregational singing--preferrablly between C and C. But there is another factor to take into consideration when choosing where to set worship songs: whether or not the key works well for guitarists.

While a guitar could technically create any chord, some chords are easier to play than others. Also, some chords just sound better in certain keys, and particular fingerings and chord shapes work and sound better than others. This is more of an issue for rhythym guitar players--electric guitar players using power chords and bar chords can adapt more easily to odd keys.

The easiest way to remember guitar-friendly keys is the word CAGED. C, A, G, E and D are all good guitar keys.

So, say you have this great hymn arrangement you want to play with the worship team in the key of A flat. If you want to keep your guitarist happy, change the key to A or G. If you have a song that you want to do in the key of E flat, move it down to the key of D or C for the guitar players sake.

Cheating with a capo:

Let's say you really, really want to do that hymn arrangement in the key of A flat. (Maybe you are working with folks who depend on sheet music, or your alto knocks the song out of the park in that key.) You can still do this without making your guitar player pull their hair out. Give them a copy of the chord sheet in the closest guitar-friendly key BELOW the one you are playing the song in. (G in this instance.)

Then, have the guitar player use their capo (the clip that holds all the strings down) to raise the pitch of their guitar, so the song sounds in the correct key. Every fret they capo raises the pitch of the guitar one half-step. So in the case of the A flat hymn arrangement, the guitar player would place the capo on the first fret and play the song in G.

Here's one more example. If you want to play a song in the key of F sharp (hey, you never know!), give your guitar player the chords in the key of E, and have them capo on the second fret.

Remember, keep your guitar players CAGED. And if that isn't possible, give them the CAGED key just BELOW the key the song is in.