Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT) Practice Exam

If a music therapist with basic guitar skills wants to stay within first position chords while accompanying a song in Ab major, to which key should they transpose the song?

1. B major

2. D major

3. F major

4. G major

The correct answer is: G major

When a music therapist with basic guitar skills is looking to accompany a song in Ab major while staying within first position chords, transposing the song to G major is the appropriate choice. In first position, the chords available on the guitar include C, G, D, A, E minor, and so forth. To understand why transposing to G major is suitable, it's important to look at the relationship of the keys. Ab major consists of the notes Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, and G. When you transpose this to G major, the corresponding chords become G major, C major, D major, and E minor, which are all feasible to play in first position on the guitar. The G major scale includes the notes G, A, B, C, D, E, and F#, and its chords readily fit within the first position. This choice allows the music therapist to successfully accompany the song without needing to learn more difficult chord shapes or finger positions, thus enabling a smoother performance with minimal technical challenges.