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Old 01-31-2015, 02:20 PM   #1
samsome123
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Default chord progression related question



This songs shows up to be in G MAJOR? from the treble clef?

i looked up what chords fit into a G Major


Gmaj Amin Bmin Cmaj Dmaj Emin F#dim


I can't understand why those chords come up in the picture like Fmaj7 and F#m7

is it not in G Major?

Last edited by samsome123; 01-31-2015 at 02:26 PM.
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Old 01-31-2015, 03:13 PM   #2
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Just because a song is written within a certain key, it does not mean the song has to contain "only" chords within said key.

There are twelve separate tones in western music, eight contained within any one key. The other five notes are the accidentals. These encompass the blues notes and are very powerful in elliciting emotion.
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Old 01-31-2015, 03:20 PM   #3
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If there are lyrics - check out the notes. As said, there can be really any notes, but I find the vocals tend to (mostly) follow the key.
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Old 01-31-2015, 03:28 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dea-man View Post
Just because a song is written within a certain key, it does not mean the song has to contain "only" chords within said key.

There are twelve separate tones in western music, eight contained within any one key. The other five notes are the accidentals. These encompass the blues notes and are very powerful in elliciting emotion.
^^^^ Yes what dea-man says, and the chord representations you show there aren't very good for guitar.
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Old 01-31-2015, 03:29 PM   #5
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Which is to say that, no, it's not really strictly in G, but if it sounds good...

If you look at the actual notes being played, though, the chord noted as F#m7 isn't really the whole chord, leaves out the fifth (C#), which is the one note from that chord that would be "wrong" in G. I use that chord shape in place of the viidim almost always.

That leaves the Fmaj7, which also isn't a whole chord. It too leaves out the fifth, even though it would be in key. The "wrong" note is the tonic. In this context, though, it's part of chromatic bass walk-up thing which is pretty common.

Usually, though, the key signature that is designated at the left of the staff is chosen to minimize the number of sharps or flats that you have to write in manually.
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Old 01-31-2015, 03:32 PM   #6
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in fact you can define any key you want and then use any notes you want. the keys are crucial to understand theory or to get a grasp in that. in addition to that it explains how the basic chords are build, what a mode is and why things sound like the sound. but there are NOT any rules in theory you or any musician has to obey.

its called "theory" and not "law". this distinction is very important to understand.

so you can define the key as C major and use a Ab major scale to build your melodies and chords. you have then to fight the notation that will get really complicated and ugly. :-) (because in notation there are rules and laws and you will get killed if you violate some of them. the notation-police is everywhere and is unforgiving.) but if you want to, you can do that. not recommended but you are a free person in a free world. at least I hope so.
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Old 01-31-2015, 03:56 PM   #7
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eh.....Thanks guys! I'm trying to grasp my head around this, as you all say breaking the rules a bit can spice things up.

can you confirm me if the song is in G major?

btw this was the beginning of metallica - battery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md3B3I7Nmvw
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Old 01-31-2015, 04:09 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteaxxxe View Post
so you can define the key as C major and use a Ab major scale to build your melodies and chords.

so this could be Em as well then hm
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Old 01-31-2015, 04:53 PM   #9
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Sandsome123

Provide the whole chart of the song that would be a good idea.

Grinder

https://soundcloud.com/steve-maitland-1
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Old 01-31-2015, 05:40 PM   #10
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hehehe
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Old 01-31-2015, 07:49 PM   #11
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The key is definitely G as that is what is indicated in the Key Signature on the staff.

Remember, the key signature and staff are all about recording music in written form. As usual, real live music is about understanding the rules and breaking them at will. Writing music on paper is a dicipline all it's own.

Be free.
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Old 01-31-2015, 09:04 PM   #12
samsome123
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dea-man View Post
The key is definitely G as that is what is indicated in the Key Signature on the staff.

Remember, the key signature and staff are all about recording music in written form. As usual, real live music is about understanding the rules and breaking them at will. Writing music on paper is a dicipline all it's own.

Be free.
yes G or Em (relative minor)

and i think its Em since it starts and ends with E5 after seeing the end bar
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Old 02-01-2015, 03:54 AM   #13
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I'd say that is a intro to the G major chord - in half steps, from the e-note ... tap-tap-tap-taa sliding up the neck. Guitar chord analyse can look pretty strange ... calling those chord E major, F major 7 etc is really a shortcoming of theory, or rather, theory trying to make systematic sense of those "chords".

Take, e.g. Light My Fire - the verse goes from a-minor to f#minor - that's pretty unusual. The relationship doesn't sit well with western modes - theoretically. If a-minor is the tonic, well, what then is the f#minor? I don't know the english lingo for this - but you could see the f#minor as - the minor dominant of the subdominant-paralell... does that make sense? Pretty good song, anyways...
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Old 02-01-2015, 07:15 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by samsome123 View Post
... breaking the rules ...
there are no rules, so you cant break them. its THEORY, that explains something, not RULES!!!!

math is rules, because math is not a theory. physics is a theory, and laws of nature are rules after math and observation had proved the theory to be ALWAYS right. as long as that didnt have happened, there are no rules. only theory.

and music will never be proven to be right or wrong (in theory ... hahahaha, of course there is wrong music ... ever heard Justin Bieber? ) so its theory and will never become rules. how would music evolve with rules? no way ...
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Old 02-01-2015, 10:11 AM   #15
samsome123
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justin bieber playing drums for calvin klein ad

at least he can play the drums pretty good ;p

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0t-aBAYym8
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Old 02-01-2015, 04:24 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteaxxxe View Post
there are no rules, so you cant break them. its THEORY, that explains something, not RULES!!!!
...
Thanks!
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