Help with this chord progression

[RandolphCarter]

Hello, first of all I want to warn this is a very noobish question, so don't get angry at me!

OK I recently (some months ago) started to finally learn some music theory and I'm trying to gather as much information as I can, and compare it to tracks I like.

One genre I'm quite into lately is deep house, and I try to understand the way chord progressions usually work there (there is a great thread about "Deep house chords" in the Sound design subforum which evolves into a deep house chord progression debate which is very useful!).

So I was listening to this track the other day:


And wondered, which kind of chord progression is going on there?

I'm specifically talking about the first one, starting at 0:32. Maybe I'm deaf or something, but I can only listen to two different chords, is that a cadence? How do those guys manage to get such a groovy rythm going on using just two chords the whole time (before they change to another verse)? Also, what chords are those?

Finally, and not really related to music theory, but still ,I understand it's an electric piano, would you say it sounds like a Rhodes or a Wurlitzer?

Thanks a lot in advance for the help

[psenior]

The main chord in the song is Fm9. It slips up a half step to F#m9 then back to Fm9. That's it. This is a common move in jazz that you hear all the time.

I would consider this a cadence. A cadence is usually from the V7 to the I (or I minor). In jazz, they substitute chords a lot. It is common to substitute a bII7 chord for a V7 chord. This is known as a flat 5 or tritone substitution. It is also common in jazz to substitute a minor chord for a dominant chord (and vice versa). So that is how I would analyze it, theory-wise.

The groove is coming from the interplay between the drums and the bass. They are laying the foundation of the song. The keyboards are just kind of weaving a harmonic carpet on top of that, in spots where it doesn't interfere with or take anything away from the deep house rhythm.

The keyboard timbre is dark for an electric piano. I think it is a synth patch emulating a Rhodes Mark I. The Rhodes Mark II has more of a bright, bell-like tone, and the Wurli sounds dark but a little dirtier.

The chords in the later part of the song are Am9 to Abm9. I used to listen to and write a lot of house music 20 years ago. It's good stuff; I should get back into it.

[RandolphCarter]

Thank you a lot!

Seriously, that's why I love KVR, such gifted musicians helping people like me


You should definitively get back to writing house music you just got yourself a new fan!

[psenior]

You're welcome! Glad I could be of some help. If I could figure out how artists get paid doing club music, I might give it a shot.

[randyandyvandaman]

You're welcome! Glad I could be of some help. If I could figure out how artists get paid doing club music, I might give it a shot.

It's probably more easy said than done, but perhaps you should work out a live set and get some gigs or make a hot track and get the best DJ in your city to give it a spin. Or be the DJ and spin your own track. After all they get famous playing other peoples shit.

Cheers

[MadBrain]

Sounds like Fm9 F#m9, voiced as E,G,A,C/F, E#,G#,A#,C#/F#

[hibidy]

The thing is (and please forgive as my theory is useless these days) That "9" is played as though it's a "2" right? I guess because I mostly paid attention to bass clef/bass lines that is something that I didn't think of since my keyboard knowledge is null. Is there a rule for that that I've forgotten or is it simply a preference?

[jancivil]

well, as a scorer, I would specify - eg., (Fm) - add 2 if I need to hear that minor second [G-Ab], it's got a different, sharper flavor than the more major 7th of [Ab-G].

[hibidy]

Well that makes sense