chord progression/scale question! (with dissected song picture)

Chords, scales, harmony, melody, etc.
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Last edited by gammagoblinz on Sat Nov 14, 2009 1:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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It's not in D, it's in G. The only 2 chords you are missing in your pic are the Em and the Am. That gives us the I, ii, iii, IV, and vi from G major scale. If you wish to speak in terms of modes, you could say that the song is in B Phrygian.

If you disagree and still think it's in D, then think and play D bebop dominant, which is essentially all the notes from D and G combined into a single 8 note scale.

IMHO, the song would have sounded more interesting if they would have wrote it in E harmonic minor using a more traditional bolero rhythm.

You will start understanding scales better when you start thinking in terms of 8 note (octagonic) scales instead of 7 note (diatonic) scales.

Hope this helps. Would be glad to answer any other questions you might have.

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The chords do indeed fit within a Phrygian (B) based off of G major, but the song doesn't sound that way to me.

It sounds from here like it's in B minor with a flatted or 'neapolitan' 2nd (C) during the verse.

Be that as it may, I'm not sure what notes would best fit in with the Bmin to C part, but in the G to Bmin part I would employ 2 sharps, f# and c#... b c# d e f# g a b

It sounds so much like a 'VI' to 'i' (Major chord off of the 6th note of the scale, to a minor chord off of the 1 note) in the key of B minor during the chorus.

Anyway, psenior has a point; that if you played the G major scale off of the b note (phrygian), it would be 'in key' with the entire thing.

gammagoblinz, you had mentioned that it was in D major. This is the relative major of the B (natural) minor scale, and they both employ the same c# and f# notes. The 'C' triad definitely doesn't fit in with the key of D major though.

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psenior wrote:It's not in D, it's in G. The only 2 chords you are missing in your pic are the Em and the Am. That gives us the I, ii, iii, IV, and vi from G major scale. If you wish to speak in terms of modes, you could say that the song is in B Phrygian.

If you disagree and still think it's in D, then think and play D bebop dominant, which is essentially all the notes from D and G combined into a single 8 note scale.

IMHO, the song would have sounded more interesting if they would have wrote it in E harmonic minor using a more traditional bolero rhythm.

You will start understanding scales better when you start thinking in terms of 8 note (octagonic) scales instead of 7 note (diatonic) scales.

Hope this helps. Would be glad to answer any other questions you might have.
mrblitz000 wrote:The chords do indeed fit within a Phrygian (B) based off of G major, but the song doesn't sound that way to me.

It sounds from here like it's in B minor with a flatted or 'neapolitan' 2nd (C) during the verse.

Be that as it may, I'm not sure what notes would best fit in with the Bmin to C part, but in the G to Bmin part I would employ 2 sharps, f# and c#... b c# d e f# g a b

It sounds so much like a 'VI' to 'i' (Major chord off of the 6th note of the scale, to a minor chord off of the 1 note) in the key of B minor during the chorus.

Anyway, psenior has a point; that if you played the G major scale off of the b note (phrygian), it would be 'in key' with the entire thing.

gammagoblinz, you had mentioned that it was in D major. This is the relative major of the B (natural) minor scale, and they both employ the same c# and f# notes. The 'C' triad definitely doesn't fit in with the key of D major though.

oh i see! no no i believe it's in G then, i just read on some site that it was in D..

okay so if the song now is written in G and B Phrygian(same keys), does that mean that all the synth sounds and chords and melody's are built by the keys B C D E F# G A (which are the keys of the B Phrygian scale and G major scale) ?? ofcourse they are combined with diffrerent octaves and velocitys etc..?

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gammagoblinz wrote:oh i see! no no i believe it's in G then, i just read on some site that it was in D..

okay so if the song now is written in G and B Phrygian(same keys), does that mean that all the synth sounds and chords and melody's are built by the keys B C D E F# G A (which are the keys of the B Phrygian scale and G major scale) ?? ofcourse they are combined with diffrerent octaves and velocitys etc..?
For this particular song, the answer is yes. I'm not hearing any notes outside of G major. However, the song does suggest to mrblitz000 and myself other scale/note choices for improvising.

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psenior wrote:
gammagoblinz wrote:oh i see! no no i believe it's in G then, i just read on some site that it was in D..

okay so if the song now is written in G and B Phrygian(same keys), does that mean that all the synth sounds and chords and melody's are built by the keys B C D E F# G A (which are the keys of the B Phrygian scale and G major scale) ?? ofcourse they are combined with diffrerent octaves and velocitys etc..?
For this particular song, the answer is yes. I'm not hearing any notes outside of G major. However, the song does suggest to mrblitz000 and myself other scale/note choices for improvising.
wow thank you so much!! you have no idea how much this helped!! =)

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