Chords & How to Understand By Key

[David Else]

Hello,

My music theory is basic. In the following song:



I know the chord root notes to be:

C, D, F, Aflat

I am trying to work out the best way to play the sequence as piano chords for the song. This is where my music theory is failing me. If its in the key of Cminor then it would be a Ddim chord which sounds rubbish!

I think my ear is failing me somewhere. I am wondering how you would choose which chords to play and why! Are Depeche Mode using any particular 'trick' which we could learn?

Max doom chords please

[kurodo]

I doubt if Depeche Mode were too much concerned with worrying about staying within key and just decided to go with what they thought sounded the best for their tunes.
I know their earlier pop stuff was a bit 'in key' but as they progressed/matured and got darker that all went out the window

Just go for D minor instead of D dim. (chord borrow from the major scale/modal interchange)
I think Synth timbre plays a big part in their sound and a good sound it is too imo.

[David Else]

I agree Depeche Mode threw away the book and sounded darker for it. Compare the track Black Celebration to See You. Both classic, but See You does sound very 'within key' in comparison.

Thanks, i just read up on borrowed chords, cool!

http://www.hearandplay.com/main/borrowed-chords

[jancivil]

D F Ab is the default triad constructed on the second degree of C minor. D diminished is what's in key. If A is chosen instead, it 'means' you like it better. "Theory" is not crucial like that.

[nasenmann]

i'd go with c minor D major F major Ab major.
but, given that it's completely minimal and thus ambiguous, you can go many routes.

just get rid of the notion that you gotta stay inside the box of a single scale to do chords.
look at it this way: a scale doesn't really exist until all of its notes have been played. so in this case we have the fundamental and the guy singing the minor third. sure, that suggests a minor chord. but it doesn't say anything about the sixth. it's neither major nor minor until you play it.
and even if he sang a minor sixth during the c, he'd be free to go to a major sixth over the D, for example. that's part of what makes songs cool, shifting tonalities.

anyway, the only 'trick' to learn here is that you don't need chords to write a good tune. this is duophonic music, strictly speaking.

[jancivil]

I would recommend looking at this thing for what it is, itself, rather than trying to fit it to an inchoate understanding of 'music theory', principles out of all context.

The scale doesn't happen until it's complete, this is true. Also, it doesn't need to happen, there is no need per se to have seven note scales be your material.

I see 'duophonic', which seems to be the case with a lot of things people want a little tutorial on chords behind here. Pick it up as exactly as you can by ear and make your own observations as to what it is in itself. It's ok to be uncertain.

I'm not interested to go and transcribe this music, but it now looks like they weren't so interested in conforming to some theory book.

[David Else]

Thanks guys, awesome input!