I’ve been playing guitar and writing songs to what I would consider a fairly decent standard for 20 years.
Ive never been much to look into the theory side of things, it’s always been a case of very much playing by ear and, ahem, being ‘inspired’ along the way by other songs I like by the bands I like to some extent.
Ive been analysing my bands current set in a bit more detail recently and have noticed that the songs that people seem to like best are all the ones (and there aren’t many sadly) that are all in the major key. We have some, I think, technically brilliant songs in minor keys but they seem to be taken as sad dirges and drones. The major key ones are where the set ‘lifts’ and seems to add a happiness. We’re not a sad band though.
is this really such a big thing or is it just me? Does anyone consciously write in a particular key/style to dictate the mood of their stuff?
I think naturally as I guitarist more than anything I tend to start playing and crafting a song in minor keys. I’m bloody struggling though to play major dominated chords. It’s just not happening. It doesn’t sound like me!
ive never considered things at this level of detail before but even at a mainstream level the mood of a memorable song and the character of a band is affected so much by the key it’s in. I’ve been bamboozled by all these YouTube vids where someone has reworked these big famous songs from
minor to major and vice versa.
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I've been rearranging a mate's songs into acoustic and its pretty interesting figuring out keys and stuff for the singer's vocal range.
hapoy Birthday in Major sounds quite the opposite, a bit of a dirge.
G major or Eminor.
i don’t get minor keys.
i understand minor chords, and I get that some of the modes are more minor.
but how do you get a minor key signature! Why !
Why do we only pick two of the 7 modes and say only two (minor and major) of them can be called the key ?
So is the key signature of one sharp A Dorian?
Just seems to be more than just a coincidence.
The relative minor will be the 6th interval of the major (parent key). So if G is the parent key E is the 6th interval so would be become the (relative) minor.
A Dorian is a mode which would refer to the G major scale but starting on the second note. The intervals are different as the scale would start on a different note.
it can’t be an interpretative thing surely. It’s a key signature. People get examined in this sort of thing at o level and grade 5 theory.
and same why I said A Dorian- it has the same F#
A dorian is a minor mode though, the F# acts as a major 6 interval.
http://i.imgur.com/9VgTTkf.jpg
But in reality because major and natural minor are soooo much more common than Lydian, Mixolydian, Dorian and Phrygian, the key signature is normally reserved for them. Therefore Dorian songs are normally key signatured as though they were natural minor, and have their 6th notes raised by a sharp wherever they appear in the music, rather than baked into the key signature.
http://i.imgur.com/kOvxctr.jpg
But as you can see, both options are possible.
It’s a classic Grade 5 theory exam question to show a piece of music with a key sig of zero sharps and flats, and ask what the key is, to trick the pupil into saying C major or A minor, whereas in fact it’s in G Mixolydian or D Dorian or whatever.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Lot of it is down to tempo, lyrics, how it’s sung,etc,etc,
Sad major:
In the Bleak Mid Winter (Holst version)
Everybody Hurts
Misty
Happy minor:
Putting on the Ritz.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
The chords are F, G and Am (or slight variations / extensions of those chords.
The F chord is prominent and sounds like home.
On sheet music it has no sharps or flats.
Therefore it must be in the key of C right?
Erm … it is in the key of C but has no C chord anywhere in the song whatever!!
What??
That is because it can be described as modal progression in F Lydian (4th mode of C).
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
3 major chords, I, IV and V
so, say, Emaj, Amaj, Bmaj
but we play a Minor Pentatonic over it .........
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
However @Viz I know you extremely knowledgeable in the area of music theory so I'm interested in what key you would think ?
It’s like one of those cube wire diagrams. You can flip it so it’s convex or concave; both can be perceived as correct.
Sweet Home Alabama is in D though.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.