4ths and 5ths confusion...

[xxfaux_punkxx]

so I'm aduition for a band on saturday... or thursday (eep) and the singer said they play mostly 4ths and 5ths. So I printed out a chart for both along with a chart of a bass neck with the notes labeld and their's a problem...

there's no Eb, Cb, or Bb.

Is there something I'm missing here?

[ThrashMaster]

Eb = D#
Cb = B
Bb = A#

[Steve Dixon]

as a wild guess I'd imagine those 3 notes are shown on your chart thing as their enharmonic equivalents...

i.e. Eb might be shown as D#, Cb might be B, Bb might be A#

[xxfaux_punkxx]

thank you very much.

[lowendfriend]

Did the band really mean to say they play songs based mainly on I-IV-V chord progressions?

That would be your basic blues/rock.

[etherealme]

I - IV - V Major Key - Chord Pattern Chart
Key of C C - F - G
Key of D D - G - A
Key of E E - A - B
Key of F F - Bb - C
Key of G G - C - D
Key of A A - D - E
Key of B B - E - F#
Key of Db Db - Gb - Ab
Key of Eb Eb - Ab - Bb
Key of Gb Gb - Cb - Db
Key of Ab Ab - Db - Eb
Key of Bb Bb - Eb - F

[xxfaux_punkxx]

Originally Posted by etherealme

I - IV - V Major Key - Chord Pattern Chart
Key of C C - F - G
Key of D D - G - A
Key of E E - A - B
Key of F F - Bb - C
Key of G G - C - D
Key of A A - D - E
Key of B B - E - F#
Key of Db Db - Gb - Ab
Key of Eb Eb - Ab - Bb
Key of Gb Gb - Cb - Db
Key of Ab Ab - Db - Eb
Key of Bb Bb - Eb - F

so this would be the root notes i-iv-v

[Jones_Stuff]

I always remember it as 'The Blitzkrieg Bop.' Works for me.

[Steve Dixon]

assuming that's what his singer meant...

if someone says "we play mostly 4ths and 5ths", first of all that's not clear, regardless of what he's talking about... so you have to assume he's not a music theory wizard, or has invented his own shorthand language that only he understands can't really second guess what someone means based on that

I thought it might be a messed up way of saying 'we play mostly powerchords...', but then that's second guessing

[EricF]

Originally Posted by Steve Dixon

assuming that's what his singer meant...

if someone says "we play mostly 4ths and 5ths", first of all that's not clear, regardless of what he's talking about... so you have to assume he's not a music theory wizard, or has invented his own shorthand language that only he understands can't really second guess what someone means based on that

I thought it might be a messed up way of saying 'we play mostly powerchords...', but then that's second guessing

+1

The singer's statement really isn't very clear. It kind of sounds like he's trying to sound more knowledgeable than he actually is.

[SMILEYSIXX]

I would assume he's referring to their chord progression, but I would ask him what he means. If he's talking about chord progressions, all you need to do is memorize where the roots are and remember "Blitzkrieg Bop". If it's chord progressions, you're in luck. You could fake your way through every song as long as you know the root.

[Hookus]

Originally Posted by xxfaux_punkxx

so this would be the root notes i-iv-v

The root is usually the I, or tonic. The IV is the 4th note of the tonic's major scale, and the V is the fifth note of the tonic's major scale.

So, if you are playing blues in A, for the first part, you play your bassline over the A major scale, the next part over the D major, or 4th, and the last part and turnaround on the E major, or 5th. (you may commonly see 7ths or some other things for the IV, V, and turnaround, but all that 7th means is that the chord being played contains a 7th lowered by a half step. You should consider always trying to hit the accent notes in your line when playing over a minor, 7th, add9, or whatever, because these minor variations really flesh out the music)

Even though you are changing the root note as the progression goes, the song is written in the key of A, D is the 4th, E is the 5th, and A is the tonic.