Chord tones and key

[cire113]

Ok I hear everyone say learn chord tones for songs etc. Now most songs with chords are they usually in the same key? Or are the chord tones in different keys..? I'm kinda confused with the key a song is in and chord tones.... Does my question make sense?

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by cire113

Ok I hear everyone say learn chord tones for songs etc. Now most songs with chords are they usually in the same key? Or are the chord tones in different keys..? I'm kinda confused with the key a song is in and chord tones.... Does my question make sense?

each key contains chords that are similar in construction,but differing in pitch......sounds ike you might want to have a more detailed looksee than can be had here......chords are constructed from notes of a particular scale....trouble with approaching it here is that there are so many exceptions,especially in pop music....a good book/teacher will get you on the right path

[MalcolmAmos]

Originally Posted by cire113

Ok I hear everyone say learn chord tones for songs etc. Now most songs with chords are they usually in the same key? Or are the chord tones in different keys..? I'm kinda confused with the key a song is in and chord tones.... Does my question make sense?

Simple answer..... Are most songs in one key. Most are, yes. See what I have to say about the vocalist dictating the key. Are the chords used in the song from that one key? Most of the time, yes. In music it's hard to say always. If it's a bare bones dirt simple song then YES all the chords in that song will be made from one scale's notes as will the notes for the melody all come from that one scale. We use the word key to signify the range of sound those melody notes and chords produce. Director says; "Next song will be Kiss ole Kate, we'll do it in the key of G, 1 and 2 and 3...." Solo instruments gather their melody notes from the G scale and the accompaniment instruments gather their chords from the key of G.

The vocalist dictates what key we play the song in. Why? Well a key is a range of sound. I sing in D because I can hit all the high notes and catch all the low notes if I'm in the key (range) of D. Does that mean I only sing in D? No, but if I am the vocalist doing a solo I like it to be in D, but, no in church I sing in what ever key the song is presented in.

Chord tones..... Think of the chord providing the harmony. The melody comes from single scale notes. A chord is two or more notes from the key/scale sounded at the same time. Normally 3 to 4 notes are found in the chords we use the most. People saying to play chord tones -- good idea as the melody line and the chord line should share some of the same notes. When they do you harmonize - sound good. So it makes since to gather your melody notes from the notes of the chord -- or -- if you know the melody then put chords under that melody that have some of the same notes. Chicken or egg thing. Took me 5 years to figure that out. You're welcome.

Now bass players normally play chord tones - that's what we do. Music is over the C7 chord the bass will play the C, E, G, Bb notes one at a time in a steady beat because those notes make up the C7 chord (they are the chord tones of the C7 chord). Or he may only play C, C, C, C or C, G, C, G. It's left up to him what bass line he thinks will be best, but in both cases he is playing chord tones. This will come in handy. http://www.smithfowler.org/music/Chord_Formulas.htm

We are starting a study on how to write bass lines - join us. Stage #2 At Last :- THE VOTING THREAD!!!!

Enough.... ask specific questions, someone will answer. www.studybass.com is a good place to spend some time.

Good luck.

[PJSShearer]

Originally Posted by MalcolmAmos

Simple answer..... Are most songs in one key. Most are, yes. See what I have to say about the vocalist dictating the key. Are the chords used in the song from that one key? Most of the time, yes. In music it's hard to say always. If it's a bare bones dirt simple song then YES all the chords in that song will be made from one scale's notes as will the notes for the melody all come from that one scale. We use the word key to signify the range of sound those melody notes and chords produce. Director says; "Next song will be Kiss ole Kate, we'll do it in the key of G, 1 and 2 and 3...." Solo instruments gather their melody notes from the G scale and the accompaniment instruments gather their chords from the key of G.

The vocalist dictates what key we play the song in. Why? Well a key is a range of sound. I sing in D because I can hit all the high notes and catch all the low notes if I'm in the key (range) of D. Does that mean I only sing in D? No, but if I am the vocalist doing a solo I like it to be in D, but, no in church I sing in what ever key the song is presented in.

Chord tones..... Think of the chord providing the harmony. The melody comes from single scale notes. A chord is two or more notes from the key/scale sounded at the same time. Normally 3 to 4 notes are found in the chords we use the most. People saying to play chord tones -- good idea as the melody line and the chord line should share some of the same notes. When they do you harmonize - sound good. So it makes since to gather your melody notes from the notes of the chord -- or -- if you know the melody then put chords under that melody that have some of the same notes. Chicken or egg thing. Took me 5 years to figure that out. You're welcome.

Now bass players normally play chord tones - that's what we do. Music is over the C7 chord the bass will play the C, E, G, Bb notes one at a time in a steady beat because those notes make up the C7 chord (they are the chord tones of the C7 chord). Or he may only play C, C, C, C or C, G, C, G. It's left up to him what bass line he thinks will be best, but in both cases he is playing chord tones. This will come in handy. http://www.smithfowler.org/music/Chord_Formulas.htm

We are starting a study on how to write bass lines - join us. Stage #2 At Last :- THE VOTING THREAD!!!!

Enough.... ask specific questions, someone will answer. www.studybass.com is a good place to spend some time.

Good luck.

+1 - great answer/post. This should be a sticky.

[Steve Dixon]

Originally Posted by cire113

Ok I hear everyone say learn chord tones for songs etc. Now most songs with chords are they usually in the same key? Or are the chord tones in different keys..? I'm kinda confused with the key a song is in and chord tones.... Does my question make sense?

quite a few songs use only chords that are in the key... i.e. the notes that make up the chords are taken from that pool of 7 notes... the name for that kind of note or chord is 'diatonic'... literally meaning 'from within the key'

so for example, if you're given a chord sequence in the key of A major, that goes:

A ... F#m ... Dmaj7 ... E7 ...

when they say 'play chord tones over the chords', they mean to chose from the following notes, and yes, these are all diatonic notes:

over the A chord: notes A, C#, E
over the F#m chord: notes F#, A, C#
over the Dmaj7 chord: notes D, F#, A, C#
over the E7 chord: notes E, G#, B, D

remember, each of those notes has a different function within the chord, so as a bass player, you'll want to give different emphasis to certain notes, depending on what you're looking to achieve... usually you'll want to emphasise the root notes in particular

what you need to do now is learn what types of chords are built on each note in any given key, and that'll give you a starting point.. a pool of notes you can use in any diatonic situation

the thing to realise is that composers use non-diatonic chords (i.e. chords that use one or more notes that fall outside the key) and melodies to create interest, character & tension... so once you've got the diatonic stuff under your belt, there's a whole new world of non-diatonic harmony to navigate... so if you encounter a chord that doesn't fit within a key, it's probably not a mistake, and there WILL be a way you can make the bass work with it

[cire113]

Thanks guys just the answers I was looking for!!