song in E major????

[bleeding]

I am learning a song right now - and I think its written in E major....the verse repeats like this

E B/E A/E E which repeats for 4 lines


then the chorus is

E F#m A E D.


So I was playing through this thinking its in E when I was curious about something.

Since the verse is all E notes with the bass, the orig. bassist plays the low E, then does a quick slide from what sounds like either the high 7th or flat 7th to the High E, then back to the low E.....so I assumed it was D# because I think this is in E, but D also sounds fine....

Then in the chorus there is that D....and D is not in the major scale of E, BUT I guess if I was doing a transition from the A to the E, I could walk up to the E by playing A,B,C#,D to A.

So since A is the major 4th (i hope thats right), why can you walk up the A scale to the E and play the D here, but the D is not in E major?????

[Deacon_Blues]

Looks like the song is in E major to me - E (ionian) in the verse, and E (mixolydian) in the chorus. Both are major sounding.

[BassChuck]

Seems to me like the song is in "E". The high note you speak of is more than likely a D natural, the D to E move is quite common and sounds good.

Don't let what you read about music theory dictate your music. Sure "D" natural is not necessarily in the key of "E", but so what? If it sounds good.... do it (that's music), if you want to tell someone about it later, that's music theory.

Of course if you are auditioning for a job as electric bassist for the Berlin Philharmonic and they ask you to play an "E" scale then, in that case, its probably a good idea to play a D# at the proper time.

[OtterOnBass]

In a lot of rock songs, the major 7th is replaced by the minor 7th. It's called the dominant chord. It's something that I've noticed and played before, but am picking up the theory on just recently. It's essentially the V mode, playing the fifth as the root. (i.e. a C Major scale starting with or emphasizing G, or in your case, an A major scale *that includes D* starting on E)

The A is referred to as the perfect 4th (since it doesn't change for major/minor chords) or just simply the 4th. The chord of A means A major, which means A C# E. The key of the song will indicate which scale(major/minor/diminished) of A is needed. For E major, it's A major. In this case, for the key of E dominant, use the scale of A major.

[bleeding]

ok, so I understand that the verse might change modes and be in A, but start on E.....

Is the A in E maj a major chord? This would be written as the IV instead of iv?

[phxlbrmpf]

Don't forget that in many pop/rock songs, seemingly out-of-place chords are used to create tension, rock songs don't always mesh well with standard music theory. Like BassChuck said, I wouldn't worry about it, if it sounds good, it's good.

[bleeding]

Good to know.

To be honest, most of the songs I play that are in E I can rarely think back of a time when I ever hit the D# when resolving to the E....seems like D fits much more often.

Hrm.

Thanks for the help anyway!

[uhdum]

Bleeding, the following chords are diatonic to the Key of E Major:

I EMaj7
ii F#m7
iii G#m7
IV AMaj7
V B7
vi C#m7
vii D#dim (or D#m7b5)

I have included the fourth note for each chord... I, IV, and V are major, ii, iii, and vi are minor. vii is a dim.

When a non-diatonic chord such as D is utilized, it serves as a very effective, attention-grabbing musical choice. More specifically, your song could, yes, be considered E Mixolydian in the chorus. This is simply an A Major scale starting on the V (E).