wow, i suck with chords.

fsf347 · #1 03-26-2009, 05:33 PM

alright, im pretty confuuuused.

the first two measures are in Gm.

to my understanding, the notes that make up a Gm chord are G, A# and D.

how come there is an A, C, and D# in those two measures?

Also, below that, are two measures based on a D7 Chord.

Why is there an A# and E# thrown in?

JtheJazzMan · #2 03-26-2009, 05:48 PM

uhh are we on the same page?

on that picture, the key is E major.

Toronto Bassist · #3 03-26-2009, 05:57 PM

Also, the notes in the first two measures are E, G#, B. Maybe you scanned the wrong page?

fsf347 · #4 03-26-2009, 06:21 PM

hahah, sorry about that.

JtheJazzMan · #5 03-26-2009, 06:48 PM

i see nothing unusual.

firstly it sounds like your getting your accidentals mixed up. youre in the key with "Bb and Eb" Bbmaj/Gmin whatever you want to label it as.

the piece is using a G Aeolian scale over the chords. the C and Eb you referred to are still in the scale.

same with the D7 chord. the Eb is a b9 and the Bb is b13

fsf347 · #6 03-26-2009, 07:12 PM

oh, i didnt even know that haha.

i just started learning theory with my teacher, were not even doing aeolian scales yet lol.

what do you mean, Eb is a b9, and Bb is a b13?

i know im comming off as a ****ing idiot, sorry haha.

JTE · #7 03-26-2009, 08:09 PM

The sheet music is in Bb (2 flats). The first chord is Gmin, which is G Bb, D (NOT A#- there's a good reason for that, but have your teacher explain it). The bass line is G A Bb C. On the strong beats, 1 and 3, it has chord tones. On the weak beats it's got other notes that tie the chord tones together. Second measure still is Gm, and the line hits a chord tone on the first beat. Notice (HEAR!) how the C in measure one leads to the D in measure 2? Then on the "and" of beat 2 it goes to the Eb and drops right back on beat 3 to a chord tone, and the last beat of measure 2 is the Bb, a chord tone.

So, there's nothing wrong there. It outlines the chord by playing chord notes on the strong beats, and it's all in the key of Eb.

jte

onlyclave · #8 03-26-2009, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTE

The sheet music is in Bb (2 flats). The first chord is Gmin, which is G Bb, D (NOT A#- there's a good reason for that, but have your teacher explain it). The bass line is G A Bb C. On the strong beats, 1 and 3, it has chord tones. On the weak beats it's got other notes that tie the chord tones together. Second measure still is Gm, and the line hits a chord tone on the first beat. Notice (HEAR!) how the C in measure one leads to the D in measure 2? Then on the "and" of beat 2 it goes to the Eb and drops right back on beat 3 to a chord tone, and the last beat of measure 2 is the Bb, a chord tone.

So, there's nothing wrong there. It outlines the chord by playing chord notes on the strong beats, and it's all in the key of Eb.

jte

Uh, what? The key signature indicates G minor, the first two bars are a G minor scale, the A and C in bar 1 are merely passing tones and the Eb in bar 2 is an upper neighbor. All normal non-harmonic tones.

Bar 3 is D7, the dominant in G minor, and once again we have upper neighbor and passing non-harmonic tones, and it's all in the key of G minor.

fsf347 · #9 03-26-2009, 08:27 PM

man, i need to study ALOT, you guys might as well be speaking chinese..

JTE · #10 03-26-2009, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onlyclave

Uh, what? The key signature indicates G minor, the first two bars are a G minor scale, the A and C in bar 1 are merely passing tones and the Eb in bar 2 is an upper neighbor. All normal non-harmonic tones.

Bar 3 is D7, the dominant in G minor, and once again we have upper neighbor and passing non-harmonic tones, and it's all in the key of G minor.

Well, I wasn't assuming the first measure of the second line in the photo was bar 3. In fact I didn't look at that. The key signature of 2 flats is either Gmin (G A Bb C D Eb F G) or Bb (Bb C D Eb F G A Bb). But yeah, given only two bars to see, and no melody, it's more likely to be G minor than Bb.

But the key point is the OP asked why it had notes outside of the Gmin chord. And the answer we've all given is pretty much that you don't play chord tones only- they're your targets for building the line, but not the only ones you use.

jte

fsf347 · #11 03-26-2009, 08:45 PM

thanks JTE, i gotcha now.

one other question, if im looking at a measure, how can i determine what chord it is based off of?

lets say two measures are:

B A B A/ G F# G F#

the song is in the key of D major, so im guessing the first measure would be a Bm chord and the second measure would be based off of a G Major chord?

JtheJazzMan · #12 03-26-2009, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fsf347

oh, i didnt even know that haha.

i just started learning theory with my teacher, were not even doing aeolian scales yet lol.

what do you mean, Eb is a b9, and Bb is a b13?

i know im comming off as a ****ing idiot, sorry haha.

if you think of a chord as a scale arranged in a certain way it makes sense.

the G minor chord is using a G Aeolian scale (a Bb major scale, starting on G if you like)

your basic chord is formed by using the 1st note of the scale, then the 3rd note of the scale, 5th, then 7th.

so using a G Aeolian scale, you end up with the basic chord tones G Bb D and F

the other tones are extensions. the A, C and Eb.

when i said the "Eb is a b9 and the Bb is b13" what i mean is that the Eb is a minor 9th interval above the D, which is the root note of the D7 chord. The Bb is a minor 13th interval above the D.

you may be wondering why i refer to them as b9 and b13, rather than b2 and b6.

the reason for me is to distinguish them as extensions as opposed to chord tones.