Chords for the song Paralyzer

[mjnyc]

I'm just learning Paralyzer by Finger Eleven.
It's in Em.

There are two basic chord progressions:
Em F# and Em A G.
Trying to understand the harmonies of the song.

Am I correct in saying the Em makes sense as the i chord, but the F# major is a II substituted for what would normally be a ii diminished?

And the A major, is that also a IV substituted for what would normally be a iv?

The G major makes sense to me as a bIII.

Thanks for any insights.

Michael

 

[Malcolm35]

Go ahead and call it a F#dim.

• The key of E minor ( Em, F#dim, G, Am, Bm, C, D)
• The key of A minor (Am, Bdim, C, Dm, Em, F, G)
• The key of B minor (Bm, Cdim, D, Em, F#m, G, A)
• Minor keys have the 2 as the diminished
• The key of G Major (G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em, F#dim)
• The key of C Major (C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim)
• And Major keys have the 7 as the diminished.

You are on the right track. This may help. Notice the chord key structure is not the same for major and minor. Minor has the 2 as the diminished. Major has the 7 as the diminished. It is as simple as that.

Major Key = I,ii,iii,IV,V,vi,viidim
Natural Minor Key = i,iidim,III,iv,v,VI,VII

Happy Trails.

 

[IamGroot]

I listened to the clip and said,"Wow, that sounds like Nautilus, except they are singing in English.

 

[IamGroot]

 

[mambo4]

It's in they key of "E minor Rock"
Not a real key of course
Unless you count all the rock songs that use it

Rock tends to generate more exceptions than compliance to diatonic harmony
Most commonly using major or power chords or dom 7th chords in the "wrong" place
like say a 7th chord as the vi , or a power chord as the ii m7b5

people learning theory will get all twisted trying to shoe horn a rock tune into a perfectly harmonized diatonic key. But the best answer is usually to call it the key it more or less outlines, which is E minor in this case.

 

[IamGroot]

It's in they key of "E minor Rock"
Not a real key of course
Unless you count all the rock songs that use it

Rock tends to generate more exceptions than compliance to diatonic harmony
Most commonly using major or power chords or dom 7th chords in the "wrong" place
like say a 7th chord as the vi , or a power chord as the ii m7b5

people learning theory will get all twisted trying to shoe horn a rock tune into a perfectly harmonized diatonic key. But the best answer is usually to call it the key it more or less outlines, which is E minor in this case.

Very good advice.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

I remember when I first encountered a similar chord progression of i (minor) - II (or II7).
It was Grace Jones (in 1981) with the song, "I've Seen That Face Before" written by composer and bandoneonist
Astor Piazzolla.

The chords move from Amin (as A - C - E) to B7 (as A - B - D#) with the bass playing A.

In the "Paralyzer" case, I would call F#7 a secondary dominant - V/V - even if it never resolves to B(B7).

And, yes, it's in E minor.

 

[silky smoove]

I listened to the clip and said,"Wow, that sounds like Nautilus, except they are singing in English.

It fits almost perfectly with Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" as has been demonstrated repeatedly on YouTube over the years.

 

[SoCal80s]

These chords are not diatonic - meaning they don't fit naturally into any one key, which is common in metal. If you are trying to figure out what fills to play, you'll have to follow the chords and change what scales you use over the different chords. Many times in metal you won't be able to fit the same scale over all the chords (unless they are just played in passing).