Help me settle a bet. What chord do you hear?

[Reedt2000]

it's an Em. on purpose. the guitar's chord/notes don't matter on this one. no bets to hedge. use your ears ---

For sure it's Em, guitarist often don't think that way IME. If they play a G chord... the chord is G, they only relate it to their fingering. The keyboard player however should more than know better

 

[Axtman]

For those of you trying to cheat and use guitar tab on Ultimate Guitar......there are two versions that are different. So I guess those guitar players could not even figure it out.

 

[JRA]

guitarist often don't think that way IME. If they play a G chord... the chord is G

i know: IME most guitar players are not musicians...they're guitar players.*


* a few are actually pretty good --- most should be avoided!

 

[fiveoffour]

Whoever thinks that's a G major needs to work on some ear training.

 

[Reedt2000]

Not like it's needed but in this live video you can see her play D7 C G D7 C Em (around 2 min 40 sec)



@Axtman which do you think it is?

 

[2F/2F]

This is ********. There is not a question. It's an E minor. If you think it's a G (which I highly doubt), then 40 lashes with a wet noodle! If they think it's a G...find another band, because they have poor musical competence.

I hear the bass playing an E on "posterity." Of course E minor is the relative minor to G major, so both chords share the same notes. So you're all in agreement after all, and therefore one happy band

This is not true. Firstly, the bass is playing E because it's the root of the chord that the song is on. Second, relative major and minor chords do not share the same notes – just two out of three in their respective triads. Thirdly, and most importantly, both chords being relative major/minor to each other does not mean they are interchangeable, or "the same thing" in a song. This is a common, but gross, conceptual misunderstanding about relative chords. Just because two chords share some of the same notes (and again, in this case they do not share the same notes) does not mean that they both have the same effect in a composition/arrangement. Your ear needs to be able to hear the differences; it's fundamental musical "hearing."

Whoever thinks that's a G major needs to work on some ear training.

In-effing-deed.

 

[Keger Jupit]

Em, excuse me sir, em, it's an Em




EDIT: Fire them both!!!

 

[BassFishingInAmerica]

The bass plays E. In this instance, the guitar would never play a G to make it sound like an Em. If the guitar wants an Em sound, they will play an Em chord.
I’m really just here to see who wins the bet.

 

[Axtman]

Not like it's needed but in this live video you can see her play D7 C G D7 C Em (around 2 min 40 sec)

Yes sir! I know enough about guitar chords to see that she is playing the Em. Thanks!

 

[Axtman]

It's kind of funny, or maybe sad, they are both classically trained musicians with music degrees. One is an accomplished recording artist, the other teaches music. Me? I'm just a lowly stupid bass player, no music degree and barely made it out of college in 6 years, yet I definitely hear Em chord.

 

[IamGroot]

Ok, I am a moron:

Em. C G. B/F#

I am at work.

 

[sawzalot]

Their ears are off if they think it's a G. It's an Em.

 

[IamGroot]

Iam done and I am headed home to Chateau d' Geteau. Someone tell me if I right or not.

 

[WashburnAB95]

Just call it an G/E or call it an inverted G6 cord and don't argue about it! In all honesty I can't hear the tonality of the guitars but the bass very very clearly hits an E even my ears hear this. The guitars in no way add to this nor do they clash with this. This tells me they are probably playing power chords of some type.

Do we have any video evidence of the original artists?

 

[WashburnAB95]

I do church music and this often happens there and maybe it happened to your buddies. Often our first exposure to new music is from someone covering it and not from hearing the original artists. Even good musicians trying to be faithful to the original will change things. Add to the this the fact that most of us are less than ideal at our craft.... that first time we hear a song it is often a bad representative of the original. However that memory gets ingrained in our heads. So much so that even when we hear someone doing it "right" in our head we still hear it how we did before. Now I have tried to come along and teach these musicians to play the song correctly, and surprisingly they don't like it! It sounds weird to them. They just want to play it how they always did.

 

[charlie monroe]

Do we have any video evidence of the original artists?

Scroll up to #25

 

[Jim H]

Whatever note the bass player plays, that is the root note. It's law.

I gotta strongly disagree with this. The root of the chord is not determined by what note the bass player plays, and conversely, the bass does not play only the roots of chords. If that was the case a walking bass line would change chords with every note, and it does not. If the chord is G and the bass player plays B, the chord is still G, its just an inversion with the 3rd on the bottom. Basic classical music theory teaches it this way.
However if the chord is G and the bass player plays an E, the chord is heard as Em7, because the bass is adding a new note to the chord that does not fit a G. But that same E added as a higher note, perhaps in the guitar chord (or perhaps as part of a bass run) it might just color the chord to a G6. There are no hard and fast rules, but consider this: a good guitar player rarely plays full block chords, and frequently omits the root leaving it for the bass player to provide.
In jazz, the guitar (or keys) frequently plays chords made up of the notes that most define the extended chord function, playing mostly the 3rd, 7th, 6th, and 9th of the chord. The root and 5th are the same note for most chord functions and do little to defining the function so they are usually left out.
The perceived chord is dependant on the context, the key, the scales being used, the surrounding chords, etc. Given the right context, a chord is heard clearly without the root being played at all by anyone.

 

[JimmyM]

I gotta strongly disagree with this. The root of the chord is not determined by what note the bass player plays, and conversely, the bass does not play only the roots of chords. If that was the case a walking bass line would change chords with every note, and it does not. If the chord is G and the bass player plays B, the chord is still G, its just an inversion with the 3rd on the bottom. Basic classical music theory teaches it this way.
However if the chord is G and the bass player plays an E, the chord is heard as Em7, because the bass is adding a new note to the chord that does not fit a G. But that same E added as a higher note, perhaps in the guitar chord (or perhaps as part of a bass run) it might just color the chord to a G6. There are no hard and fast rules, but consider this: a good guitar player rarely plays full block chords, and frequently omits the root leaving it for the bass player to provide.
In jazz, the guitar (or keys) frequently plays chords made up of the notes that most define the extended chord function, playing mostly the 3rd, 7th, 6th, and 9th of the chord. The root and 5th are the same note for most chord functions and do little to defining the function so they are usually left out.
The perceived chord is dependant on the context, the key, the scales being used, the surrounding chords, etc. Given the right context, a chord is heard clearly without the root being played at all by anyone.

Thank you for explaining all the funny out of my post. I am perfectly aware that bass players can play non-root notes. Maybe I should have worded it, "Whatever note the bassist establishes as the root note, becomes the root." I just didn't feel like getting all music school over a simple little Tracy Chapman song where the bassist is playing mostly roots.

 

[Jim H]

Thank you for explaining all the funny out of my post. I am perfectly aware that bass players can play non-root notes. Maybe I should have worded it, "Whatever note the bassist establishes as the root note, becomes the root." I just didn't feel like getting all music school over a simple little Tracy Chapman song where the bassist is playing mostly roots.

Sorry man. I know I got carried away, but you know when you've typed that much into this little box it gets hard to back off even if you know you ought to.

 

[SteveHeissner]

Sometimes its easier to just play the chord they're playing. However, there is something to be said for doing any job correctly. Good luck herding the cats.