Double Bass Higher Ground key question

[Mr. Pickles]

I am trying to learn basic music theory and I currently hold the electric bass spot in a modern rock cover band. The band asked that I learn how to play Higher Ground (the RHCP cover version). I’ve worked out some of the progressions as:

Verses:
Em G A
F#m A B

Chorus:
A Em Em(7)

Turnaround:
F#m B7

I’d like to know the key. I initially thought Gmaj with some elements of the relative minor (Emin). The A and B don’t sound quite minor to me, so I’m wondering if the song might be in a harmonic or melodic minor key.

Stevie Wonder’s version seems to my ear to be a half step down from all this, so I’m ignoring the original version for now.


For newbies who may be reading-
Diatonic chords in G Major. are G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em, F# dim

The relative minor of G maj is E min. Diatonic chords would be:
Emin F#dim Gmaj Amin Bmin Cmaj Dmaj

And some 7th. extensions for fun:
Emin7 F#m7b5 Gmaj7 Amin7 Bmin7 Cmaj7 D7

Thanks in advance. If I've made a mistake on any of this, feel free to school me.

 

[TomSauter]

It's in Emin, then it changes to F#min

 

[P. Aaron]

Listen to and play through both versions. If the original's pitch is off...tune to compensate. It's not uncommon in most forms of recorded music to have to do this. It may help you understand both versions and train your ear.

RHCP did not really add anything to their verion (IMO) that makes it anymore interesting than the original.

Short version: Stevie wrote it. I'd rather get any knowledge from his version/music than the redone version.

 

[the yeti]

Listen to and play through both versions. If the original's pitch is off...tune to compensate. It's not uncommon in most forms of recorded music to have to do this. It may help you understand both versions and train your ear.

RHCP did not really add anything to their verion (IMO) that makes it anymore interesting than the original.

Short version: Stevie wrote it. I'd rather get any knowledge from his version/music than the redone version.

slightly longer version (but still fairly short): you probably have an idea what your cover band is trying to cover, best bet to spend most of your time copping that vibe. then reach further as you have time.

 

[Mr. Pickles]

Thanks for the tips so far.

The bass on the original presents a much more thorough sense of the key and chord progressions, IMHO.

 

[jazzgeek79]

If you're going back and forth between the two versions (Stevie's and RHCP) be aware that Stevie's starts in Eb minor as his band used to tune down a half step. This makes it a lot easier on many vocalists but not on bass players unless you happen to tune down a half step.

 

[the yeti]

If you're going back and forth between the two versions (Stevie's and RHCP) be aware that Stevie's starts in Eb minor as his band used to tune down a half step. This makes it a lot easier on many vocalists but not on bass players unless you happen to tune down a half step.

and in a typical cover band tuning (and singers) will usually dictate key. again, talk to your mates if there's a question about key, at least to the main guitar.

 

[TobyBrodel]

i'd would say that the song moves between two keys: E dorian and F# dorian.

this explains the a major and b major chords which are not found in the Emin scale.

the E dorian scale is E,F#,G,A,B,C#,D: the same notes as the d major scale except your root note is the E.

F# dorian contains all the same notes as the E maj scale.

Verses:
Em G A (E Dorian)
F#m A B (F# Dorian)

Chorus:
A Em Em(7) (E Dorian)

Turnaround:
F#m B7 (F# Dorian)

this is probably not extremely useful knowledge in this case though, it might help in creating some colourful fills but also could lead to a "fragile" feel in the bass.

funk is often based in pentatonic scales, Emin pentatonic is probably your best choice for filling out the bars.