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How would you write this?

if intro:
G C
verse:
G Bb A Ab
chorus:
G, Bm, Am, D

Which chords would you suspect are dom? Just the D at the end of the chorus?

All: I'm still on the steep end of the theory and harmony learning curve so your patience with possible
silly questions is seriously appreciated.

None of the chords "should" have dominant 7th quality unless specified by the songwriter or composer.

Dmaj and D7 are very different-sounding chords and should not be used interchangeably.

One of my pet peeves is guitarists who willy-nilly convert triads to 7th chords, when that is not part of the original arrangement.

That said, chords in this song that might possibly be good candidates for the songwriter to write as dominant 7th chords are D7, Bb7, A7, and/or Ab7. Furthermore if the songwriter wants to imply a strong "blues" feel, they might also consider G7 and C7.
 
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None of the chords "should" have dominant 7th quality unless specified by the songwriter or composer.

Dmaj and D7 are very different-sounding chords and should not be used interchangeably.

One of my pet peeves is guitarists who willy-nilly convert triads to 7th chords.

That said, chords in this song that might possibly be good candidates for the songwriter to write as dominant 7th chords are D7, Bb7, A7, and Ab7. Furthermore if the songwriter wants to imply a strong "blues" feel, they might also consider G7 and C7.
thanks.
I will explore this tonight and see what i can hear.
 
While A is the first letter of the English alphabet, we count from the note G in this case, since G is the tonic of the key. That's why Bmin is the iii chord, for example. G, A, B = 3.

(edit) Or should that be "root" instead of "tonic"? :p
I kid, I kid. All in good fun!
 
While A is the first letter of the English alphabet, we count from the note G in this case, since G is the tonic of the key. That's why Bmin is the iii chord, for example. G, A, B = 3.

(edit) Or should that be "root" instead of "tonic"? :p
I kid, I kid. All in good fun!


Ronic?
Toot?
"Tootronic" has a post-modern ambiguity that might suit the 21st century, perhaps?

As for the chords, I quoted them back in the order given by the OP, using upper case roman for major and lower case roman for minor, in line with the finest traditions.
 
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ok so i think i am hearing
intro:
G7 C7
verse:
G7 Bb7 A7 Ab
chorus:
G7, Bm, Am, D7

My ears are not as good as they used to be.
Playing a 7 instead of a b7 over those chords sounds too dissonant to me.
 
I scored a fun gig with a band doing all original stuff and i have to come up with some bass parts.
As i construct them i want to write them out and wonder how you experts would assign a key to the following progression in the verse of a song.
All major chords ...
G A# A G# ||:
What is the 7 of these chords?

If it Gj7, Bb7, A7 and Ab7 I'd interpret this as a chain of Dom 7 leading back to G. Where Bb and Ab are both tritone substitutes for E7 and D7. Not sure about the terminology. Not a native speaker.
 
Why in god’s name would you want — or need — to indicate a key signature for that piece?

Just write the notes/chords, include accidentals as necessary, and be done with it.

Because educated musicians like to know what key we are playing in. Knowing the key center helps us feel comfortable and at home in the song, and informs our note selection. Clearly it is a tonal composition in the key of G Major, so what is the benefit of not knowing that critical piece of information?

The section that walks down Bb-A-Ab-G is simply an old swing/blues/jazz cliche or "turnaround" that you might hear for example in a Stray Cats song. It does not contradict that the overall key of the song might be G Major.

having a key signature in mind helps me to think correctly about the notes i want to play... so when i hit a Bb/A#, for example, if i am thinking G then i think A#...

All this here is what originally put me off to wanting to learn music theory. While it can be incredibly helpful, I think it can also be a major hindrance. I never want to "think" the notes that might work in a song. I want to hear and feel them.

I believe too, and I'm putting no judgement behind this, that for the most part we all have a creative foundation in one of 3 places. Our heads, our hearts, or our crotches. And they of course bleed into one another, but I think we're creatively centered in one of those areas. Think of Elvis's, or Jeff Buckley, or Neil Peart (they're the first 3 shining examples that popped into my head)... and what area they might all be creating from.

So yeah... I'm centered in my heart, radiating toward my crotch. My head doesn't come into play much, which might explain why a lot of the things in my life have gone the way they have :)... OK... I'm going to stop writing now.
 
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All this here is what originally put me off to wanting to learn music theory. While it can be incredibly helpful, I think it can also be a major hindrance. I never want to "think" the notes that might work in a song. I want to hear and feel them.

I believe too, and I'm putting no judgement behind this, that for the most part we all have a creative foundation in one of 3 places. Our heads, our hearts, or our crotches. And they of course bleed into one another, but I think we're creatively centered in one of those areas. Think of Elvis's, or Jeff Buckley, or Neil Peart (they're the first 3 shining examples that popped into my head)... and what area they might all be creating from.

So yeah... I'm centered in my heart, radiating toward my crotch. My head doesn't come into play much, which might explain why a lot of the things in my life have gone the way they have :)... OK... I'm going to stop writing now.
I have to disagree with you, the math is half the fun ... the theory, the history, the history of the theory ... I love the heart of "Take Me Down to the Infirmary" but I equally love arguing about the functional analysis of that Gadd2 chord.