Sweet Home Chicago Help!

[bassman818]

So I just decided I wanted to learn this song and I'm having trouble wrapping my head around something and hopefully someone can clarify this for me because I'm trying to learn the theory aspect here.

So the the song is in the key of E major. And I get the 145 progression. It Goes from E / A / B. However, I've been learning blues as playing the triads of the 1/4/5 progression.

But in this song, when they Start on the 1 Chord, they go from E to C# B G# and then on the 4 Chord they do the same pattern and go from A to F# E C#

This probably has something with me not being used to Open position scales, but if you were to take an E Major on a closed position scale the C# B G# would be using 6 5 3 degrees of the scale.

Why is this song throwing in the C# during the E portion and why are they using the F# during the A portion?

Also, I can see that in an E major scale, the 1 3 5 intervals are E G# B, and with the A Major its A C# E. Those are being used, but like I said, after the bassist hits the Open Note of the chord to start the progression, he immediately goes to the 6th Degree which is extremely confusing to me.

So basically why are they using the 6th degree before the 5th and 3rd of the scale here? And is a 1/6/5/3 progression used in many blues songs? If so, what would lead a bassist to do this or start the progression this way?

I really hope this makes sense to someone. It's the best I could explain it and to keep it as short as possible, I've left out the 5 chord portion altogether.

 

[Malcolm35]

So basically why are they using the 6th degree before the 5th and 3rd of the scale here? And is a 1/6/5/3 progression used in many blues songs? If so, what would lead a bassist to do this or start the progression this way?

Would help if you write chords in Roman numbers and notes as 1, 2, 3's.

You asked are I-vi-V-iii used in many blues songs? You will see more I-IV-V or I7-IV7-V7 ----- the vi and iii are a little more than normal for THE BLUES, but, read on...

Why are they using the 6th before the 5th? There are no set of rules you must follow, well except for, if it sounds good it is good. How does it sound to you?

Rule of thumb

• The tonic could be an I, a iii or a vi.
• The subdominant (IV) could be a ii, IV, or vi.
• The dominant chord could be a V or a vii. So a vi could lead to a V according to the rules of thumb we live with.

Normally we find that:

• The I chord can lead to any of the chords in the key, as the I is the tonal center of the key.
• The ii chord can lead to the IV, V, or vii diminished. The ii is a sub-dominant chord and likes to move to a dominant chord. The IV-V-vii are all dominant chords.
• The iii chord can lead to the ii, IV, or vi. The iii and vi like each other. If you see one the other is probably close.
• The IV chord could lead to the I, iii, V or vii diminished. The IV chord is also a sub-dominant chord and likes to move to a dominant chord.
• The V chord could lead to the I. I look upon the V chord as the climax chord, i.e. any thing else would be anti-climatic.
• The vi chord could lead to the ii, IV, V or I.
• The vii diminished could lead to the I or iii. And could sub for a V.

Notice I said can -- it's your progression and any chord within the key is going to sound OK with any other chord within that same key so the iii could follow the V. I don't see that done a lot, but, can be done, perhaps if you wanted to lead somewhere like into a turn-a-round -V-iii-vi-ii-V-I . So as a songwriter any chord within the same key is going to move to and sound OK. Not great, but, OK. Chords do two things; first provide movement and second provide harmony... WE often forget about the harmony part. Long story, but, in a nut shell; if the treble and bass clef share some of the same notes at the same time we get harmony. Harmony is what music wants to get to... Google is a friend.

I know if it was easy everyone would be a songwriter. Hope that helped more than confused.

 

[bassman818]

Sweet! Learned a lot of new stuff from that reply. Thanks for all the information! Just gotta read over it a few more times to make it stick.

 

[Groove Doctor]

OP talking about the walking bass NOTES during a chord. Simple answer - you can play the notes in any order, as long as it sounds good.

The chord progression is called 12-Bar Blues. Check out this page.
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[Malcolm35]

Ed Friedland has a great book on Walking. Amazon will have it. Amazon.com: ed friedland

 

[dreamadream99]

The sixth of the chord is frequently added to major arpeggio bass lines in many genres, including Do Wop, Blues, and Country.

There’s a few theoretical excuses I could throw out, but truly?—I suspect it’s just to give you one more beat to fill out your 4/4 bar.

 

[bassman818]

I didn't know that! Really good stuff as I would love to understand and play other genres of music including Do Wop and Country. Thanks.

 

[bassman818]

Well I'm kinda an idiot. I just remembered I have the book Soul Fingers! And of course Sweet Home Chicago was going to be in it! Before it goes into learning the song, the writer points out how the measures revolve around the root-sixth-fifth movement!! I was confused by the song before because I had never come across a bass line with that move! Still happy I asked away because I gathered a lot of other good information! Thanks again.

 

[Don Kasper]

Another perspective is to hear and understand that a bassline containing the 6th scale degree is compatible with, and supportive of, either a Dominant 7th chord or a Major 7th chord.
James Jamerson's bassline for Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On" is a great example of a bassline utilizing the 6th scale degree in support of a(n) E Major 7th chord - the bassline is built on - E, B, C#, E, C#......
Thanks.

 

[bassman818]

It's funny you mentioned that song because I was just mesmerized by that bass line like 30 minutes ago watching someone play it. That's a song I plan to learn down the road! But more great info!

 

[Don Kasper]

It's funny you mentioned that song because I was just mesmerized by that bass line like 30 minutes ago watching someone play it. That's a song I plan to learn down the road! But more great info!

Don't forget to check out this Donny Hathaway version in addition to Marvin's version. (Willie Weeks is the bad*** bassist on this version.)
Thanks.

 

[bassman818]

Sounds Awesome!

 

[TexasEdition]

I recall an interview with Steve Cropper some time ago (i.e. many years ago) and Duck came up in the subject of his unique sound up and down the neck. Cropper hinted it has something to do with him being self taught and not understanding theory. It was kind of a tongue-in-cheek jab at Duck. I thought it was funny, and I always though Dunn's use of leading tones was brilliant.