What key is this intro in

[mikewalker]

Hey, that's an awesome little tune!

 

[Fredrik E. Nilsen]

I would suggest to the OP to not approach most bass playing as "in a key" (esp the wrong one). You need to know what key you're in but you shouldn't be tied to it. (You might encounter chords with notes that are not in the key).

This is really not good advice. Always know the key you're in. Always relate the chords and tones to the key you are in, i.e. "this is a iii, vi, ii, v in the key of A". Then you can transpose to any other key when needed, etc. And: just because you are in key of A doesn't mean there can't be other tones, not present in the A major scale. This should be basic knowledge.

 

[BAG]

iii - vi - ii - V - IV in A Major.

It’s a Smokey Robinson song... only folks on a website would ever care what key it is in. Just play it!

Or perhaps people who aspire to grow musically

I have l learnt so much theory simply from reading threads like this......

I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet but you can be sure I'll be learning it really soon.

 

[fourstringburn]

Db minor is a very rarely used key signature, because it requires 8 flats (Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bbb Cb).
C# minor would be more commonly used, requiring only 4 sharps (C# D# E F# G# A B).

Note, however, that the D chord doesn't fit with the key of Db/C# minor (unless the composer wants to imply a "Phrygian" sound, which I just don't hear in this particular song).
Also I hear the vocal melody as major-key, not minor-key.
Finally vi-ii-V is a very familiar progression (i.e. "I Got Rhythm") that immediately grabs my ear.

Those are the three main reasons why I said A Major instead of C# minor.

I have to admit I never seen a Db minor scale before probably because the double bb's. You're correct a C# minor would be more common since it is the enharmonic of Db minor. Is there any well known songs written in Db you know of?

You're also right the song is in A major. The chords in the verses play right along in A major as you pointed out. The chorus goes to C major.

Not all songs use every note or chord to stay strict to the key signature, this allows for dissonance. Isn't that what accidental notes are for?

 

[retslock]

I would suggest to the OP to not approach most bass playing as "in a key" (esp the wrong one). You need to know what key you're in but you shouldn't be tied to it. (You might encounter chords with notes that are not in the key.) Unless you're soloing, which you're not here, your job is to create a harmonic (and rhythmic) underlay by primarily outlining the chords that take the music through the key. Do this with arpeggios, single notes, maybe scale fragments but only as connectors between the chords, not as the actual key. Save keys/modes for your Jaco soloing.

Agreed. Modern music modulates frequently and the chords may move in and out of key and to further confuse the issue there is also the practice of using a key oriented bass note while playing a different chord over it. e.g. A/C#, Bm7/E, D/E, A/D, Bm7/A etc. they are still essentially of the key of A but offer a different sound and can be somewhat confusing so the key becomes less important. They can be very useful in creating linear chord lines as a horn section might as opposed to blocks of chordal comping.

 

[JimmyM]

I have to admit I never seen a Db minor scale before probably because the double bb's. You're correct a C# minor would be more common since it is the enharmonic of Db minor. Is there any well known songs written in Db you know of?

You're also right the song is in A major. The chords in the verses play right along in A major as you pointed out. The chorus goes to C major.

Not all songs use every note or chord to stay strict to the key signature, this allows for dissonance. Isn't that what accidental notes are for?

I've had a lot of people call out songs as being in Db. Can't recall seeing any sheet music written in Db. Seen a lot in C#, though.

 

[Fredrik E. Nilsen]

A couple of famous songs in Db:

 

[oink]

It’s a Smokey Robinson song... only folks on a website would ever care what key it is in. Just play it!

That's a strange thing to say. Sometimes the only thing I know about the song we're about to jam on is the key. The main player is in the groove, finishes a tune, then shouts "A!", and off we go into the mystic.

(Off course sometimes they shout the wrong key but nobody got hurt so far...)

 

[MonetBass]

A couple of famous songs in Db:

@Mushroo was talking about Db minor, which makes more sense written as C# minor. Those songs you posted are clearly in Db major.

 

[Mushroo]

@Mushroo was talking about Db minor.

A Major.

 

[Fredrik E. Nilsen]

@Mushroo was talking about Db minor, which makes more sense written as C# minor. Those songs you posted are clearly in Db major.

And my reply was directly under posts refering to Db major.

 

[fourstringburn]

I've had a lot of people call out songs as being in Db. Can't recall seeing any sheet music written in Db. Seen a lot in C#, though.

Also none of my scale books reference Db minor. This only adds to the confusion if there isn't a standard on what keys the scale tones are. Maybe I'm glad I'm a rock player where most songs are played on the fret dots.

I'm not very knowledgeable on enharmonic keys. I believe these came about for written music to keep the amount of accidentals down compared to the standard keys. Then again, this is why we have keys in the first place to keep the music scores from being cluttered up with accidentals all over the place. Without a standard fundamental starting point, how many notes per octave would we have because now a C could also be a B# or a D double flat?

We would have 35 notes per octave if you figure 2 enharmonics per note on the standard 12 notes per octave and G# and Ab are their own enharmonics and were already used at the start and end points chromatically for the natural A and G.

We might as well be using terms like an A flat triple flat for an F.

Maybe we're getting too cerebral here...

 

[JimmyM]

Also none of my scale books reference Db minor. This only adds to the confusion if there isn't a standard on what keys the scale tones are. Maybe I'm glad I'm a rock player where most songs are played on the fret dots.

I'm not very knowledgeable on enharmonic keys. I believe these came about for written music to keep the amount of accidentals down compared to the standard keys. Then again, this is why we have keys in the first place to keep the music scores from being cluttered up with accidentals all over the place. Without a standard fundamental starting point, how many notes per octave would we have because now a C could also be a B# or a D double flat?

We would have 35 notes per octave if you figure 2 enharmonics per note on the standard 12 notes per octave and G# and Ab are their own enharmonics and were already used at the start and end points chromatically for the natural A and G.

We might as well be using terms like an A flat triple flat for an F.

Maybe we're getting too cerebral here...

Ya think?

 

[Duanestuermer]

Just because a song starts on a certain chord, doesn't mean that's the key its "in" (in this case the beginning chord is Dbm7), but as stated above, the song is in the key A, and those minor chords, are relative to the key of A.
But any song can be in any key, depenant upon (in many cases, where the singer or the BL is most comfortable.
Although the song Girl From Ipanema is normally in F, I worked with a singer that liked it in C.
Also worked with a fabulous piano player, who learned by ear, and played every song with a key starting on the black keys, he could also play any song after hearing it only once.
At gigs I'd ask him what key he wanted to play the song in, and he'd point with his little finger, because he didn't know the names. Yet he could play anything he'd ever heard, it was great on the job training for me.

 

[Mushroo]

Just because a song starts on a certain chord, doesn't mean that's the key its "in" (in this case the beginning chord is Dbm7), but as stated above, the song is in the key A, and those minor chords, are relative to the key of A.

The key of A has 3 sharps (F#, C#, G#) and no flats. There is no Dbmin7 chord in the Smokey Robinson song "Just to See Her."

 

[eddododo]

What's the scale or key used for this bassline??

iii - vi - ii - V7

 

[74hc]

Mushroo, thanks for taking the time to go into detail!

With my old, but still youthful age with hearing loss, I have to rely on theory more than just using my ears to get by. Back my teen years, I always just rely on my ears. Should have invested some time for theory.

 

[Wasnex]

I have to admit I never seen a Db minor scale before probably because the double bb's. You're correct a C# minor would be more common since it is the enharmonic of Db minor. Is there any well known songs written in Db you know of?

Being as I put my foot in my mouth a few posts back I'll take a stab at this. Db minor is what I would consider a theoretical key you might discuss in a classroom, but would probably not see in the "wild." It would occur naturally in a modulation from one flat key to another, but for ease of reading and comprehension you would write it as C# minor.

The only way I would expect to see Db minor would be with a composer who used it as a matter of artistic license . Perhaps there are other legit reasons, but I can't think of any.

Hopefully I got it right this time .

 

[Duanestuermer]

The key of A has 3 sharps (F#, C#, G#) and no flats. There is no Dbmin7 chord in the Smokey Robinson song "Just to See Her."

This is absolutely true, I should have said C#m and F#m

 

[MonetBass]

A Major.

I meant one of your earlier posts. Yes, the OP song is in A Major.