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Why does this bass line work?: Under the Milky Way
- Thread starter Spectrum
- Start date
WRONG SOUND!!!
A similar sound but not the exact sound!!!
In your video, the "teacher" adds D(!? - that what the "teacher" wants to hear), but here is more precise notes of that chord.
Now, let's check the Church fingering.
Meant to ask you earlier, what's the difference between a Gb and an F#? I know it has something to do with context, but I've never been able to figure that out.
The key of A Minor has no sharps and no flats. The key of A Major has 3 sharps (F# C# G#) and no flats.
The note in question is "borrowed" from the parallel major key of A Major, so that is why we spell it as F# (not Gb).
No, it’s not back... but moving forward.
As an amateur musician I can only (!) speculate about that song.
N.B. It has nothing to do with a Church group fan club!
Let’s start.
I have some rhythmic motive/ phrase of the following notes - part of my melody-
- A B C D C D E C D.
I would start with my tonic - Amin.
For my D note in the melody I could try to use D or D7, like Amin - D7 - Amin and Emin or G (for the sake of harmonic rhythm, or just because...).
A la Dorian...
But it’s kind of very simple for my own song.
Also, I could substitute that D7 with Dmin7, but harmonically some tensions are lost, not too much punch/push on the harmony side.
Next, I could substitute that D chord with G as in Amin - G - F - G (or Emin), but that chord progression is so trivial.
What if I sub that D chord with Bmin and Dmin7b5/Ab?
Maybe, too jazzy?
Now about that D7/F# chord.
To me, it sounds more like F#dim but it could be accepted as a borrowed chord of Dmajor (7) - as IV - with the bass note, F#.
F#dim could also serve as a chromatic approach chord before F.
You have to name each consecutive note (which is different) and it has to all fit on the written staff, whether it is flat or sharp. That is why the key of E has these 4 consecutive notes:
E F# G# A
rather than these:
E Gb G# A
or these:
Fb Gb Ab A
the rule ElectroVibe is talking about is the grammar that puts written music into context. the rule states that "When building asymmetrical scales, you use each note of the music alphabet."
another illustration of this...
The scale tones used in a D9/F# chord are: D E F# G A B C D and not D E Gb G A B C D (The note "F" is missing.)
and why a Gmajor scale is not spelled: G A B C D E Gb G
another illustration of this...
The scale tones used in a D9/F# chord are: D E F# G A B C D and not D E Gb G A B C D (The note "F" is missing.)
and why a Gmajor scale is not spelled: G A B C D E Gb G
and...
while every note has an enharmonic, they are not interchangeable. its "context dependent" and not always based on functional harmony or a key signature.
while every note has an enharmonic, they are not interchangeable. its "context dependent" and not always based on functional harmony or a key signature.
yeah, it's a very effective chord to add color/mood/variety/etc. I'm reminded of the XTC song Dear God, from Skylarking. Great album from my youth.
Now, let's take a look at a very similar chord construction from Toto's "Child Anthem".
It's called - A6(9)/F#.
Here is a short clip at a slow tempo of a use of that chord at the very beginning of the song. That chord is repeated several times later. That chord is at 0:11.
https://www.talkbass.com/attachment...3/?temp_hash=99e56329fc295256e67c9a6be55a64c9
Here is a whole track.
The first time A6(9)/F# appears at 0:13.
Isn't the 6 in an A6 chord an F#? That doesn't seem very dissonant. The chord in Under the Milky Way is an Am, or so I thought, which would that F# dissonant, hence my original question. It seems like it should be dissonant, but it actually sounds great, maybe because it's a bass note at least two octaves down from the G the guitar is playing?
There's no G in an Am chord.
A minor = A C E
But didn't we decide it's actually a type of D chord, with the 3rd, F#, in the bass?
There is a G in an Am7 chord. If you play an Am triad and I add a G to it with my instrument, it doesn't sound dissonant. If I play an F# with my instrument, though, it creates a dissonant tritone with the C in your Am triad.
I don't think we did. It depends on what you think the guitarist is actually playing. Sounds like a type of Am chord to me.
If I ignore the Church's bass line and just play A....A....F....G over the song's intro it sounds right to me.
Aaaand youtube seems to be broken right now, so I'll have to wait a while to examine this some more. Odd for youtube to be down hard like this...
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yes OP, Milky Way uses a D chord in inversion (D9/F#). And yes, you DO hear an Amin sound—its built into the top three strings of the guitar voicing: F# A D A C E. And this chord is not in the intro, it happens once the bass enters. Don't conflate the two harmonies, each one happens at a specific time in the song.
While I mentioned the song Dear God having the same D9/F# chord in it (love that song), @Whousedtoplay referenced a chord in Toto's "Child Anthem" that is NOT the same chord. Its an A69/F# (or at least labeled that way, see below). I think he may have been merely pointing out; there's many songs with inversions and hey "lets look at it" sort of thing. please correct me if I'm wrong, Whousedtoplay.
Anyway lets look at the harmony...
A6(9)/F# chord would include a combination the following notes: A C# E F# B (root, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 9th)
Notice in the KbIII part the stacked 4ths highlighted in yellow. they are B E A above an F# in the bass. this is a VERY common voicing technique and actually is great on guitar (since guitars and basses are a series of stacked 4ths—EADGBE). The notes stacked are F# B E A. the only note missing is the C#, which is in the KbI part (F#min triad in 2nd INV = C# F# A). For this reason, I would've label it as an F#min chord, or more accurately an F#min7(11) for that moment in the song. And I believe this is represented by the context of the linear harmonic phrase: E, F#min, E/G#.
**NOTE: How any chord is Orchestrated across the instruments in any ensemble varies, but the note choices are the same. You can think of this as the way a guitarist can play a C chord in many different places on the neck. Or the way a bassist can play a C major scale in different neck positions. The notes will be the same but in different inversions and have different "top notes" for each voicing.
for those TL : DR... these chords contain these notes:
Milky Way
D9/F# = D F# A C E
Child Anthem
A6(9)/F# = A C# E F# B *putting the 6th in the bass
F#min7(11) = F# A C# E B *(same notes but in different order)
While I mentioned the song Dear God having the same D9/F# chord in it (love that song), @Whousedtoplay referenced a chord in Toto's "Child Anthem" that is NOT the same chord. Its an A69/F# (or at least labeled that way, see below). I think he may have been merely pointing out; there's many songs with inversions and hey "lets look at it" sort of thing. please correct me if I'm wrong, Whousedtoplay.
Anyway lets look at the harmony...
A6(9)/F# chord would include a combination the following notes: A C# E F# B (root, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 9th)
Notice in the KbIII part the stacked 4ths highlighted in yellow. they are B E A above an F# in the bass. this is a VERY common voicing technique and actually is great on guitar (since guitars and basses are a series of stacked 4ths—EADGBE). The notes stacked are F# B E A. the only note missing is the C#, which is in the KbI part (F#min triad in 2nd INV = C# F# A). For this reason, I would've label it as an F#min chord, or more accurately an F#min7(11) for that moment in the song. And I believe this is represented by the context of the linear harmonic phrase: E, F#min, E/G#.
**NOTE: How any chord is Orchestrated across the instruments in any ensemble varies, but the note choices are the same. You can think of this as the way a guitarist can play a C chord in many different places on the neck. Or the way a bassist can play a C major scale in different neck positions. The notes will be the same but in different inversions and have different "top notes" for each voicing.
for those TL : DR... these chords contain these notes:
Milky Way
D9/F# = D F# A C E
Child Anthem
A6(9)/F# = A C# E F# B *putting the 6th in the bass
F#min7(11) = F# A C# E B *(same notes but in different order)
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