Re: Yet Another Key Question

"Les Cargill" <lcargill@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4867c577$0$7816$2318a52a@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
js wrote:
why do I punish myself with these threads?...

As I believe I said before in one of these threads - rock is largely
modal,
so you need to distinguish CHORD harmony from MODAL harmony.

The first section is definitely MODAL. Because of the chord
progression (Am
D

Isn't that a Bm instead of a D?

Em) it looks like ii V vi in G. However it has nothing to do with G
major;
none of the chords function as if they were in G at all. A's own
"dominant"
is minor instead of major, so it's not even then key of "A minor".
I'd say
it's just A Dorian.


... which works out to G. Then again, I never found much use for
modes.
*As I understand it* (and I could easily be wrong), that just means
"notes from G major, but starting on an A". Which is exactly how the
melody works....

js has got this one right. To say "I never found much use for modes"
just means you're not concerned with what makes the thing tick. That's
OK if all you're trying to figure out is how to play it and not
understand it from a theory point of view, but there's a difference
between G major and A dorian, just like there's a difference between C
major and D dorian even though they're both all white keys on the piano.
And not that it's always black and white, but this one, if you listen to
it, is pretty clearly A dorian. There is a ton of rock-n-roll that
works this way, btw.

-S-


.

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