Re: Sweet Home Alabamer

On 06 Oct 2007, "Lumpy" <lumpy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
alt.guitar.beginner:

If there's a good reason, then it's a good reason.

What??

If the reason is because you just don't understand
what a key signature is, then it's a stupid reason.

What???

If you're trying to say I don't know what a key signature is, I don't
know where you got that idea. If you think "key signature" = "key", I
disagree - they are different concepts, although related. Music
dictionaries usually have separate entries for "key" and "key
signature."

Here is one definition that fits with the way I think of it:

"Specific scales or series of notes defining a particular tonality, for
example, certain keys may, on the basis of the sequence of successive
intervals, be defined as major or minor and are then named after their
tonic or key note."

(from http://www.dolmetsch.com/defsk.htm)

Another similar definition can be found here:

http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/

In the case of the song in question, it can (but not must) be notated
using the key signature of G. It can be heard as being in the key of G
or the key of D. I know you responded to the thread brought over to
rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz by somebody from this group, so you will
have seen that hearing the song as I do is common. Obviously, Sweet
Home Alabama is ambiguous enough that the question "what key is it in"
has more than one answer.
.

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