Figuring out chord progressions from songs

[rrayner]

Thanks for the lead, Sherry. There are some good tips there.

One additional item that should be mentioned is that often a bass part will include notes that are not part of the basic chord, i.e., root, third and fifth. These will generally be passing tones, notes within the root scale, but not part of the basic chord.

For example, in 4/4 meter, these passing tones would generally fall on beats 2 and 4 and for a C Major chord, you would hear a bass line that goes linearly from C to G in quarter notes: C D E F G -- all part of the root scale for C Major, where chord tones C, E, and G are on beats 1, 3 and 1 in the next measure, and the passing tones D and F are on beats 2 and 4.

So, the tips in the pdf are sound, but don't let the passing tones confuse you.

Ralph Rayner

[Sherry C]

Hi Ralph,

Good point about the bass line, and thanks for a good example.

Another "sticking point" for some pieces is the whole modal thing. This isn't such a big deal if you're just figuring out chord changes, which is what the main point of the pdf download is about. However, for those who want to put those chord changes into a sheet music format with the correct key signature, modes can often be confusing. Learning to play a whistle (as in Irish) was one of the best things for me in learning about modes, and it's fun, too But I can't tell you how many people I've had ask me why the software wasn't putting in the right key signature for a song; for example when the root note of the first chord was an E but the key signature showed G (1 #) rather than E (4 #s). The piece was in Em, which is the minor of G

Thanks!
Sherry