Playin with A

In Accoustic level 1 and been also fooling around with Pentatonic scales in key of A. Was a little bored tonight and decided to go back to fundamentals 2 and practice scales also in key of A. Started off trying to make my own little riffs with the backing track with both the open scale and pattern scale then ended up figuring out the chords of the backing music and made up my own little strumming pattern to play along. Had a blast and learned a bunch. Although I can't figure out why there is a Dm in the key of A?? anyone?

Moral of the story; I tend to focus on moving forward and think it will slow my progress if I go back but tonight was a blast and I learned a bunch. I think I am now going to just pick a key and try doing everything i can with it, scales, chords, power chords, pentatonic to let it sink in.

Excited! BTW it was chapter 2 "fun ways to practice major scales"

Sounds like you were having a good time!

I don't remember that lesson, but was it the A major key you were in?

Originally Posted by: Gilbyesk

In Accoustic level 1 and been also fooling around with Pentatonic scales in key of A.[/quote][p]Major or minor pentatonic?

Originally Posted by: GilbyeskAlthough I can't figure out why there is a Dm in the key of A?? anyone?

What lesson are you referring to? If you were in the key of A minor, then D minor is the natural iv chord.

[quote=Gilbyesk]Moral of the story; I tend to focus on moving forward and think it will slow my progress if I go back but tonight was a blast and I learned a bunch. I think I am now going to just pick a key and try doing everything i can with it, scales, chords, power chords, pentatonic to let it sink in.

Glad you are enjoying the process!

@ William and Chris [br]The lesson was fund 2, chapter 2, section 3 and A major.

The backing track has both a D and Dm chord. Took me a bit to figure out. [br]the pentatonic forms I am studying are c / Am forms. [br][br]

thanks for your responses!

Your welcome, I was wondering if it was actually A minor. Sounds like you are tying majors and relative minors together. It is a great feeling to learn something new.

Originally Posted by: Gilbyesk

The lesson was fund 2, chapter 2, section 3 and A major.

The backing track has both a D and Dm chord. Took me a bit to figure out.

Yes, that D minor is a minor iv chord in the key of A major. Because the D minor chord isn't in the key of A major (specifically the F note, making it a minor chord) that makes it a modulation, a brief change of key signature. It's a farily common modulation used to make a melancholy, or bitterweet sound.

The Beatles used it quite a bit: In My Life, Nowhere Man, If I Fell, Blackbird, and others.

One of my favorite uses in a pop song is Sleepwalk!

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=2450

Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegel

The Beatles used it quite a bit: In My Life, Nowhere Man, If I Fell, Blackbird, and others.

When I went to a workshop with Laurence Juber (former Wings guitarist), he talked about that too. Further that with little classical training, they had a great sense of musical structure taken from classical composers and you see that kind of modulation throughout their songs.

Laurence has an amazing amount of musical knowledge...and shocking skills! When we return to concerts in this world, if he makes it in to anoyone's area, worth seeing...He will inspire and also make you go never want to play again! ...not really but when you see someone that good, it's a shock to the system.

Chris,

I am confused.... Isn't D minor the iv if A minor?

Originally Posted by: snojones

Chris,

I am confused.... Isn't D minor the iv if A minor?

I'll (try) to answer the question you asked Chris; you're correct that it is part of A minor. Because of that, it's a modulation or a shift of it being within A major to A minor.

In create a song or a melody, you want to evoke a mood. If you were to playing only major chords, you'd never have the melancholy vibe Chris has mentioned. So as you structure stuff, your shifts may not follow strict major/minor path but you modulate the melody in order to create that tension you need to create that mood. I'm guessing you're not thinking that it is an either major or minor deal but when you look at the rules, music creation isn't going to always play Team Major or Team Minor so you hve to account for those thngs in modulation shifts etc.

Actually, now I'm confused. I thought it was a typo that Chris made and he meant to say it's the 4th in the key of A minor not A major?

I think he's saying it's a iv if in the key of Am but a modulation if used in key of A?

Now I get it, I think...

Schlegel is saying the song is in the key of A Major.

D minor in that context is a iv (minor iv chord). It would usually be IV (Major IV chord).

It's just a temporary non-diatonic chord for effect (or a temporary modulation).

A more annoying term to use here would be Modal Interchange, which means you're using a chord from a different mode -- in this case a closely related key. A minor is closely related to A major. With just a single note changed in that D chord (F# changed to F natural) you get an interesting effect, in this case that "melancholy" thing. It's "wrong" but in a good way, because it's just a single note difference.

One chord (one note) is a small enough difference that it doesn't totally disrupt the tonality of the overall piece. It's just a momentary chord that strikes our ear for effect.

-Carl.

Thanks Carl. If I think about it long enough I think I get it.

Originally Posted by: Carl King

Schlegel is saying the song is in the key of A Major.

D minor in that context is a iv (minor iv chord). It would usually be IV (Major IV chord).

It's just a temporary non-diatonic chord for effect (or a temporary modulation).[/quote][p]Exactly. Thanks for clarifying!

[quote=Carl King]One chord (one note) is a small enough difference that it doesn't totally disrupt the tonality of the overall piece. It's just a momentary chord that strikes our ear for effect.

Right. In fact, a modulation, a note or chord that is outside of the key of the rest of the song, is often the most interesting or part of the song. It can provide variation or tension that can be released by returning to a note or chord that is in the key signature.

In the end once I figured out what the mystery chord was it turned to be my favorite part or sound effect. I tend to gravitate to the minor sounds. Thanks for all your help all!