Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

ken wrote:

Well, I finally got around to playing it a little today (instead of just thinking about how it sounds), and there is no doubt to my ears that it resolves to a D. But...that Gmaj pentatonic played over it is how it sounds most like the recorded solo (last one). No doubt there's a million possibilities if you want to improvise.

I watched an old live youtube video with Skynyrd playing it (with Ronnie but without Ed), and the solo sounded like cr@p. Nothing like the original, and not near as good.
I recently saw the new Skynyrd on the HDnet channel in concert, and the new guys get the solo pretty much perfect.

Now that I figured out most of the solo, the hard part will be finding anyone who wants to play that worn out old cover song....

I know it.  Bring it on Saturday.  Just don't tell anyone.  I'll deny it!

it'sjustforyouken
damnguitarplayerskillme
I'mnotsingingit

well?

Rock On & Keep the FAITH
             It is
Blues From the Bottoms

20 (edited by ken 2008-06-29 20:28:21)

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

fuzzy wuzzy wrote:

D mixolydian is a D scale that happens to share the same key sig. as G major.
D is the V of G as BJJ quite correctly points out. The reason I'm callin this tune Dmix. is because clearly these chords belong to the G major family;however,D is the home base of the song so what does it all mean? It means that its a great tune in Dmix.  Another thing I can't agree with is all this talk of resolving or resolution. In order for something to resolve you need some tension, I don't hear any tension being built up in the chords D-C-G. It feels more like a seesaw with C being the hindge between two safe harbors D+G. Also don't forget that modes have a I chord a II chord and so on that are based on thier key signatures ergo Sweet Home Alabama = I-VII-IV, in Dmix.

Amen.
Jack

PS- I supose its possible that I could also be wrong about this whole thing.:lol:

Dmix and Gmaj are the same scale, but to me, the solo resolves to the G (which is what the producer complained about) while the song is in D. Also, to my ear, the song resolves to a D, and I do hear some tension when the song ends on the G. Again, I didn't realize this until I actually played the chord progression myself... Of course, there is no right or wrong, just some fun discussion... smile
and if I played that great solo in one take and the producer told me to play it again because it was in the wrong key, he would have been walking out of that studio funny with a guitar sticking out of his a$$.

21

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

fuzzy wuzzy wrote:

It feels more like a seesaw with C being the hindge between two safe harbors D+G.

Man, that's a great way of describing it...

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

ken wrote:
fuzzy wuzzy wrote:

D mixolydian is a D scale that happens to share the same key sig. as G major.
D is the V of G as BJJ quite correctly points out. The reason I'm callin this tune Dmix. is because clearly these chords belong to the G major family;however,D is the home base of the song so what does it all mean? It means that its a great tune in Dmix.  Another thing I can't agree with is all this talk of resolving or resolution. In order for something to resolve you need some tension, I don't hear any tension being built up in the chords D-C-G. It feels more like a seesaw with C being the hindge between two safe harbors D+G. Also don't forget that modes have a I chord a II chord and so on that are based on thier key signatures ergo Sweet Home Alabama = I-VII-IV, in Dmix.

Amen.
Jack

PS- I supose its possible that I could also be wrong about this whole thing.:lol:

Dmix and Gmaj are the same scale, but to me, the solo resolves to the G (which is what the producer complained about) while the song is in D. Also, to my ear, the song resolves to a D, and I do hear some tension when the song ends on the G. Again, I didn't realize this until I actually played the chord progression myself... Of course, there is no right or wrong, just some fun discussion... smile
and if I played that great solo in one take and the producer told me to play it again because it was in the wrong key, he would have been walking out of that studio funny with a guitar sticking out of his a$$.

THAT"S HILARIOUS!  Not your LP?  you got a Squire somewhere?  oooooh he be walking funny...hold on to yo lugnuts...Al Kooper had issues anyway.  Genius but issues.

You're right,  There's a lot of songs that start and end on some modality that is not the root of the key signature.  And there are songs that change keys cause they're composed from some cliche in some modality.  I don't know it all.

You wanna start a fight, ask what key Van Morrisson's Moondance is in.  Ellington's Satin Dolls?  Eleanor Rigby? 

It really comes down to communicating with your bandmates.  I would say we play this tune in D-C-G and let my deaf drummer count it off.  big_smile

justshutupbigjeff
you'reboringpeople
ok I'm gwineter go drool jus a bit  ise tide.

Rock On & Keep the FAITH
             It is
Blues From the Bottoms

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

ken wrote:
fuzzy wuzzy wrote:

It feels more like a seesaw with C being the hindge between two safe harbors D+G.

Man, that's a great way of describing it...

YES IT IS!

Rock On & Keep the FAITH
             It is
Blues From the Bottoms

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

fuzzy wuzzy wrote:

I disagree. A piece of music (that includes songs) can certainley be written either intentionally or unintentionally in any mode you like.

It's not the concept I don't agree with, it's the phrasing. It doesn't sound right to me to say "The song is in E Lydian." E Lydian is just what you would play over the chord progression if said chord progression had a #4. You can write a song so you can play whatever mode you want over the chord progression, I agree, but you would USE E Lydian, and just call it in the key of E, if E was the tonal center of the song. You could say the key signature indicates E Lydian, but E Lydian isn't the key signature.

I'm kinna goin' around in circles here...

"Music is the only thing that you can share with a million million people and you don't lose, you gain. It helps you to get energy and to live long, because when your soul is very happy then you don't want to die." - Ali Akbar Khan

25 (edited by bigjeffjones 2008-06-30 05:53:53)

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

Musicinmysoul wrote:
fuzzy wuzzy wrote:

I disagree. A piece of music (that includes songs) can certainley be written either intentionally or unintentionally in any mode you like.

It's not the concept I don't agree with, it's the phrasing. It doesn't sound right to me to say "The song is in E Lydian." E Lydian is just what you would play over the chord progression if said chord progression had a #4. You can write a song so you can play whatever mode you want over the chord progression, I agree, but you would USE E Lydian, and just call it in the key of E, if E was the tonal center of the song. You could say the key signature indicates E Lydian, but E Lydian isn't the key signature.

I'm kinna goin' around in circles here...

Yup, you're not wrong, strictly speaking, just not worth fighting about.  See my lengthy post above.  If I was writing a set list for a jam or some sit in players I would write D next to it.  Those who know the tune would know it's I, VII, IV.

Some training gives you the rules.  Some experience gives you the tools...whoa...deep.

FDOL
BJJ
editz: spelleeng

Rock On & Keep the FAITH
             It is
Blues From the Bottoms

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

Interesting thread. I'm no music theory expert, always played by ear. I don't know how this relates to the discussion at hand, but I know you use a G blues harp when a song is in the key of D...

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

Of course something I've always found to be fun is to play pentatonically a fifth above the root (So if the tune was in the key of G you would play D pentatonic). Gives a waaaaay cool sound. It's hardly theoretically correct, but try it out, just a few notes in and you'll find yourself scratching your head at the cool sounds you're getting.

"Music is the only thing that you can share with a million million people and you don't lose, you gain. It helps you to get energy and to live long, because when your soul is very happy then you don't want to die." - Ali Akbar Khan

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

Hey I surrender guys. I've never heard of a mode (other than ionian or aolean) being called the "key" of any song. So I guess I'll just hang my head,throw in the towel,call it a day,give it up, take one long last look, and wonder...what if modes were key signatures?

Awfuhgetaboudit!!!!
Music rules
RocknRoll Forever
Jack

Rock On and Keep the Faith

Jack Loves Patty Loves Joe

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

Hey while we're on modes guys have you ever seen this?

                               http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnOV7iKR1vE

FANTASTIC STUFF!!!

Rock On and Keep the Faith

Jack Loves Patty Loves Joe

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

fuzzy wuzzy wrote:

Hey while we're on modes guys have you ever seen this?

                               http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnOV7iKR1vE

FANTASTIC STUFF!!!

He is super bad, Jack.  I like his style.

Thanks Dude,
BJJ

Rock On & Keep the FAITH
             It is
Blues From the Bottoms

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

Ahahahaha oooh wow that is cool. Pirate music...I'll have to look into that.

"Music is the only thing that you can share with a million million people and you don't lose, you gain. It helps you to get energy and to live long, because when your soul is very happy then you don't want to die." - Ali Akbar Khan

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

Ken you see this guy fuzzy wuzzy put up?

Rock On & Keep the FAITH
             It is
Blues From the Bottoms

33

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

bigjeffjones wrote:

Ken you see this guy fuzzy wuzzy put up?

Just checked it out...Thanks alot Jeff (and Fuzzy), another guy that makes me want to throw my guitar out the window in anger...

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

I've had the pleasure of recording with Ed King in the late 90s at my dinky home studio. Ed lives here in Nashville these days.

He certianly thinks of the song in "G" and not "D". Steve Gaines played his solo in "D"...they both sound great to me. However....it should be noted that Skynyrd ALWAYS ended the song live on the G chord.....with the ol' F, C Gggggggggggggg

Every band in Gnashville ends it on the D....which drives my ears crazy for some reason...that and the fact that most of them also play the sig lick lazily without the pulloffs. I think I'm the only guy in N-ville who actually plays Rossington's rhythm part...which was actually the first part of the song written....Ed came up with the sig lick to work against what Rossington was doing.

The song is cliche' to many pickers today but I remember sitting in my brother's car in the summer of '74 when that solo came over the radio and it changed the way I looked at guitar playing...just the sheer agression of it. When I got Second Helping and heard Ed's solo on Workin' For MCA is was officially "over"...guitar nirvana.

"why isn't the number "11" pronounced "onety one"???....S. Wright.

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

hi

36 (edited by NORINkhoyohang 2013-10-13 05:54:11)

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

helo guys, i think , the song sweet home alabama should be in D mixolydian Mode or sound or voice (5th mode of G major scale) being the chord progression v iv and i D C G.  so , in the whole song progressive rhythm is in these chords and the solos and the song  resolves in G, however,it  often tends to finish in D but it is just to  initiate the next phase of music or singing quickly but everything ends in G.  i disagree  g maj pent or e MINOR PENTA OR D MAJ SCALE OR E BLUES scale NOTES played over, but surely the G major scale notes from 10 fret. the scale sometimes take passing notes like d sharp in the first solo and in the second mega solo uses b7 (being the f sharp locrian sound or mode) which adds superbly short but sweet feeling or flavor. i think most of the songs do that taking b7 note and using passing notes in between 2 notes from a particular maj scale.