Topic: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

Hey,
Here's one for the musicians out there...even Joe.
I was on another forum today, and they have a huge 20  plus page thread/battle going about this song.
The big fight is about what key is this song in...D or G? Apparently, Ed King said the solo came to him in a dream the night before recording it, and he played the whole thing thru in one take. Then the producer (Al Cooper-a schooled musician) wanted him to do it over again, because he said he played it in the wrong key (G instead of D).  The rest of the band looked at him like he was crazy (I think this is one of the iconic solos in rock, almost a song unto itself). Apparently, it drove Al crazy and he even took the song to Mike Bloomfield to get his opinion.

So pretty much, all the theory guys say that the song is in D, and all of the feel, play by ear types (like Ed), say the song is in G.

My main question that came out of this thread is maybe not necessarily what key is the song...but...what does the song resolve to (that may be the same thing?)...G or D.

To me, my ear tells me the song resolves to G, (and I would play Gmaj pent to get that country type sound like Ed).

What are your thoughts?

PS. I've never played this song in any band I've been in, but if I had to play it, I think it would be fun to get it exact.

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

ken,

I was a music major but I play by ear so maybe that makes me an "expert" from both angles...either way, the song's in D.  1, flat 7, 4 is the main progression and it resolves to the D.  If you try and resolve to the G, it has that "4 chord" feel to my ears.  I guess it's that F# in the D maj. pent. scale that does it for me.  The G maj. pentatonic works too but they are definitely walking through that F# in places (which is the 3 in the key of D).  It's the natural 7 in the key of G which doesn't make near as much sense.  Anyhow, that's how I've always thought of it.  If there was more to the song, this probably wouldn't even be an issue but since some people hear 5, 4, 1...and some (like me) hear 1, b7, 4...it makes for some debate.  I'm sure others could put it more eloquently than I did!

Corby
OceanEFX

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

I have always believed that song to be in the key of D.

"There is nothing to it.  You only have to hit the right notes at the right time and the instrument plays itself."---Johann Sebastian Bach

4 (edited by SRVTWO 2008-06-28 09:50:31)

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

I would say D as well.  I think Ocean pretty much hit it right on the head (great way of explaining it by the way!).  I really think the thing that throws alot of people is "watching" others play the solo.  The first solo I see most people stay anchored around the twelth fret which people "see" as G major, but in a over simplified way of seeing things, that first solo is just comprised of chord tones that dances around the progression (ala Dickey Betts, Santana, Neal Schon).  Like I said over simplified but a very cool melodic solo that living in Jacksonville, FL I have heard way to many times. wink
Mike

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

Interesting topic.  I agree with all of you so far as to say the song is amiguish in it's tonality.  Looking at the chords  D, C and G one thinks right away of the key of G doing a V IV I patteren.  As Ocean said, you could look at it in D as a I bVII IV progession.  It easily resolves to G when the F C G accents hit during the second verse.  It also resolves to D.

It opens up a vast palett of note options for a soloist.  Where as I have really grown tired of this song, it's always fun to solo thru the changes and stretch it out a little.  My favorite is to play arounfd with a C melodic minor over the G resolving to D (or the I or the V depending on where you're going next)

Anyway.  It's fun that such a simple chord progession opens up some many options.  It's almost as much fun as vamping over an alt7th for an extended period.  Then you can really go outside.  Oh yea!

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

I've played it in D...

withaguntomyheadeyeswideopen

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping. cool

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

NPB_EST.1979 wrote:

I've played it in D...

withaguntomyheadeyeswideopen

GOOD ONE!

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

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

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....

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

ken wrote:

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....

beer + random crowds = sweet home alabama requests. oh- that and freebird.
angersthemassesandpleasesafew

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping. cool

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

Yeah,yeah,yeah.......
It's in D no it's in G........

Say what you like....
But at the end of the day.....
The main riff to that song is in.......

D mixolydian.
Jack

Rock On and Keep the Faith

Jack Loves Patty Loves Joe

11

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

fuzzy wuzzy wrote:

Yeah,yeah,yeah.......
It's in D no it's in G........

Say what you like....
But at the end of the day.....
The main riff to that song is in.......

D mixolydian.
Jack

Right...song in D, solo in G wink

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

ken wrote:
fuzzy wuzzy wrote:

Yeah,yeah,yeah.......
It's in D no it's in G........

Say what you like....
But at the end of the day.....
The main riff to that song is in.......

D mixolydian.
Jack

Right...song in D, solo in G wink

Give the man a silver dollar

Rock On and Keep the Faith

Jack Loves Patty Loves Joe

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

UM:  Mixolydian starts on the V right?  D mixolydian is a G scale, right?

BJJ

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

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

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:

Rock On and Keep the Faith

Jack Loves Patty Loves Joe

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

A song can't be in 'D Mixolydian', that's just how you would solo over it playing around the tonic. As ken accurately summed it up, the song is in D. D is the tonal center. But because of the b7 you would use D Mixolydian (since Mixolydian is the only mode with just a b7) and counting backwards to the I chord you would use G Ionian, A Dorian, B Phrygian, C Lydian, E, Aeolian, and F# Locrian to solo over it, which is why you say solo in G just to make it simple.

"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?

Musicinmysoul wrote:

A song can't be in 'D Mixolydian', that's just how you would solo over it playing around the tonic. As ken accurately summed it up, the song is in D. D is the tonal center. But because of the b7 you would use D Mixolydian (since Mixolydian is the only mode with just a b7) and counting backwards to the I chord you would use G Ionian, A Dorian, B Phrygian, C Lydian, E, Aeolian, and F# Locrian to solo over it, which is why you say solo in G just to make it simple.

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

Rock On and Keep the Faith

Jack Loves Patty Loves Joe

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

I think of it in D Major.  In this key, you hear the soloists play D major pentatonic and sometimes D minor Pentatonic.  When you hear the frequent use of the G Major (Eminor) pentatonic in the song, the notes of this scale (G A B D E) are also in the key of D (the 11th, 5th, 13th, Root and 9th), so they are all diatonic color tones.

Re: Sweet Home Alabama...Key?

Kinda all right...

In the "common practice" era, songs were composed and taught in modalities vs. the neoclassic "key signature". 

But in a D major key, there is no C chord.  the seventh is C#doublediminished(Locrian Mode - pbbbt).  In D7 there is a C so only one sharp (F, right?)  In C - no sharps or flats.  In G there is one sharp (F, right?)

If we look at the chords D7, C and G we have a F# as the only common sharp.  1 sharp is the key signature of G.  (or Emin)  D7 is the fifth.  Mixolydian is the mode.  Strictly textbook (sheet music) speaking that is.

So... D mixolydian mode is the key signature of G...same notes, different starting and different resolves.  Different methods of nomenclature from the history.  Churches could take something simple and make a mess out of...oops, never mind.

Rock and blues often stretch the rules and assume that the chord has the b7th in it just for raunch or blues or TENSION big_smile

ohmy
bigjeff


BTW Jack... the tritone I first spoke of (in the other thread) is from 4th to major 7th.  Same interval as 3rd to dominant 7th.  OOPS on me.

I'm enjoying this in some sort of perverse way lol  I have a buddy who would tell you the song is in the key of D seventh...because I know him, that tells me that there's a C chord in it.  Everybody else just says "WHAT THE F***???"

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