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lblanchardI offered an LJ acquaintance my personal tips on listening to a song and figuring out the chording. So here they are.
Quick Facts on Theory -- enough to get by (barely) on bluegrass
Three chord harmony or close to it
The three chord pattern is sometimes referred to as 1-4-5. Bluegrass and a lot of early rock was built on it.
Example in the key of C
Example in the key of G
Example in the key of A
Example in the key of E
A seventh chord puts a B-flat in the C chord, an F natural in the G chord, or a G natural in the A chord, or a D natural in the E chord. It's a step on the way back to the tonic in basic three-chord harmony when you want to add a little fanciness.
Another alternate path back to the tonic is -- oh, I don't know the name of it, but it's up one whole tone from the tonic, with or without the seventh. Say you're in the key of C -- play a D or a D-seventh, and then a G, and then you come back to C.
Figuring out basic unbarred chords by listening
I start by identifying the top note, then the bottom note, then looking at what fills in the middle.
If the chord ends with the third (e.g., the E in a C chord) as its highest note, it's most likely a C chord or a D chord. (Standard flavors of C7 and D7 will also have this pattern.)
Note -- all my little solfege examples in the following section read from the lowest pitch string (#6) to the highest (#1), with the two lowest strings in upper case bold.
If the chord ends with the tonic on the first string (e.g., the E in an E chord), has a full harmonic sound and also has a nice bass resonant tonic on the sixth string, it's an E-chord. It has a satisfying DO-SOL-do-mi-sol-do pattern. E7 can be done two ways, either by un-fretting the fifth string (causing an open D) or by fretting the second string on the third fret (causing a D).
If the chord begins and ends with the tonic but sounds like it's missing some notes it's probably a G chord
(DO MI sol do mi do -- the space between the first and second string notes sounds empty to me)
One more tonic top and bottom possibility: There's a way to do an F chord that involves barring the first two strings on the first fret with your index finger, fretting two other strings, and using the thumb on the sixth string, but I've never cared much for that. It will give you the following pattern: DO MI do mi sol do.
If the chord has the dominant as its highest note, it's going to be an A chord. I can't think of any others. The A chord pattern is very distinctive because it has the dominant at the top and the bottom -- SOL DO sol do mi sol. It seems to be Roy Orbison's favorite key.
I'd suggest that you play various 1-4-5 combinations in those keys (e.g., for the key of A, A-D-A-E-A-D-E-A) and listen to how the different chords sound together. Nothing fancy, just strum-strum. Pretty soon something will click and and A chord will sound like an A chord and nothing else. Also, when one chord clicks and it's clearly in, for example, the subdominant position, you'll know what the key for the rest of the song and thus the core chords will be. For instance, if the A chord does it for you and you hear it's the dominant, you know you're in D. If it's the subdominant, you know you're in E.
Hope this helps.
EDITED TO ADD: Remember, Johnny Depp got his start by shoplifting a Mel Bay chord book from a department store.
Quick Facts on Theory -- enough to get by (barely) on bluegrass
Three chord harmony or close to it
The three chord pattern is sometimes referred to as 1-4-5. Bluegrass and a lot of early rock was built on it.
Example in the key of C
- The tonic is the C
- The dominant is the G (up a fifth)
- The subdominant is the F (up a fourth)
- The relative minor is the A minor (down a minor third)
Example in the key of G
- The tonic is the G
- The dominant is the D
- The subdominant is the C
- The relative minor is the E minor
Example in the key of A
- The tonic is the A
- The dominant is the E
- The subdominant is the D
- The relative minor is the F# minor (aka the E minor played as a bar chord on the second fret. It's the easiest of the bar chords)
Example in the key of E
- The tonic is the E
- The dominant is the B (I think just about everyone plays the B7)
- The subdominant is the A
- The relative minor is the C# minor (which is the second-easiest bar chord -- patterned like an A minor with the bar on the fourth fret)
A seventh chord puts a B-flat in the C chord, an F natural in the G chord, or a G natural in the A chord, or a D natural in the E chord. It's a step on the way back to the tonic in basic three-chord harmony when you want to add a little fanciness.
Another alternate path back to the tonic is -- oh, I don't know the name of it, but it's up one whole tone from the tonic, with or without the seventh. Say you're in the key of C -- play a D or a D-seventh, and then a G, and then you come back to C.
Figuring out basic unbarred chords by listening
I start by identifying the top note, then the bottom note, then looking at what fills in the middle.
If the chord ends with the third (e.g., the E in a C chord) as its highest note, it's most likely a C chord or a D chord. (Standard flavors of C7 and D7 will also have this pattern.)
- If it's a C chord, the bottom note is either going to be the tonic (C) or the dominant (G), depending on whether the player is able to use four fingers to make the C chord.
- If it's a D chord, there are three possibilities --
- The player will only hit the top four strings, meaning the lowest note will be a not-very-low tonic (D) on the open fourth string
- The player will only hit the top five strings, so the lowest note will be an A on the open fifth string
- The player will be able to fret the sixth string at the second fret (either using a finger or a thumb) so the lowest note will be a third (F#)
- The player will only hit the top four strings, meaning the lowest note will be a not-very-low tonic (D) on the open fourth string
Note -- all my little solfege examples in the following section read from the lowest pitch string (#6) to the highest (#1), with the two lowest strings in upper case bold.
If the chord ends with the tonic on the first string (e.g., the E in an E chord), has a full harmonic sound and also has a nice bass resonant tonic on the sixth string, it's an E-chord. It has a satisfying DO-SOL-do-mi-sol-do pattern. E7 can be done two ways, either by un-fretting the fifth string (causing an open D) or by fretting the second string on the third fret (causing a D).
If the chord begins and ends with the tonic but sounds like it's missing some notes it's probably a G chord
(DO MI sol do mi do -- the space between the first and second string notes sounds empty to me)
One more tonic top and bottom possibility: There's a way to do an F chord that involves barring the first two strings on the first fret with your index finger, fretting two other strings, and using the thumb on the sixth string, but I've never cared much for that. It will give you the following pattern: DO MI do mi sol do.
If the chord has the dominant as its highest note, it's going to be an A chord. I can't think of any others. The A chord pattern is very distinctive because it has the dominant at the top and the bottom -- SOL DO sol do mi sol. It seems to be Roy Orbison's favorite key.
I'd suggest that you play various 1-4-5 combinations in those keys (e.g., for the key of A, A-D-A-E-A-D-E-A) and listen to how the different chords sound together. Nothing fancy, just strum-strum. Pretty soon something will click and and A chord will sound like an A chord and nothing else. Also, when one chord clicks and it's clearly in, for example, the subdominant position, you'll know what the key for the rest of the song and thus the core chords will be. For instance, if the A chord does it for you and you hear it's the dominant, you know you're in D. If it's the subdominant, you know you're in E.
Hope this helps.
EDITED TO ADD: Remember, Johnny Depp got his start by shoplifting a Mel Bay chord book from a department store.
