15 replies to this topic

[edhotmail]

I was on youtube watching random videos when I discovered a piano arrangement for Stevie B's: Because I Love You It is so beautiful!

Then I got the crazy idea to try to figure it out on guitar. I think the first chord this person plays is an F, then it goes to a G.

I could figure out the small lead or melody parts that are played with the underlying chords. It is quite difficult for me, I've only been into music for 3 years~

Could anyone give me a hand? I'm sure there are hundreds of better musicians on this forum that could easily figure out the chords just by ear! They are sooo talented. Especially Kirk, he's godly!

Thanks.

[Fretsource]

Ed - It's based on something like
Gb |F aug F | Bbm Ab |Db sus4 Db|
Gb |F aug F | Bbm Ab |Ab
Gb |F aug F | Bbm Ab |Db sus4 Db|
Gb |F aug F | Bb maj

Why do pianists love these mad keys?

[starsailor]

I've done a bit of searching and I found this, it's transcribed by Hal Leonard so it should have a tab in it if you don't read sheet music, worth asking the seller to make sure, I think if you offer this guy say $2 he'll accept, hope it helps.

Because I love You - Stevie B Sheet Vocal Piano Guitar - eBay (item 350009832842 end time Jan-25-08 12:13:37 PST)

[starsailor]

Fretsource said:

Ed - It's based on something like
Gb |F aug F | Bbm Ab |Db sus4 Db|
Gb |F aug F | Bbm Ab |Ab
Gb |F aug F | Bbm Ab |Db sus4 Db|
Gb |F aug F | Bb maj

Why do pianists love these mad keys?

I think they just do it to annoy guitarists

[allthumbs]

That's pretty.

[Fong]

Well the first Chord looked like the notes :

F# A# C# (with octaves) which is F#

Sounds like that on a Keyboard too.

Then he plays a run of F# C# A# F#

F A C#

is the next chord. Followed by an A note singular. into a variation on D# which I couldn't be bothered to work out.

Not sure about key but something involving Gb would probably work.

First to do that is Db major.

Which is:

Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C Db

Another way of writing that is:
C# D# F F# G# A# C C#

which is in keeping with the notes being played, at least at the start of the piece.

So I would say the piece was in Db Major.

[Fretsource]

If we call the notes by their flat names, the key is Bb minor. If we call them by their sharp names, the key is A# minor.
Bb minor has 5 flats while A# minor has 7 sharps.

I would go for the simpler flat option. So the chord I wrote as F aug isn't right. F aug has F A C#. It should be F A Db - which is a type of 'add flat sixth' chord.

[Fong]

Fretsource said:

If we call the notes by their flat names, the key is Bb minor. If we call them by their sharp names, the key is A# minor.
Bb minor has 5 flats while A# minor has 7 sharps.

I would go for the simpler flat option. So the chord I wrote as F aug isn't right. F aug has F A C#. It should be F A Db - which is a type of 'add flat sixth' chord.

Bb Minor is the relative minor to Db major.

So how do you decide which it is, if they both have the same notes?

[Fretsource]

Fong said:

Bb Minor is the relative minor to Db major.

So how do you decide which it is, if they both have the same notes?

By listening for which note is the tonal centre, which in this case is the note Bb, rather than Db.
Another clue is the presence of the note A which isn't part of the Db major scale but is in the Bb harmonic minor scale:
Bb C Db Eb F Gb A Bb

[Fong]

Fretsource said:

By listening for which note is the tonal centre, which in this case is the note Bb, rather than Db.
Another clue is the presence of the note A which isn't part of the Db major scale but is in the Bb harmonic minor scale:
Bb C Db Eb F Gb A Bb

Listening for the tonal center is not something I think I can do realistically.

However, taking note of the A is something I can learn to do.

[Fretsource]

Fong said:

Listening for the tonal center is not something I think I can do realistically.

Sure, you can hear the tonal centre, Fong. Not in all music, as some music is tonally very vague, but in most tonal music the tonal centre (or key note/chord) stands out as being the one that sound most stable and final. That's why most songs end with it. They sound unfinished if you end on anything else.
Almost everyone, (even young children with no musical training), can hear the tonal centre, unconsciously. Tonal music wouldn't make much sense if we couldn't.

Hearing it consciously just means recognising its quality and identifying it.
If you were to switch on the radio in the middle of a twelve bar blues, you would quickly recognise that it's a 12 bar blues and would know when the chord is changing to I, IV V, etc. That's only possible because you can feel when the music is moving to or from the tonal centre, i.e. the I chord. If you don't have an instrument handy (or perfect pitch) you can't know what the actual key is but you can tell when it's on the I chord by recognising it's 'home again' quality.

As you know many 12 bar blues sequences end the sequence on the V7 turnaround chord. When that happens we (musicians and non-musicians) can feel a strong urge to get back to the I chord to hear the sequence again. But if it went somewhere else instead of back to the I chord, we would either be disappointed or pleasantly surprised, either way we would definitely know something's up.

So you can definitely hear the tonal centre, and by listening out for it you can improve your ability to recognise it and then identify it on the guitar.

[edhotmail]

Is this possible to play on the guitar? I mean all parts?

[eddiez152]

Well,
I down loaded the tune, and gonna play with it on the keys and who knows. Let you know if I come up with something.

[Fretsource]

edhotmail said:

Is this possible to play on the guitar? I mean all parts?

Yes it's possible, but you'd find it a whole lot easier if you drop the key a semitone to A minor.
As for ALL the parts. No, that's unlikely. You can't expect a guitar to do what a piano can do (and vice versa).
So you compromise - if a chord has more notes than you can manage, you leave the unimportant ones out. If a bass note or phrase is too low to play on the guitar, you could try raising it by an octave. Make sure you get the melody right and the bass - then arrange the inner chord notes to fit. That's why it's called an 'arrangement'.

[Fong]

You seem to have more faith in my ears then I do Fretsource.

Though I am feeling rather pleased with myself at the moment. I mean I got that it was in Db Major which is a bit of an achievement for me. Alright I was slightly off and it was Bb Minor, but hell that was pretty damn close.

[edhotmail]

u guys are freakin' geniuses!