5 replies to this topic

[carol m]

Stand by for incoming dumb question - does anyone watch QI, if so, be ready for the hooters and claxons to blast away......

In bar 16 there's an A7 which you have as V in brackets, but D (or D7) would be the V chord for the key of G wouldn't it? And A7 would be the V7 of D wouldn't it? I just know there's going to be a simple explanation, but someone had to ask.

[Kirk Lorange]

carol m, on 01 February 2011 - 06:33 AM, said:

Stand by for incoming dumb question - does anyone watch QI, if so, be ready for the hooters and claxons to blast away......

In bar 16 there's an A7 which you have as V in brackets, but D (or D7) would be the V chord for the key of G wouldn't it? And A7 would be the V7 of D wouldn't it? I just know there's going to be a simple explanation, but someone had to ask.

Not a dumb question at all, Carol, and I added some text to the commentary. You're right, A7 is the V chord of D, and that's what I was trying to say: that A7/C# acts as a V chord to the next chord in the progression, the D. Remember that the D is also an 'outside chord' in C, so the A7 is a sort of V chord to the momentary key change that occurs when I go to D.

Now I've really confused you, haven't I?

[carol m]

Bad luck, I'm not confused at all but....can you explain what you mean by 'D is an outside chord of C'? It would normally be Dm as the ii chord in the key of C so how does Dmaj make it 'outside'?

[Kirk Lorange]

Yes, D major belongs to the key of D (I chord), key of A (IV chord) and the key of G (V chord) ... but not C.

[sheraton]

........i really should learn some theory....lol

[carol m]

Hey Sheraton - the thing which really opened my eyes is quite basic but not often talked about (in my experience) is how chords have a recognised pattern and set of 'rules' like scales do (but different):

Major:
I........ii......iii......IV.....V......vi..........vii
G.....Am...Bm....C.....D.....Em......Fdim
D.....Em...Fm....G.....A.....Bm......Cdim
C....Dm....Em....F.....G.....Am......Bdim

Minor:
i.........iidim.... III...... iv........v.......VI.....VII
Am....Bdim.....C.......Dm....Em.....F.......G

Roman capitals, blue = major, and lower case = minor.

So any chord you use in a song/progression that doesn't fit this pattern (for the key that the piece is in), is an 'outside' chord.
Gee, I hope I've got this right!

So in Rainy Day Waltz, what Kirk calls a 'momentary key change to C' makes D an outside chord of the key of C (should be a Dm to follow the major/minor pattern for the key of C).

It's still a slight mystery to me why/how there was a 'momentary key change to C' at that point though.

Here's a link to the lesson so you can see the tab

Rainy Day Waltz Lesson