Progression I - III - I - biii(#5) - vi - IV - VII

leoB · #1 April 18th, 2008

Progression I - III(instead of iii) - I - biii(#5) - vi - IV - VII(instead of viiº)

Silverchairs' Across the Night

A - C# - A/E - F(#5) - F#m - F#m/E - D - G#

Does anybody have any idea of what this is? It's marvellously beautiful.
I've been playing for quite a time but never have paid any attention to theory. I've played mostly by ear and through tabs.

allthumbs · #2 April 18th, 2008

The Faug is the flattened majorized bVI. The second F#min is the relative minor vi.The D is the IV.
In the Key of A the progression is.
I-III-I-bVI-vi-IV-VII.
That is my best guess anyway.
I have heard elements of this progression many times before. A pretty one. It is a fun progression just to jam with. The passing aug chord add to the flavour nicely.

leoB · #3 April 18th, 2008

Have you really? Any scale or something you can remember? I'm trying to understand the theory behind music and harmony, but what I've seen so far seems very limiting.

And there's lots of rubbish on the net for tabs of that song(Silverchairs' across the night). Lots of missing chords. I can pick them up by ear, just couldn't name them properly.

allthumbs · #4 April 18th, 2008

Well the problem with looking for a scale to play over that is the majorized chords. They do not belong in the key so one scale over everything won't work. Plus the aug chord is going to throw you off too. Kirk would play that by following the chords however if the lead player was thinking scales, then you are going to have to learn those scales to imitate him and get that sound

Kirk Lorange · #5 April 19th, 2008

I just had a listen to the tune which I bought from iTunes ... they don't do it in A, at least not the version I have. The main bit is in C. Whereabouts in the tune does that bit come? I can't seem to find it ...

leoB · #6 April 19th, 2008

Hello, Kirk, I appreciate your attention. You're quite right, but I refer to the part in which the lyrics are:

So let us be married
And have a lot of babies
'cause I don't want to be lonely

Yeah let's just get married
Shall we make a lot of babies?
Oh you never sleep
'cause I don't want to be lonely
I just want to be alone

Something like that. And, if you would, please describe what is your take on the rest of the song.

allthumbs · #7 April 19th, 2008

Oops. Did my best with the info you gave, I assumed the chords were the correct ones. Never heard the tune myself.

leoB · #8 April 19th, 2008

Oh yeah, they are, it's just that there's clearly a key change; the song has two distinct parts and I presented you with the second and closing one.

Kirk Lorange · #9 April 19th, 2008

Aha, I never got that far. Yes, it is a very striking progression, isn't it.

I'd call that second chord C#7/G# myself; the Faug sounds more like a C#/F to me ...; it's that G# that really stands out. Great change.

So, to me it's more of a I > III7 > I > III7 > vi > vi7 > IV > VII > IV > III progression ... but the orchestra is covering all kinds of extra flavors in there too.

The tune as a whole is very unusual, modulating and changing time signature every chance it gets. I find it very Beatlesque, like from the Sgt Peppers era. I'm afraid I have no great revelations theory wise. It's just a great example of a tune that doesn't stick to convention, that keeps moving to the least expected change.