[daniel]

I know the beatles did this, and i've found a song that has a real beatles feel to it. Look what you've done by Jet. They're an australian band, I'm not sure if you know of them. anyway, I tried to write out the roman numeral progression and only got this far.. then i kinda got stuck. it seems like it steps out of key. maybe you could help? (i can send you the song if that's of any aid to you):

look what you've done - KEY OF C
verse
C / G / Am / G / F - seems right
I / V / vi / V / IV

prechorus
C / G / Am / G / D - where'd that D come from?
I / V / iv / V / ?

chorus - leads on from the D..
F / G / C / c/b / Am / G
IV / V / I / I / vi / V - not sure if this is right?


refrain..
F / G / G# / A# / F - the key of C has no sharps or flats right?


thanks in advance, dan

[allthumbs]

A ii can be subbed for a IV so that would be a Dm instead of an F. That may be whats going on there. The last part sounds like F,G,G#,A,A# to F is a chromatic run from F to A#. Think of them as passing chords just like passing notes. Hope that helps.

[Kirk Lorange]

Hi Daniel.

I don't know the song, but remember, there is no rule that states you MUST use related chords. The related chords are simply those that the major scale throws up naturally ... that's all. They sound great together and they usually form at least the basis of most Western tunes, but moving outside of them is what makes music interesting and different.

A D chord in the key of C is quite acceptable ... it can be considered a key change I suppose, for that one chord ... or think of it as a majorized ii.

The G# to A# (Bb) is weird, but without hearing it in context, I can't really comment. It must sound unusual too. Very often, song are written without the composer being aware of any of the theory behind their choice of chords ... they just string chords together in a way that pleases their ear. It's only afterwards that people like us start picking it apart and labelling everything.

Cheers,