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Which key would you say?


Swaffle88
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Hey all,

 I was writing a bass line to a song a guitarist friend put together, he doesn’t really know any music theory so can’t tell me what key the song is in (chances are it’s just some chords he liked).

anyway the chords for the verse are

C#m / G#m7 / F#

I was thinking G#minor - iv / i / VII

or C#dorian - i / v / IV

It could even be B major without playing the tonic  - ii / vi / V

F#major - v / ii / I

 

Any ideas? How would you guys approach this?

I should add that 

1st bar - C#m 2 beats, G#m 2 beats.

2nd bar - F# 4 beats.

Edited by Swaffle88
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It depends largely on what scales and so melody you’re going to play over it. Normally 3-note chords make it harder to guess whether they’re all in the same key.

However I would hazard a guess that it’s closest to B major.

C# minor - C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#, B (Dorian mode)

G# minor - G#, A#, B, C#, D#, E, F# (Aeolian mode)

F# (7?) - F#, G#, A#, B, C#, D#, E (Mixolydian mode)

It’s not in F# major (V chord would then be C#7)

It’s unlikely to be G# (melodic or harmonic) minor as the VII chord is normally a major seventh interval (which would be F double-sharp something)

C# minor would normally have a dominant chord on the V (so G#7) but is possible - but less likely than B major as the scale tones would likely be different to the above.

It also depends on what feels like the I chord - if one of the chords definitely is a I chord, then it’s more likely the chords aren’t directly from the same key.

 

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4 hours ago, FDC484950 said:

It also depends on what feels like the I chord - if one of the chords definitely is a I chord, then it’s more likely the chords aren’t directly from the same key.

 

For me it kinda sounds like it resolves to the F#..  the way it’s played, maybe because the F# is played longer than the other chords u know? 
🤠 either way I put a bass line to it I think sounds good so next time we get a chance to jam I’ll try it out and see if it suits. 
 

thanks FDC484950 & Twotimesbass for your replies ✌️

 

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In the days before covid-19 I had to come up with basslines for several original songs guided largely by being told a 'feel' and having the changes shouted out the first time round as they were bashed out on an acoustic.

As the writer was a typical singer/songwriter/busker the more vigorous songs had the embryo of a bassline in them already, especially where he was putting in bass runs to lead between chords. Others had a distinctive rhythm that suggested a riff.

For the trickier ones a strategy is to play arpeggios over the chords, and as you get comfortable with the pattern start improvising over the changes and a walking line will emerge.

The other thing no-one seems to have mentioned is - is there an existing melody? Does it have sung words? If so, they will define the key better than any amount of theorising!

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7 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

The other thing no-one seems to have mentioned is - is there an existing melody? Does it have sung words? If so, they will define the key better than any amount of theorising!

Now that’s a great shout! I tried it on my keyboard just playing the chords with the left hand and doing the vocal melody with my right, now that you’ve said that I’m going to look at the “notes” of the vocals and see what that says..

cheers

 

ok I used a piano app to write down what the notes for the vocals sound like to me and these are the notes used (not in order)

B - C# - E - F# - G#

Edited by Swaffle88
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  • 2 months later...
On 22/06/2020 at 18:47, Swaffle88 said:

Hey all,

 I was writing a bass line to a song a guitarist friend put together, he doesn’t really know any music theory so can’t tell me what key the song is in (chances are it’s just some chords he liked).

anyway the chords for the verse are

C#m / G#m7 / F#

I was thinking G#minor - iv / i / VII

or C#dorian - i / v / IV

It could even be B major without playing the tonic  - ii / vi / V

F#major - v / ii / I

 

Any ideas? How would you guys approach this?

I should add that 

1st bar - C#m 2 beats, G#m 2 beats.

2nd bar - F# 4 beats.

Smells like F# to me. 

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