Dont look Bak-in-Anger?

Maybe I can help you out a bit. Let's use the key of C major for example, here are all the chords:

Cmajor (C E G)
Dminor (D F A)
Eminor (E G B)
Fmajor (F A C)
Gmajor (G B D)
Aminor (A C E)
Bdiminished (B D F)

Now notice how there is a E G B in E minor? Well, to make that chord major it would be (E G# B).

Now, the relative minor of C major is A minor... but watch what the chords are when we use the A harmonic minor, which is the same as the A minor scale except with a sharpened 7th:

Aminor (A C E)
Bdiminished (B D F)
Caugmented (C E G#)
Dminor (D F A)
Emajor (E G# B)
Fmajor (F A C)
G#diminished (G# B D)

E minor could naturally becomes a E major chord. Now, i've never heard the song so I can't tell you if this theory is 100% correct. It is quite possible that Oasis added the chord in because maybe the song changes keys for a little bit or it could be that they added in the chord so the song could be somewhat dissonant.

Thanks Steve,

relating to the relative minor does make sense to me and as I guess the change to E is a bit dissonant at that point and also the melody is Aminor too.

thanks again.
gaz

I know the song pretty well, its great. I've always played that E as an Em; in that case it works out perfectly with the chord theory as you know it. Noel Galleghar (thats misspelled) tends to stick to basic chord theory progressions. What he does most often to change things to his liking is to add a "drone" note (usually an open string of some kind, like "Masterplan") throughout a song, although DLBIA doesn't really do this.

I think I ran across an article on GN about just that, his droning tendencies....look in the archives.

Matt

Hiya,

You need to think of it the other way round - it's in Am (not C Major) and E is the dominant in the key of Am.

Secondly, if you look at the "Gonna start a revolution from my bed" lines, you'll notice that the chord sequence goes from F to Fm. Switching between the Major and minor like this is a very popular and effective way of adding chromatic interest to a tune.

Finishing the verse off - the use of G#dim after the G in "take that look from off your face" leads us to expect a key change, but it doesn't happen.

Overall, it's quite a cleverly constructed song.

Best,

A :-)

Its a great song, and I really enjoy playing it, but then I am a fan of Noels songs :-)

Some songs that I try to learn, I end up not enjoying playing it by the time I have learnt to play it, but this one I can play all day!! and not get fed up with it, so it must be a cracker!

Wish I could write a progression like that :(
one day maybe buy the time I get to 72yrs old :)

Steve-0, dont get too complicated, we do the beatles some times in our theory lessons as a total what not to do when composing with sense about what you are doing..

they couldnt play their instruments till theyre second album, they dont have a clue about theory.. so the last thing you need to do is analyse what goes through Oasis's mind when they right songs, its not theoretical (it doesnt have to be), but analysis will get you no-where closer to understanding why they do what they do when composing.

I'm not entirely sure that's true.

Yes, the Beatles and Oasis didn't "know" theory.

They had good ears for music though.

What they came up with slotted nicely (perfectly) into the known theoretical framework.

Music theory describes what musicians do, not what they "should" do.