Hi all,
My guitarlesson today was cancelled, and I might have to wait for three weeks before I get my next one, so I thought I'd ask something that I've been breaking my head over the past couple of days here.
During a jam session with a guitarist I had some time ago, the guitarist showed me this riff:
G---------12-----11---------------------10----------------
D--------------------13-12--------------------------11----
A-12-12--------------------13----10 10-------9-9--------
E------------------------------------------------------------
I can usually tell what key a riff is in, but this time, I had no clue... I took it back home and wrote out the notes:
A - G - F# - Eb - D - Bb - G - F - F# - C#
This only tells me it must modulate since no key I know of has a G, a F# and an F (well, none except for D blues, but this sure isn't D blues :lol: ). I tried splitting it in three logical pieces by putting double "-" between what I think are the different keys.
A - G - F# - Eb - D - Bb -- G - F -- F# - C#
The first bit looks like it's in some A diminished scale (the locrian of the harmonic minor (locrian #6) has these notes). The second and the third bit could be a tritone substitution of a V - I progression.
Am I on the right track? If so how can you get from the A diminished scale to the T(V) - I ? It doesn't look very logical to me, or doesn't it have to be in order to work? I hope you guys can help me out!
Thanks in advance,
Naviens
PS: if anyone's wondering, yeah, I'm a bassist :lol:
It is not G Harm. Min. (G A Bb C D Eb F#)......
You got me...
What chord progression is the guitarist playing while you're cranking away on your riff?
Hi guys,
Well, he plays that riff and I uhm... look, occasionally double his riff or some of the notes in it and try to figure out what the hell the key could be xD Btw, it does go into a Gm chord progression after a while ( Gm - Cm - Dm - F ) but I don't think that really matters...
Thanks again,
Naviens
A - Bb - C# - D - Eb - F - F# - G
or
A - A# - C# - D - D# - F - F# -G
It's like 75% chromatic. There are way too many possibilities...
Hi Neztok,
Maybe, maybe not. I'd say it's chromatic if the notes would go like G - Gb - F, but in this riff it's like G - Gb - Eb and then much later in the riff there's an F. That isn't really chromatic is it?
A thought that occurred to me yesterday was that it could be something like this:
A7b9#9 - Ab7 - G7 - F#
A logical T(V) - V - T(V) - I progression. The riff plays a quite dissonant diminished scale over the first chord, does nothing with the second chord and then plays some chord-tones over the third and the last chord. What do you guys think? Did I solve my own mystery or did I make even more now? xD Please post your thoughts.
Thanks,
Naviens
Edit: maybe I should mention I got this idea when reading you could use diminished scales over 7b9#9 chords.
It makes the most sense as b7-1-7-b6-5-b3-1-b7-7-b5 in G harmonic minor.
--
Helgi Briem
hbriem AT gmail DOT com
