help - have piano sheet music, what chords is it?

That is not necessarily easy if you have never done it before - some hints: I would have started with key - count the number of #s or bs. (C) G D A E B are the first # keys and (C) F Bb Eb Ab Db are the first b keys. But then it could be in the minor relative key which are (a) e b f# c# / (a) d g c f. Play the first notes in the song from the bottom up -(just remember that in the bass part F is located on the second line from the top) try to figure out what chord it is - once you know the key and you have some idea of what kind of song it is (jazz?, blues?, rock?, ballade?) it is possible to make some pretty good predictions on what chords will follow. A ballad in C - you will probalby find C F G and more than likely some of their relatives in minor a d - etc. Onwards from this - try to look at the bootom-most bass note. This will often be the root of the chord but it might (will) alternate between Root and the Vth for instance.

But off course if it is an entirely different kind of music (a Bethooven piano concert or a Polish jazz piece) things may be more complicated...

Just some loose thoughts from me - I tend to ask google when I need chords... Maybe you should post the sheet music and ask someone to crack it for you?

Good luck
Lars

Maybe you should post the sheet music and ask someone to crack it for you?

Naughty naughty - there's no substitute for doing it yourself.

First up mattguitar - can you read music, and do you know where those notes are on the neck of your guitar?

Best,

A :-)

I don't know that this is possible without knowing how to read music. :? Or at least having a grasp of it.

Alan

I can read music inasmuch as if I sit down with a pen i can identify which notes are which but that's about it. Ditto my guitar, given time I can do it yeah.

thanks

Matt

okey dokey,

The first thng to do is to work out the main chords.

Start with the first bar, work out what notes you've got in the opening chord, and plonk your fingers on the neck in those positions. That should give you something like a familiar chord shape.

Let us know what that opening chord is, and the key signature (1 sharp, 2 flats etc) and we'll go for the next bit.

Best,

A :-)

its definitely got three flats in the key signature, i can tell you that.

ok i will have a crack at the other bit tonight and get back to you, thanks Alan

Matt

From 3 flats, you have the key of Eb - Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D, Eb.

aha so we are getting somewhere. I kind of guessed it was in Eb and some tabs i have seen seem to confirm this.

ok I am now mapping out the chord shapes. On the sheet music it has 3 seperate sets of lines for each bar. the top two sets have the treble clef sign, the bottom one has a strange looking thing like a number nine followed by a :

Do I buiuld the chords using the notes across all three lines - and is the bottom on the bass?

I am trying to learn here, bear with me!

Matt

The top line of music is for the vocal, so that's melody without chords. The next two are for the piano. The one with the bass clef is the left hand notes at the piano, which are the bass notes - but they might not be the roots of the chords.

For the chords, you're looking for vertical stacks of notes in the middle staff... combine those with any notes played at the same time in the bass staff, and you've got the chord tones the piano is playing.

Also look for strings of notes in either piano clef that are almost all on lines, or all on spaces - those are likely to be chords played as arpeggios.

aha so we are getting somewhere. I kind of guessed it was in Eb and some tabs i have seen seem to confirm this.

Could be C minor as well...
ok I am now mapping out the chord shapes. On the sheet music it has 3 seperate sets of lines for each bar. the top two sets have the treble clef sign, the bottom one has a strange looking thing like a number nine followed by a :

The strange looking thing on the bottom set is the bass clef - as I mentioned above: a note on the line between the two dots is a F - just count from there, the bottommost line is G etc.
I am trying to learn here, bear with me!

Good attitude!

Lars

thanks so far guys. Next problem, half way through, the song has a bridge section - and the key changes (suddenly there's 6 flats on the clef). Let's say the main song is in Eb and i decide to play it capoed at 3 in the key of C. How do i deal with the key change?

interesting all this, isn't it!

Matt

thanks so far guys. Next problem, half way through, the song has a bridge section - and the key changes (suddenly there's 6 flats on the clef). Let's say the main song is in Eb and i decide to play it capoed at 3 in the key of C. How do i deal with the key change?

6 flats is ...ehm... Gb major (or, Eb minor!) - with a capo on 3rd, that makes ...erhm ... Eb (c minor) -good luck :) (capo 1st and play D --> F instead maybe?)

Lars

good suggestion - i will have a bash transposing and see how I get on.

So far i have these chords

Cm Eb/Bb Ab Eb/G Fm7 Bb Bbsus2 Bb Eb Ab Bb Ab6 Eb Ab Bb

in various orders, these are all easily transposable either by capo on 1st fret and play in D or capo on 3rd and play in C. The bridge part seems to be

Gb Cb Cbsus2 Cb Gb Cb Cbsus2 Cb Eb/Bb Bb Bbsus2 Bb

then it goes back into Eb.

I will see if transposing into D will deal with the bridge section.

Thanks to everyone

Matt

I was doing SOOOO well but I have hit a brick wall now.

The verses and choruses transcribed great with capo on fret 1. No problem.

At the point the key changes, the chords are these -

Gb Cb Cbsus2 Cb Gb Cb Cbsus2 Cb Eb/Bb Bb Bbsus2 Bb

it then returns to the key of Eb. Trouble is , with a capo on the first fret these chords presumably become

Gb becomes F
Cb becomes?
Cbsus2 becomes?
Eb/Bb becomes D/A
Bb becomes A
Bbsus2 becomes Asus2

How do I deal with the Cb's???

help me guys...i am nearly there with this song...!!

Matt