What key is this song in?

Gsus7 | Absus7 ||

Gsus7 = G, C, D, F

Absus7 = Ab, Db, Eb, Gb - Plus occasionally he'll put the "6th" in there instead of the "7th" (F instead of the Gb)

Bass line is going something like: G, D, F, ..., G, D, F (etc.), then Ab, Eb, Ab, ... Ab, Eb, Ab

Awesome stuff. He hardly uses the 3rd throughout the whole song, so it's not really a traditional "major" or "minor" song, nor a "bluesy" kind of song that uses both. He just omits the 3rd almost completely!

"Purple Music does the same to my brain..."

[Edited 8/7/10 21:39pm]

toejam said:

Gsus7 | Absus7 ||

Gsus7 = G, C, D, F

Absus7 = Ab, Db, Eb, Gb - Plus occasionally he'll put the "6th" in there instead of the "7th" (F instead of the Gb)

Bass line is going something like: G, D, F, ..., G, D, F (etc.), then Ab, Eb, Ab, ... Ab, Eb, Ab

Awesome stuff. He hardly uses the 3rd throughout the whole song, so it's not really a traditional "major" or "minor" song, nor a "bluesy" kind of song that uses both. He just omits the 3rd almost completely!

"Purple Music does the same to my brain..."

[Edited 8/7/10 21:39pm]

ah thanks a lot, ill have fun playing around with this!

what is this track from?

lol

it's a secret-shhhhhhhhh

seriously-we could tell you-but we'd have to kill you

its not released;-)

Yeah, harmonically, this is one of Prince's most peculiar and interesting songs. Individually, the vocal and instrumental parts imply at least a couple of different keys, resulting in a kind of

poly-tonality, which is very rare in popular music.

It's been a while since I listened to it, but let me get back to you, and I'll see if I can explain exactly what's happening!

[Edited 8/8/10 6:21am]

toejam said:

Gsus7 | Absus7 ||

Gsus7 = G, C, D, F

Absus7 = Ab, Db, Eb, Gb - Plus occasionally he'll put the "6th" in there instead of the "7th" (F instead of the Gb)

Bass line is going something like: G, D, F, ..., G, D, F (etc.), then Ab, Eb, Ab, ... Ab, Eb, Ab

Awesome stuff. He hardly uses the 3rd throughout the whole song, so it's not really a traditional "major" or "minor" song, nor a "bluesy" kind of song that uses both. He just omits the 3rd almost completely!

"Purple Music does the same to my brain..."

[Edited 8/7/10 21:39pm]

I must be listening to a speeded up version. I hear the bass as A E G, A E G then Bflat F Bflat...

Basically, the song is in the key of G.

It alternates between a G7 and an Ab7 chord - most apparent in the bassline.

The vocal line is centered around the note F, goes up to G and A ("purple music does the same to my brain..."), and then lands on a Gb on the way down ("I'm hi-igh").

When the melody is sung on top of the G7 bassline, the notes F and A becomes the (minor) 7th and 9th of the (implied) chord, which gives it a slightly bluesy character. The Gb (or F#) makes a major 7th, which really shouldn't fit in here, but since it only occurs just before the chord change, it's perceived more as a pick-up to the Ab chord (Gb = 7th of Ab7).

Basically, all that happens on the Ab7 chord is the phrase "I'm hi-igh". The 7th and the 6th of the chord. Nothing strange about that, really.

Now, here is what makes it peculiar, in my opinion:

1. Once you've established the key of G, combined with an A very prominently in the melody, going to an Ab chord is going to feel a little strange. That's because there is no key/mode/scale (except the chromatic scale of course) that has all those three notes in it. So one of them is bound to feel a little awkward. (Our brains actually register this, even if we don't know it theoretically!)

2. By starting on the Ab chord, Prince fools us into thinking that's the key of the song. That's also how our brains function: the first thing we hear is always what we're going to relate the rest to. When Prince sings the entire 1st verse over an Ab chord, not only do the G's and A's in the melody sound strange, but then once he switches to the G chord, we have to re-adjust our brains to the new, right key.

3. The guitar occasionally joins the melody, but mostly just strums a single-string F. Being perhaps the most constant element in an otherwise ambiguous environment, this repeated note might (falsely) suggest to our ears that it's actually the root of the chord.

4. The occasional synth chords (G7sus4, and Ab with the 4th added) do relate to the bassline. But they each have a suspended quality, which makes their function unclear. Also, they both have C as their top note, which might create an effect similar to what the guitar does (our ears perceiving the C as point of harmonic reference - again, falsely).

5. Guitar and synth fills thrown in randomly, in all kinds of different keys, not relating to the song.

6. The absence of sustained chords just generally makes it more ambiguous. If you have a piano or guitar, try playing along with the song, just holding G9 and Ab13 chords - you'll understand everything much better!

7. A lot of the parts (including the vocals) are somewhat out of tune. Purposely or not, I don't know...

sixty2strat said:

what is this track from?

Unreleased 1999 (the album)-era track.

RealMusician said:

Basically, the song is in the key of G.

It alternates between a G7 and an Ab7 chord - most apparent in the bassline.

The vocal line is centered around the note F, goes up to G and A ("purple music does the same to my brain..."), and then lands on a Gb on the way down ("I'm hi-igh").

When the melody is sung on top of the G7 bassline, the notes F and A becomes the (minor) 7th and 9th of the (implied) chord, which gives it a slightly bluesy character. The Gb (or F#) makes a major 7th, which really shouldn't fit in here, but since it only occurs just before the chord change, it's perceived more as a pick-up to the Ab chord (Gb = 7th of Ab7).

Basically, all that happens on the Ab7 chord is the phrase "I'm hi-igh". The 7th and the 6th of the chord. Nothing strange about that, really.

Now, here is what makes it peculiar, in my opinion:

1. Once you've established the key of G, combined with an A very prominently in the melody, going to an Ab chord is going to feel a little strange. That's because there is no key/mode/scale (except the chromatic scale of course) that has all those three notes in it. So one of them is bound to feel a little awkward. (Our brains actually register this, even if we don't know it theoretically!)

2. By starting on the Ab chord, Prince fools us into thinking that's the key of the song. That's also how our brains function: the first thing we hear is always what we're going to relate the rest to. When Prince sings the entire 1st verse over an Ab chord, not only do the G's and A's in the melody sound strange, but then once he switches to the G chord, we have to re-adjust our brains to the new, right key.

3. The guitar occasionally joins the melody, but mostly just strums a single-string F. Being perhaps the most constant element in an otherwise ambiguous environment, this repeated note might (falsely) suggest to our ears that it's actually the root of the chord.

4. The occasional synth chords (G7sus4, and Ab with the 4th added) do relate to the bassline. But they each have a suspended quality, which makes their function unclear. Also, they both have C as their top note, which might create an effect similar to what the guitar does (our ears perceiving the C as point of harmonic reference - again, falsely).

5. Guitar and synth fills thrown in randomly, in all kinds of different keys, not relating to the song.

6. The absence of sustained chords just generally makes it more ambiguous. If you have a piano or guitar, try playing along with the song, just holding G9 and Ab13 chords - you'll understand everything much better!

7. A lot of the parts (including the vocals) are somewhat out of tune. Purposely or not, I don't know...