More on chords and how they determine the character of a piece. This has cropped up after one of our Challenges, which for March 2020 was for us all to play the same piece of music ..
Somewhere Over The Rainbow.
First listen to what
I have played (with the chords from the music .. for a change!). Listen carefully to the chords I am playing for the verse.
Click the below to listen, then afterwards click the back-arrow at the top to get back to this page.Hugh-AR playing Over The RainbowAnd now listen to Brian007 playing this piece. Listen carefully to the chords
he has played for the verse.
Click the below to listen, then afterwards click the back-arrow at the top to get back to this page.Brian007 playing Over The RainbowIf you haven't spotted the difference, read on. Or even if you have, still read on!
The one thing I find really interesting about this piece is the harmony (chords) Brian and I have used to play it. One of my favourite comments is:
It's all in the chords .. or is it?
When I played this piece I used the sheet music in the key of G, which is below Note the chords written over the top.
1. Looking at the above, I did like the
G7 played just for one beat at the end of the second bar as that was 'leading into
C', so
G7 is the right chord to do that.
2. Then for the last two beats of the third bar I played
Gdim (G diminished). What a great chord that is! The original music had said
C#dim. But
Gdim is the same harmony .. and I found that easier to play (with the G as the bottom note). ie. played the
C as G-C-E;
Gdim as G-A#-C#-E; and
G as G-B-D .. so had my bottom finger on
G all the time.
3. Then in the fourth bar I played a
G .. with a little run-down from
G to
F# to
F (making a G7) and then to
E with the
C chord. A nice little run down of notes giving a 'standard' harmony again of G7 moving into C. Then it's
Cm.
4. When Brian played it, when he came to that fourth bar he played
Bm (for two beats), then
E7 (for two beats) .. no 'run down of notes' possible with this harmony .. then
C .. and then the
Cm etc.
This is what I love about music. The harmonies. And this is the sort of thing I pick up as I listen to music. I'm not saying that either one is 'right' .. it's just that they are two different arrangements of the harmony.
So that you can hear what I am on about, listen to the below, which I first play the way I did it (with the run down of notes), and then with the
Bm and
E7. And then I play both for a second time (in case you have missed what I am on about first time round!).
Click the below to listen, then click the back arrow afterwards to get back to this page. Demo of two different chord structures for Over The RainbowBelow is an extract from Brian's piece highlighting the
Bm and
E7 harmony he has played. Again, I have repeated what he has played in case you don't pick it up first time round.
Click the below to listen, then click the back arrow afterwards to get back to this page. Brian007's Over The Rainbow with the Bm and E7 harmonyMusic is like painting. There is no 'right' or 'wrong'. The different harmonies create different 'moods' for the music.