#152610  by Helponway
 
Can anyone please help me understand the chord progression for half step? I understand it's in Am & mixes all three minor scales. However I can't figure out the progression.. I.e. I IV V for example. It being in a minor key has me lost as to how to analyze it. Thank you all in advance! Love & light
 #152613  by Helponway
 
Strumminsix, what I'm trying to do is analyize the progression & see the movement of the chords. I know it's in a minor key (am).

So the intro is am caug am7 d9 d7 g7. So would that be i - III+ - IV7 - IV7 - VII7 ?

I don't know how to label them unless it's coming from a diatonic major scale & with it being in am & mixing all three minor scales I'm lost. I hope I clarified that, I'm having a bit of trouble articulating what I'm asking
 #152616  by tcsned
 
IMHO I would label them in the Key of C major since the root is C and the first chord of the verse is C (though there are a lot of enharmonic tones and whatnot).

Intro:
vi / vi(M7) / II(9) / II(7) / V(7) / / /

Verse
I / / / III(7) / / / IV / / / vi / / /
IV / / / I / V / II(7) / / / V / / /

. . . and so on
 #152622  by tcsned
 
strumminsix wrote:I got nothing I can offer. This is a song that I wouldn't use notation on. Too many chromatic small movements between chords.
I agree, there's a lot going on in this tune and hard to really capture in a chart. Though I would start from basing the "I" chord in C and not A or Am. The basic chord structure of the tune isn't that out in left field but there are subtleties, and I really have no clue what Bob's part does, you've probably got a much better handle on that strumminsix :D
 #152624  by Helponway
 
Thanks everyone! Just labeling it as if it were C Major made things really simple. I agree it is a lot to chart & best left learned aurally. The reason I'm writing it out as such is so I can study how weir & Garcia approach comman chord progressions both melodically & harmonically. The intro into the verse when labeled as C major is a 6-2-5-1. A very comman jazz move, looking at things this way allows me to quickly internalize some language to use.
 #152637  by strumminsix
 
tcsned wrote:
strumminsix wrote:I got nothing I can offer. This is a song that I wouldn't use notation on. Too many chromatic small movements between chords.
I agree, there's a lot going on in this tune and hard to really capture in a chart. Though I would start from basing the "I" chord in C and not A or Am. The basic chord structure of the tune isn't that out in left field but there are subtleties, and I really have no clue what Bob's part does, you've probably got a much better handle on that strumminsix :D
Thanks :) The Bob part I learned from (don't recall the show or era, long time back) had Bobby playing a lot of counter rhythm or counter point to Phil. Then knowing where to let chime and ring.
 #152641  by lyghtningod
 
Here's the progression I play:
Am AmM7 Am7 D/F# F Dm B7 E

The first four chords are remarkably similar to the opening part of Stairway to Heaven. Nearly the same progression is used in Jerry's version of Russian Lullaby, but in a different key. And Chim Chim Cheree, as Led Zep mentioned.

I love playing over this progression.
 #152644  by Lephty
 
One of my very favorite Dead songs to play too. A few quick thoughts...

1. For the purpose of analysis, it could be easiest to say that the intro, chorus, and solos are in Am, the verse is in C major, and the coda is in A major. There's probably no "right" answer here, just whatever is easiest for you to get your head around.

2. IMO, to say the Am portion mixes all 3 minor scales is too complicated of a way of looking at it...really just Am triad with the bass note descending chromatically (in half steps...get it? ). A pretty common move in jazz etc. (Stairway, The Landlady by Phish, ). I suppose, in a sense, you could say you're using A natural minor > A melodic minor > A dorian, but to me it's easier to just think A > G# > G > F# within the context of A minor.

3. A lot of the chords in the progression are acting as "secondary dominants." In short, you can precede any chord in the progression by that chord's own V chord. That's why the B7 precedes the E (even though it doesn't appear to "belong" in C/Am). And the D7 (or D9) precedes the G, and the E7 precedes the Am. That D7 actually gets referred to as "V of V" (the V being the G chord in the key of C). And the B7 would be the V of V in Am (it is the V of E7 which is the V of Am).

Secondary dominants happen left and right in GD music (Deal, Big River, etc). They show up a lot in old-timey honky-tonkin' kind of music. When these secondary dominants are present, you can get away with just kind of playing in C/Am over the whole thing, but you'll find yourself much closer to JG's sound if you approach each of the chords individually. In particular shoot for the thirds of those chords--that is the note that really sets up the following chord.
 #173998  by Walrus
 
This song is a patchwork of standard techniques.

Much of the verse is in C but majors are used instead of minors for II (D)and III (E). This is a common technique for "brightening" the song a bit. If we denote them II+ and III+, then I -> III+ -> IV is common in old-time blues, gospel, dance-hall, etc. And the resolution II+-> V -> I is common on dance-hall and pop (verse of When I'm 64 ends this way).

Both verse and chorus drift into Am -> E7, which is also common.

The F-> C -> G bits are rolling through a piece of the circle of 5ths. This appears in many of Jerry's songs.

The intro and beginning of the solo sections is all in Am but with a chromatically decending bassline. This can be found in songs like The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Something (the bit with "I don't want to leave her now"), and Ballad of a Thin Man, all of which Jerry knew.

Solos can be done using C major or Am as a starting point but with appropriate accidentals/modifications as needed.