What key is Sweet Home Alabama in?
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- Опубликовано: 30 дек 2024
- It's in D.
Thanks for watching!
Actually, it might be a bit more complicated than that. It, along with many other songs in Rock and Pop music, uses a chord loop vamp as its harmonic scheme, and because of that, it might show something that ethnomusicologist Peter Manuel calls "Dual Tonicity." So...it's kind of in both the key of D and G at the same time. Neat!
Ethan Hein’s Blog Post on Phillip Tagg
www.ethanhein.c...
Phillip Tagg’s Everyday Tonality
scholar.google...
Peter Manuel’s Paper on Dual Tonicity in Spanish/Latin American Muiscs
www.researchga...
Paul David's rock video
• Why ROCK music all SOU...
Twitter thread
/ 1200820755593912323
Sweet Home Alabama Live versions used
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet...
• Sweet Home Alabama ~ L...
Celia Cruz + Fania All Stars - Guantanamera
• Fania All Stars "Live ...
this new kind of anticlickbait is revolutionary
We need more
Aside from the fact that he's been doing this for a long time already!
I’ve always loved it! It instantly gained me so much respect for him as a content creator.
It's a different type of clickbait, "I want to know more!"
Shawn Murals
Exactly. It’s not saying, “Ooooh, I bet you wanna know! I bet it’s killing you! Go on, give it a click. You _knooow_ you want to!”
It says, “Here’s the short answer. If you’re curious to know more, you can always check out the whole thing”
Another consequence of it is that some people with take opposition to the short answer and click just to argue their point
Adam “It’s actually a bit more complicated than that” Neely
or is it...
i t s a c t u a l l y s u r p r i s i n g l y s i m p l e
Facts
Daily "Referencing Joe Rogan and finding all the musician Joe Rogan fans" Bassist
Miles Smith Damn, you’ve caught me in the act of whatever the hell you’re talking about.
I'm very sophisticated. The first chord is D, so the key is D.
yes.. until you start to solo in D :-0
Very good hahahajaja
mike spence exactly
mike spence And it also sounds like it’s in D
*laughs in Just The Two Of Us*
Me: What key is Sweet Home Alabama in?
Adam: In this Quantum Superimposition of the keys D and G in the extended tonal present.
Me: ...alright imma head out
Makes perfect sense to me, what's the issue?
@@bukimari How do you manage to get around with your massive brain?
Paul wins today's best RUclips comment award
This is called sophistry. Even though he knows he's wrong, he muddies the water and confuses you by vomiting a never-ending string of obscure lingo at you as a distraction from the simple fact that Sweet Home Alabama is written in the key of G.
The one and only time this meme format is acceptable.
"sorry for all the theory nonsense"
please, adam. theory nonsense is exactly why we're here
Thank you for all the theory nonsense!
I love the theory nonsense
Keep them coming!
theory nonsense is better than no nonsense
@@yoo571 Adam suffered si so we don't have to:-))
TLDR: Sweet Home Alabama is the Yanny Laurel debate but for musicians
That’s a really good analogy
More like Schrödinger's cat
The dress is gold and blue god dangit
I hate that this is accurate
I ruined 555 likes...
Adam Neely: belive it or not, there are more than just chords in songs
Every music-related lawsuit right now: that's where you're wrong, kiddo
Adam: No, you are wrong. I am right.
we all make mistakes in the heat of passion Jimbo
why is this so true?
Ed Sheeran has entered the chat.
Ed Sheeran should've lost that case. It's not just chords.. when your key/tempo/phrasing/AND chord progression are exactly the same as someone else's.. that's a problem
"Sorry for all the theory nonsense"
Adam Neeley out here apologizing for every video on his channel.
It was a conditional apology haha
He was apologizing for the theory nonsense if you just wanted to know how to solo over it. Obviously he isn't sorry for everything on his channel
Josh Ford r/woooooosh
It seemed kind of snobby to me to bring up mixolydian when borrowing bVII is so ubiquitous in pop/rock
on a related note it irks me when people analyze despacito as i VI III VII, because then technically it’s not the four chords
Ed King wrote the guitar solo using the G major pentatonic and it sounds great. Ronnie sang the verses more bluesy so the producer mentioned that he thought the guitar solo should've been played in D minor. You can hear a version of it played in D minor when Steve Gaines played it on the One More From the Road live album.
Huh, so I guess Schrodinger’s Key is a thing then...
The vocalists had us the whole time!!
i bet adam hates that he didn't come up with it
Yes. So is triple toe-nicity. My neighbors kid has 30 toes.
Thanks to the melody, it sounds like it's in D until you observe the chords--at which point it switches to G
Oof, finally found it. Now we can open that box and find out what's happend to that cat...
"Its actually a bit more complicated than that" cut to vsauce song
I heard it inside my head too
What key is Moon Men in?
"But.. is it?"
Coincidentally, that Vsauce song is ALSO in D.
Adam neely transcribing analyzing the vsauce music would be legendary and still probably really interesting
Adam Neely: “It’s actually a bit more complicated than that”
samuraiguitarist: "Never heard of this guy"
(playing Guantanamera)
"We're going to end it on the other tonic."
"What the F?"
Exactly, wtf.
I chuckled a little. I may even have snorted.
"Yes"
Haha! Actually, he didn't account for the F chord that's thrown in there a couple of times. My cover band finishes the song with the F-C-D bit and that resolves nicely to D.
"What, the F?"
When you hit 'em with the "it's actually a little bit more complicated than that" I was expecting Michael from V-Sauce to pop into frame. "WhAt iS mUsIc, eVeN?"
oh hi there
LMFAO
insert "what key are you in" clips
Lol
*boat sound*
You saying the phrase, "It's in D Mixolydian" has explained Modes to me better than anything else in my 35 years of guitar playing, so thanks for that.
Really nice, my brain struggles to escape from 'classical' views of harmony, even though my soul is clearly desperate to :-) The thought of dual tonics is another useful tool to chisel away at that mundane wall of classical certainty, thanks!
I know you don’t need any advice from me! BUT to try and maybe help you a bit, don’t even look at the theory at first. Completely forget you know any theory at all. Use your ear to hear the tensions and resolutions, which will ultimately reveal the tonic to you according to your ear, giving you the cornerstone to analyze the theory
Of course, this gets much more complex when songs (or pieces) frequently modulate or do other even trickier things, like this dual-tonicity idea or even things like poly-chords. In any case, it’s all about how your ear hears it _in context_ without even considering the theory
Because you will still hear tensions and resolutions even if you don’t think about it; that’s inevitable
I feel like all the best composers are like that. They're not looking to totally ignore the rules, just look for those little holes they can slip through and subvert them.
Hey, one of my other favorite music teachers!
Ahh, so still stuck in Newtonian-Einstein physics, eh? We'll bring you round 😏 😁
I'm about to watch it, but from playing the song before I'd imagine D mixolydian, but also a G Mixolydian for the G, because I like to use the flat 3rd over major for the bluesy feel.
I never learned the solo but I remember some Em pentatonic in there
After:wasn't expecting the whole dual tonic thing but I guess it makes sense I guess. After all, sometimes more than one place can feel like home.
"what key is sweet home Alabama in?"
"idk man but it definitely has one sharp"
Which they negate temporarily when they love the governor
F C D
Oo oo oo
@Michael Miller excuse my phrasing I was just taking an excerpt from the song to show which part the chords fell not their political affiliation
Thanks for the history lesson... Jeez
To explain further and completely ruin my little quip, they negate the F# and make it an F natural for the Boo boo boo
@@TreyDieterich Except those aren't key changes/modulations, those are what guitar legend Ted Greene referred to as notes of the "Expanded Diatonic Key". To this day he still has to me the most basic, laymen's terms way of explaining it.
Basically, western music evolved to have more than 7 notes in the major scale. How? At the very least, BECAUSE of how people played guitar, especially in the 60's & 70's with say, The Beatles, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, The Who, Led Zeppelin etc etc. The fact that guitar has chords so easily transposable, you know, the fact that a simple power or barre chord is easily shifted up & down the neck, means that coming up with simple triads moving in nondiatonic ways is pretty easy to play and implement in songs.
The least offensive and noticeable way of doing this is by placing said "nondiatonic" notes in the bass as root tones, which is what power & barre chords will do by default. This makes every one of these root tones as plagal, and because they're major in tonality/color, they're "major plagal" relative to the key center. Some interesting tidbits as well, these can be easily seen on the Circle of Fifths on the left hand side of the circle relative to key center, and every major 3rd of these Expanded Diatonic/Major Plagal root tones are actually diatonic to the key center, so in the key of D that's left = plagal root tones / in brackets = Maj3rd - *D(F#) G(B) C(E) F(A) Bb(D) Eb(G).* Tritone not included since it's the most distant key harmonically, though of course it's not exempt.
So F C D is really just *bIII bVII I* more than anything. Here's the video of Ted Greene talking about it at 42 minutes in, only he's talking about A as the key - ruclips.net/video/QZAwxpco0DE/видео.html&t=2522
*EDIT: had previously made the mistake of calling the F bIII a bii, corrected now.*
@@ohwhen7775 I didn't say it was a modulation.... Honestly the fact that they do that makes me think it's more in D than G
everytime Adam says “It’s actually a bit more complicated than that” I get angry and excited all at once
Would you say you're experiencing a series of events causing tension and release?
Adam: It's in D
UMG: D stands for demonetization
HEHEh
D stands for D*ck
They demonetized one of my vids on my other channel
When you're so southern even your key center is scuffed:
*fried confusion*
@@stephendonovan9084 DEEP FRIED confusion
Chicken fried confusion
Roll Tide
Thank you for your authentic, rigorous but explorative content, that is paying respect to music as an expression, a science, a part of history, or even a meme. Your concrete approach, your love and your persistence in being precise make you a valuable point of reference and studying. An encyclopedia at what you do. You are valuable to people that love music, important for a huge community that you do not even know. We are admiring and making good use of what you do. Keep going!
much love from Greece
The video “doesn’t have a satisfying conclusion”... kinda like not knowing which chord to end a progression with... I see what you did there
If you write the song, you can end it on any chord you want ;P
Best moment for me in a band ever: my brother plays the opening lick to Sweet Home Alabama, and right on cue and with perfect pitch, rhythm, and inflection of tone, our drummer says, "Turn it off."
Ha ha ha - I totally do this EVERY TIME I play the song.
That’s the best way to cover the song………..don’t.
I loved this video because you centered in a "simple" matter, which allowed you to go way deeper in the explanation
"Google is wrong, I win. Case closed." Life summed up in 7 words.
Antivax parents can summarize their kids 7 year life with the exact same words.
“You’re biased, I win, bye bye.”
-Neil deGrasse Tyson
“Google” is neither right nor wrong. It’s a search engine. I’d wager this very video could be found with Google.
@@TheStompboxer Google still hides it's search results for some biased results, though. During the Ireland case where Abortion was being decided to legalize or keep illegal, it was purposefully hiding all pro-life results for Irish google searchers, so only pro-choice articles appeared. This naturally skewed election results in favor of abortion, which shows the political bias of Google itself. It is not really trying to be a search engine anymore.
Google has been known for hiding conservative sites, like Breitbart news, for political purposes, often refering searchers to worthless mainstream medias like CNN (who couldn't even admit that the protests weren't "peaceful"). Even when Breitbart has more views, Google will still favor politically biased sites like CNN over conservative news. Whenever I use it for school searching, it is fine. But when it comes to politics, Google is biased for democrats and for abortion, which isn't real honesty for any search engine. So, yes, it can be wrong, since it will only show fake news, even when it is not scientific!
@@richardbonnette490 What evidence do you pretend to have for that horseshit?
OR OR OR, sometimes ending a song on a IV chord just makes the ending more bluesy, and the song is still in D.
I had the same thought. Gospel music does this a ton as well.
And the plot thickens
The song is in D and ends in the 4th degree, end of story
yeah, that's actually all this is. It's just in D.
rycengac This is the problem with music theory sometimes. There are no actual rules in music and things don’t always resolve themselves tonally, for instance. There’s no reason why an artist can’t randomly go off of the key pattern at the end as long as it sounds okay. People really need to get rid of this concept of music having to work itself out or something when in reality people write whatever they think sounds good
I'm so glad you did your video on Sweet Home Alabama. As a working
musician from AL, I have played this song even more than other musicians
around the world, and have had the conversation about the tonal center
with MANY professional musicians. We all came to the same conclusion as
you, finally, around the same time you dropped your video. That being
said...
I recently brought up a similar situation with the song "I Love It" by
Iconapop. Not a single one of my colleagues was on fully board with my
hot take analysis, and I feel more strongly about this than I ever did
about either proposed key for S-H-A. I believe the one and only logical
interpretation (upon really letting my ear take it in and feel the
implied resolution of the melody etc) of the progression, is 5 to 1,
while others perceive it as 1 to 4. The bridge reinforces this, but
everyone around me chalks this up to key change or modal interplay. Am I
taking crazy pills?? If you disagree I think it is time to admit
myself to a psych ward.
“Dual Tonicity of our city, of our ciiittttyyyyy...”
YOU! HOW DO YOU CHANGE THE KEY!
@@Daily_Bassist NOW! SOMEWHERE BETWEEN D MAJOR, D MAJOR AND GGGG
THIS ORDER! THIS ORDER!
G MAJJJOOOOORRRR!!!! IN THE SACRED CHANGE OF THE KEYS!!
SEEKING KEYS IS A PASTIME ACTIVITY
I praise you for your superior anti-click bait thumbnails
Also, unlike other youtubers, he doesn't deliberately stretch out the video to make it longer than 10 minutes to get more ad revenue, even though he only would have had to add 10 more seconds of banter. Class.
Been listening to this guy for years. Still no idea what he’s talking about lmao
I understood about 20% of the video and still liked it too!
Same. But it's still entertaining lol
HAHAHAHA yup
Lolol!
Actually this is one of the few videos where I felt like I could almost understand the whole thing
Google: the song is in G major
Adam Neely: welll yes but actually no.
*but actually somewhat.
@@EthanPerales. even better 🤣
Yes. He knows its right probably because, when Google says key of G, adam knows it means the harmonic field,.not the key exactly.
SO says the composer!
But actually yes
WOW!! THAT was by far the most outstanding vid I have seen of yours, I think, EVER. I never considered the idea of multiple key centres, but after watching this - I can see that it is EVERYWHERE in contemporary music. You've given me a whole new field of vision in teaching children about music construction. Well done, Adam, Well done..
I always assumed "D" because a lot of songs in the 70s utilize the flat 7.
How is it not just D mixolydian lol
It’s still being used today. But we don’t call it Flat 7, we call it the IV chord....in this case in the key of G....which it was it is...or D mixolydian
Marcos Pintor or the IV/IV for that classic double plagal cadence sound
David Kilbridge mmmm yes. Now you’re speaking my language
mrbouncelol it is totally in D mixolydian
Watch RUclips demonitise this cause he’s spitting facts against google lmao
John Coltrane can’t monetize with copyrighted material in it anyway, too many actual recordings in this video - I was shocked that he actually included the concert footage
Before you know it they'll be following him around highlighting his comments and replies. I love you Google! :-)
Google is only citing Desi Serna's article on guitarmusictheory.com, and from what I've seen, Google never points to a video as a source for its answer. How can we convince Google to point to another source that says it's in D?
I love how clear it is which parts you recorded before the twitter debate and after the twitter debate
In which key is this song?
Adam Neely: *YESN'T*
Still loving your anti-clickbait thumbnails!
Aren’t they the best? I hope other content creators start trying to emulate that, as opposed to just using regular clickbait and saying, “It’s the only way to grow my channel!”
I need this level of analysis for Megalovania.
yeah, but megalovania is unquestionably in D minor. D minor, D minor/C, D minor/B (or Bm7b5), Bb, C, resolving back to D minor. The Bb to C to D minor has a very clear resolution to D minor, so the chords have no tonal ambiguity. They all fit into D minor, save for the Dm/B which serves as a chromatic passing chord. The melody is also, aside from beginning each repetition with the new bass note, composed entirely using the D blues scale, with a strong focus around the note D. With all this information, there's really no other key you could argue megalovania is in.
Agreed
D minor
Me: Sweet Home Alabama is in the key of G or key of D?
Adam Neely: Yes
Whoa there Nelly
;p
Now I'm picturing Adam with a band-aid on his face, rapping. Nice.
nelly
AHAHAHAHAHA, this joke format is so funny and not done to death at all.
It's in D.
But play G Major over it.
While avoiding playing the root G.
Thanks
Or just play D mixolydian
Exactly how I internalise this videos massage when playing xD
One thing that wasn’t mentioned was the turn around chord used a bunch in the sweet home Alabama is F Major like during “in Birmingham they love the governor boo hoo ooo” That F is in G Mixolydian. Which makes think that this song could actually be in G mixolydian.
Brad Bowers I was talking a music professor and he said the turnaround chords are from borrowed relative Minor- D minor
Adam: What is the key to “Sweet Home Alabama”?
Me, a drummer who doesn’t know jack about chords: *uh*
It's in DRUM AND STICK
Drummers should learn to play in all keys
@@tommyhaynes9157 shush, I'm a guitarist of ten years hiding my crippling lack of knowledge for musical theory, the drummer can be forgiven
"Sweet Home Alabama" is the "Hey Jude" of Southern Rock.
Free bird is
@@babayaga1767 Indeed Freebird is very much like Hey Jude . They both have a melodic first part with a heavier jam out second part
@@tommyhaynes9157 And they're all soul killing to play at frequent gigs :D
This has the energy of a jazz meme.
I can feel it.
Aaahhh. The question answered at the end. What key to solo in- ""(just making sure I haven't been doing it "wrong" for 20 years!) Thanks. This was a super necessary and much needed video posing the question as old as time- what key is sweet home al actually in. It's been debated forever... and the answer- both...... I guess. Dual tonicity. Pretty cool concept.
I've always thought of the song in D with a flat 7. I've seen it a lot of older rock and southern rock especially.
Midnight Rider does it too, for example.
Mixolydian is the major scale with the flat 7, so that's pretty much what Adam said.
8:12 "I've played it many hundreds of time on bar gigs & wedding gigs"
who the hell plays Sweet Home Alabama on their wedding considering the memes surrounding it
Siblings
@@holyday888 best answer ever
every UK wedding band. That, Superstition and Mr Brightside are legally mandated wedding songs
@@DanThomasUK 'September' would like a word
If your wedding is a meme?
I had the opportunity to attend Jeff Carlisi's "Camp Jam" in Atlanta, GA several years ago. Jeff was the lead guitarist for .38 Special, and Camp Jam has grown since then to be a big operation. But when I attended, it was just getting started. Jeff always had a "featured artist", and the year I went, the artist was Ed King, the Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist that wrote the music to "Sweet Home Alabama". Ed was a really nice guy, and a heck of a guitarist. The camp was for wanna be rock stars and ran from Friday evening to late Sunday afternoon. On Saturday morning around 10am, Ed sat down and played "Sweet Home". I was sitting in a folding chair about 10 feet away, and I confess, the hair stood up on the back of my neck-it sounded that good. When he finished, someone asked him what key the song was in. It was obvious from the scowl that developed on Ed's face that he had been asked this question many times in the past. His reply was, "i wrote the music to "Sweet Home" in "G" and that's the key it's in." If you look at the sheet music for "Sweet Home", it shows only one sharp in the time signature-which is for the key of "G".
Adam Neely (a.k.a Everything Music Theory Guy): Sweet Home Alabama is in the key of D
Google: Sweet Home Alabama is in the key of G Major
Me: Let me go with that "Play Sober/7/11/4/20/The Lick/Chill Vibes" guy!
the key isn't that important
@@markopolo2224 That's right
7/11 and 4/20 are made for each other 🌚
But still.....
#playsober
#4/20
#7/11
#AdamNeely
I’m starting a southern rock disco band...yup, the dee gees.
Is your first single staying dead?
@@TacticsTechniquesandProcedures staying in D
I will give you a like for this but I don't want you to be proud of what you did here.
fivetimesyo no worries, I had to watch again to remember what slice of genius I had decided to share with the world....cute, but nothing to proud of you’re right.
@@tomm_katz stay in G in D - see what I did there?
Great video Adam! you sold me on D by looking at the melody....I bought the sheet music back in 1974 and it is written in G. Two keys at the same time is a brilliant explanation....it is hard to solo with just one scale
as you probably already know. I never thought of using G blues but I can see how it works very well for the C and G of the chord progression. I used to try to use D Blues which worked for D and C but not G. Then a fellow guitarist showed me that he used G major pentatonic and then I started thinking in G. Al Kooper the producer of the song explained in his book that he argued with Ed King the guitarist who wrote it that he (Al Kooper) thought it was in D. The guitarist mainly soloed in G major pentatonic and argued he wrote it in G. Again, well done!!!
"Teutonics" got me choking on my lunch.
I couldn't belive it after just having watched a T90 video.
So glad to see an AOE2 reference!
@@drbokchoi3 Adam said in a FAQ that he likes to watch competitive AoE II matches. :D
The aoe reference worth stopping by for alone
@@svartsjokolade I had no idea competitive AOE was a thing
"so is it in G?"
"Well yes, but actually no"
I love fucking with the band when I play it by doing the first solo properly like the record (Regarding the key as G major), and then doing a second improvised solo towards the end that is in D major. I never knew why that worked until this video. Keyboard players (Usually the only ones with any musical education in a bar band) always ask me what key we're in and get irritated by it.
who really thinks that Sweet Home Alabama is in G?? I have never, ever heard any musician make this claim. It's a 3-chord, single-progression song that repeats endlessly over about 60 bars. Everybody knows where the tonic is.
@@willritter4076 Google says G, the fact that there is an argument about the key implies many people also say G
@@willritter4076 The original band thought it was in G, hence why both guitar solos are in the relative minor of G.
VSauce song comes in
If riff of lives in D7, that’s G Major. If you want to improvise in DMixo, you’re playing the key of G.
Also, there is no natural 7 in the melody, again confirming the key is G. Guantanamera has a natural 7.. so, in my opinion, it’s (strictly speaking) an un-related example.
This video and the explanation behind it is (as usual with your videos) spot on (except for the Guantanamera reference).. but still not wrong. But, me, if someone asks me what key SHA is, I’d respond, “Well it’s in D7.”. If they have no idea of music theory I’d tell them D. Hey I’m the drummer what the f u asking me for ..
Great videos as always .. saw your vid on worst jazz solo ever lol awesome
Thank you, Adam Neely, for giving the answer for the title's question in the video's thumbnail. You're the real MVP!
For your next Q&A: What is your opinion on self-taught musicians/instrumentalists, both in and outside of the music industry. Love your vids BTW, keep on going.
What happens in this song is the following; all 1-4-5 progressions (no matter how it's arranged, e.g. V-IV-I) are also the inversion of a 1-b7-4 „Mixolydian Mode“ or „Modal Chord Sequence“. Half of the song is in D Mixolydian (as all the vocal melody does center around the D chord) BUT it also goes in and out of the GMaj. key, e.g. all the guitar solos including the piano solo at the end are in G major and the way LS ends the song live in G is also a possibility to leave the Mixolydian mode and/or stay in GMaj., and imply that the song may (also) be in the key of GMaj. Since all of the solos (in GMaj.) play a significant role in the song (about 1/2 the song) will determining if it’s in a key or a mode (or both). Half of the song is in D mixolydian- which is NOT a key but a mode (built from the parent D Maj. key) and the other half in GMaj. This is a prime example of the difference between KEY based music vs. MODAL music, the G major scale (from 1-7 / not incl. the extensions 9-13) are exactly the same notes as D Mixolydian Tonal Sequence (1-7 / does NOT contain any extended intervals- can be played in any octave BUT is still limited to that 1 octave range) BUT produces a completely different sound (texture / atmosphere-etc.) still using the exact same notes of the major subdominant KEY (G)- Mr. Paul Davids even did a video on exactly this song, playing the solos in both Dmixo vs. G Maj., where there is a very distinct audible difference in sound/feel-etc. Also keep in mind (1) that there is no separate or special musical notation that shows a piece is modal or a combination of Modal (NO key) and Tonal (Key based), same goes for the other 2 types of minor keys: Melodic / Harmonic, it will simply be notated in reference to it’s actual or (Modal)parent / perceived key- in this case the GMaj. since the song switches at the end to GMaj. (regardless of fade out). A more exact notation would be e.g. D/GMaj. or Dmix./GMaj.-etc. (2) That the modal I-chord (in this case=D) is NOT a tonic chord but is called a „Finalis“ because the mode has no resolution as it simply returns to the Modal I chord (whichever note that the mode centers around). This also means that there is no „Chord Progression“ in this case, it’s a (Modal) „Chord Sequence“ because it’s static and doesn’t progress towards any resolution. Conclusion: „Dual Tonality“ (a harmonic function theory concept that applies only to "Tonal" music) implies 2 definite tonal centers or Major keys, which is not the case here, it’s a combination of a Mode (NO tonal center) and a Key (WITH a tonal center) as both play a substantial role in this piece (each ca. 50%), IF the (switch to G Maj.) had only occurred for a bar or 2 it would be negligible and this would simply be a piece in D Mixolydian. The real „problem“ or dilemma here (or in such cases) is that there is no standard way of notating this type of music in the present notation system, If you say just GMaj. or DMixolydian- in either case your only half right.
literaly the video
I agree with you more than the video, actually, from the point the video starts talking about two tonics.
@@plodaerte no he's saying the second half of the vid is bollocks
I've always heard it in D mixolydian. Imagining G as the root is weird to me
Some people literally mean "what key signature do I write" not "what key is it in".
Same dude, but people have definitely argued with me about it. They're like, it's a 5-4-1 in G, and I'm like, that makes sense, but D sounds like home. And then they said the last chord is G, and the solo is in G, and I'm like fuck, that also makes sense, BUT D STILL SOUNDS LIKE HOME!!!!!!
M. S. Dude, I am a guitarist.....
Austin Martín Hernández I Agree!
Treating the modes as their own scales then it’s easier to understand it. D mixolydian makes more sense when describing the key because of the flat 7 and home Being on D major.
Holy crap, that Tad fellow has articulated something I've always intuitively understood. Thank you soooooo much for making this vid!
I have always thought of it in D mixo. Seems obvious but I had never thought of it deeply the way you have here.
"We're kind of in this quantum superimposition of the keys of D and G..."
I can't believe Adam Neely is Ant Man
Argument: It's in D, and ending it on a G chord is deliberately ending on the subdominant, rather than G major (or involving quantum physics lol). Fading out a song doesn't allow for a sense of definite resolution, and when you're performing live, leaving the song unresolved is probably the closest you can get to fading out!
I love the not clickbait. It’s in most of your videos, and it’s great.
Todd in the Shadows is so good. Love that dude's channel.
He seems to have a better grasp on theory than many music reviewers, especially in the pop sphere, so his perspective as an actual musician is always very interesting.
He's the TITS for sure
"Case closed."
[checks tracking bar and sees that there's still 2/3 of the video left]
_ooooooo dis gon be gooooood_
I read this right when I got to this part.
"So, what do we DO with this information?"
Ahh, yes! the age old question of the internet!
Ignore it, solo in Gm pentatonic like any other 1 4 5 blues inspired rock song
It's in D mixolydian. They end on a G live which is perfectly valid as ending on the IV is always a sweet sound, but it would sound even better if they resolved to D (the real tonic)
Ending on the IV is definitely a thing, but it doesn’t “feel like a IV” when they end on it, in this instance. It sounds a lot more “tonic-y” than your typical IV would. That’s why I think it’s a brilliant example for Adam to have used to start this discussion!
edit: especially once the singer throws the F natural and Bb in there at the end-really solidifies the “G blues” feeling of the finale.
@@dougnulton I guess, to me personally, it feels completely like a IV. It's so unresolved and a D fixes that feeling. Also, I was just testing it and G major pentatonic soloing sounds wrong. Not dissonant or anything, just very "empty". I tried playing between D Major pentatonic, D mixolydian and D dorian and to my ears it was far more consonant and gave me a good sense of home.
I feel like so many things in the video pointed towards D, but then it just got hung up on the fact that they end on a G live. I think that one factor alone isn't enough.
I love this puzzle. My twopenneth though: it may not have these chords but it *sounds* like I-V-IV in D... I always heard it as the VII chord being a substitution for the V. If I were to sing a baseline I'd automatically sing my interpretation, so... I don't have a way to finish this thought.
Adam, I was with you to the end when you said use G maj pentatonic or G blues to solo. I think D maj pentatonic or D blues sounds better. That's why it's in D!
i came to find this comment!
D min pentatonic sounds best!
I'm with you on that. I've always used Dm pentatonic to improvise over this song.
@@shaneshort2599 If the song is in D major then it makes no sense to improvise in D minor, those are two different keys.
@@lambsauce9404 D minor pentatonic sounds great over that song try it and see. If I said D minor I'm sorry I was talking D minor pentatonic.
But even that ending resolution feels ambiguous to me! I hear it as a “Cajun IV ending...” in that light we’re squarely back in D (mixolydian)...
Or how about this, G and D mixolydian are the same notes, it's just a question of the harmonic content of both the singer and the instruments, creating something which is clearly not G major but clearly the notes of D mix. I like your Cajun IV ending thing. I'm sure I've heard lots of songs that don't end on a clear I chord.
Talking about melody,which i agree is crucial to take into consideration here,the first solo also rests in G,so that backs up the theory that it might be in both keys,that would be my view on the point as well.The thing is that when we only have 3 chords,we have less data than if we had more so the result can't always be subjective ,you can also consider it the key you feel that it is ,feeling and different opinions is also what makes music great and some people might feel it different than other
What key is Sweet Home Alabama in?
Inside its cousin.
Lmao
jesus shit
yes
that "age of empire" reference made my day !!!
It's in D Mixolydian, 5th mode of the major scale. The relative major scale would be G major so you could also call it that because it's the same notes
You don't always have to end on the tonic!! I remember suggesting to my college band we end on a bII chord for a song just for fun. We did it and I always thought it sounded neat. I think the G chord at the end of SWAlabama sounds like a fun surprise non-tonic ending.
“Two-tonics”
Only Age of Empires 2 bois will get this...
Dude, so many memories
日西ディエゴ make those memories again with the new Age of
Empires 2 Definitive Edition
@@reddyaquaria689 i stopped playing a while ago but i wouldn't mind starting playing again
日西ディエゴ I would suggest youtube channels like “Spirit of the Law”, “T90Official” and “ZeroEmpires”
@@reddyaquaria689 wow, thanks a lot for the recommendation!!! I wouldn't know where to start otherwise
I played servitude by Kendall jones for my senior percussion ensemble (video on my channel) and I didn’t know if I was supposed to solo in db harmonic minor or ab Phrygian dominant because we used the notes for both. The Melodies and ostinatos pointed towards ab, but during the solo section, the ensemble was giving me a db pedal tone. I just went with db because the pedal tones made it sound better, but at the end we didn’t know whether to finish on a db or ab, and we went with ab for that. Fun piece, I was the only one who knew the theory because I’m the only nerd in my section
For your next Q&A: On what chord does your wedding band end this song? I like the idea of having two key centers, but my ears wanna have to end this song on D. G sounds kind of weird to me
Why not end it on a power chord made up of G and D? That'll keep the tonal center nice and ambiguous!
Don't believe him. Just watch.
no one:
Adam Neely: Sweet Home Alabama is in a state of Harmonic Quantum Superposition.
This stuff is interesting asf even though I only know basic music theory stuff😂
Robersora I thought this was a joke and then I finished watching the vid
The best part is he calls it Superimposition
I clicked thinking “it’s D mixolydian, duh,” but that bit about Tagg’s analysis and dual tonality was really cool and eye-opening. Thanks!
Love the parallel to quantum theory! I like the thought that you could always be in *any* relative modal key, always subject to “observations” or tonicizing events that collapse your state to a defined key.
(Shouldn’t it be “superposition” though?)
"What key is the song in?" - Is the color purple closer to the color blue or the color red? :)
This comment is fucking me up way more than the vid
Purple closer to blue, pink is centered, violet very close to blue
@@писько-тряс No! There is no blue in pink it's just a lighter red and violet and purple are the same.
Based on RGB values it's exactly in the middle between red and blue. Based on color theory it would probably be considered closer to red because it's a non spectrum color and generally defined as shades falling between red and violet.
this is epic.
Thank you for making this video! This has always bugged me, ever since I ended on a G at a pick-up gig and everybody else ended on a D. I never realized that Skynyrd ended on the G chord in live performances (and I even saw them play once!). This video went into areas I had questioned before, such as, "how the heck does the harmony of a U2 song fit in with tonal harmonic theory?" I'd never heard of the alternative ways to analyze pop and rock chord changes. Great video. Incidentally, as far as soloing is concerned, your advice to use the G major pentatonic is great. I would suggest, for the adventurous, try using D major pentatonic over the D chord and C major pentatonic over the C chord to add a little more spice to your playing. Thanks, again, Adam! Love your videos. I always learn something new from them.
Nobody:
Adam: *Sigh* "Its actually more complicated than that"
Hey Vsauce, Adam here
@@alexl035 quoth the parodist, quizzaciously
It's weird that there would even be any question. Yes, it's in the *key signature* of G, but D is plainly the tonal center. The I-VII-IV progression is common in rock. The ear should be the final judge.
I think the way you're looking at it is completely correct much in the way a musician might tonicize the relative minor chord in a major key hence all modes of major are all relative to each other.
Im not following you on the "song ends on G, so the song was in G the whole time"
No one has ever ended on the IV?
And this video could've been made for half of Skynyrd songs
if you listen at 3:28 to the piano soloing over the chord, it might be easier to hear how it suddenly resolves to G. also, he's not saying that because it ends on a G, the entire song was in G - he's just saying that by the end, the context of the chords and melody clarifies so that in the final moments, it's in G. for the rest of the song, it's simultaneously in both G and D
Lydia W Well, what’s interesting about that ending (which Adam didn’t mention) is they don’t just stop at the end of a D C G G loop, they add a new progression - F C G - to finish it off. The F is totally out of D mixolydian and would actually make the key G mixolydian, if considered important enough to impact the whole song. But it also disregards the many F#s used in the melody throughout the song. So, imo at least, that ending really doesn’t determine the key, because it functions more as a modulation of the key rather than an elaboration on the key.
@@turnleftaticeland wow I didn't even notice that! anyway, my point was mostly that by the end of the song, it has resolved to G, regardless of whatever else was happening in the rest of the song, and it's easier to hear that it resolves if you listen to the piano
I can’t hear the chord progression D C G G as a progression in the key of G. Even without melody, it always sounds as D for me and the ending of ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ (on G) sounds really weird and unresolving/-resolved for me.
I think sounding unresolved is exactly the purpose for the mismatch between melody and chords. It sounds like it's always driving, trying to go somewhere, always beating about the bush, but never really landing on "home", except for the live version.
But in Werewolves of London you hear it in G, right?
To me it sounds like it's in the key of B minor.
"Sweet home Alabama" just sounds like key of D (unresolved chord ending is no problem). "Werewolves" sounds like key of G. Forget the theory nonsense.
it for sure sounds D. The G ending is just a standard bluesy live breakdown. The unresolved G ending gives that sorta stanky blues feel
Hey Adam, always enjoy your videos. I've often thought the Blues itself has a kind of dual tonicity. An "F Blues" kinda has an "F mixolydian" feel but not exactly. But it also has this really strong drive to the "IV chord" of Bb... almost to where I feel like the whole thing might actually be in the key of Bb, and what makes it so irresistible is the delayed (and fleeting) resolution for bars 5-6. "Sex Machine" or any one-chord funk tune (or church shout, for that matter) has the same feeling. When James Brown takes it to the IV chord on the bridge, maybe that's actually the tonic and the whole time when he was on the I he was actually on the V and that's why it's so damn good. Klezmer music has the same kind of addictive repetitiveness and a lot is also built around a scale that's kind of "5th mode harmonic minor" and also resolves to the "iv" on the bridge... I think it may have the same dual tonicity thing going on. Thoughts?
I just made my first song the other day with a key change. Starts in G and goes to Bm, I had a vocal sample in Bm I used in both sections. I'm no theory expert but it sounded good and made the key change feel really natural.
NIce going from stuff with G, D, and C to B minor feels good. Try out a B7 somewhere in there to an E minor. Then Go C to D to give a burst of momentum. and then go to back G with whatever your main progression is.
I definitely hear it in D mixolydian. When Adam played that sample of Skynyrd finishing it on a G, I felt like I was left hanging, waiting for the IV to resolve back to I.
After the big ending on G they should do another big ending on D.
Ive literally spent years looking for a term to describe this. Thank you!
I thought the song being in D was common knowledge. The chord progression of the entire song begins at D major, excluding the 12 Bar Blues concept
Nah man, theres no seven, just the major triad, so it does match the 12 bar
RC32 Same here! The melody indicated D from the start
@@MeehanSax ahh gotcha, I'm no musical theory genius by any means lol
@@TheBawss90 Ahh that's me as well. I look at the chord progression and try to determine the Main key from that, whether it's major or minor
RC32 Are u also going through your subscriptions? Haha saw u in Marty’s vid and 2 other Anderson’s vids
It seems like whoever came up with he chrods meant it to be in D and when the other dude did the solo he saw it ended on a G chrord so just played it like it was in G?
NewJackSwing13 It was the same guy. His name was Ed King, and he and producer Al Kooper were the ones who started this half-century debate.
Exactly! Either the Verse is in D and the Solos in G, OR The song is in D and the soloist just plain misconceives the key and ends up cranking out his solo using the IV chord as the harmonic basis. If you adjust your listening perspective you can hear it as a bitonal event and hear the clash between the emphasis on G tonality in the solo and the D chord which is just minding its own business trying to function as the tonic that it is...
There's a RUclips video where the lead guitar and high harmony are discussed. It's a video where Ed King is the songs writer.
I never thought I'd see such a relevant use of quantum mechanics in a music theory video you're something else Adam.. love it
Also, sweet home alabama feels to me like it ends on an unresolved chord instead of the dominant chord, giving it a feel of open-endedness and the fact that the guitarist could simply strum a D at the end to resolve the end of the song, but chooses not to.
What are you talking about- this song fades out, there is no "ending" - the piano is cranking, the main riff is being played over and over, and it just fades out. If you see them play it live it will have an ending, of course- but not on the album or if you hear it on the radio. So, I highly doubt the ending has much meaning at all- considering it was only heard when they played the song live.
I live in Alabama- this song is something we avoided like the plague. Playing it feels as cliche as cliche gets when you live here- and once you see how excited it makes the natives- it's an easy decision to never play it again. Besides- fans are like lap dogs, if you give the shirtless guy who screams "Play some Skynyrd" at every concert he's ever been to- even the church social- what he wants, he'll never stop doing it.
@@stoneysdead689 I was indeed talking about the live version, not the radio version. By design a song that fades out never really gets resolved.
@@stoneysdead689 What's your opinion on Kid Rock's All Summer Long?
@@rikschaaf I con not stomach Kid Rock, I detest that song.
@@stoneysdead689 Haha, I can imagine 😄 I like the chord progression, but I'd also hate those songs if I heard them as much as you did.
Adam I've actually thought of this before! I play this song live on piano at gigs, and during the guitar solo section, I do an improv solo, and sometimes I catch myself soloing in the key of G while other times I catch myself soloing in the key of D! And it sounds good in both!
I never thought this was in G. I was like 'why is this guy saying the obvious thing'.
Mintice agreed. I only clicked because I thought the thumbnail meant d minor (because it was lower case d instead of D which would imply D Major).
When I used to play this tune in a cover band years ago we ended it with the 3 note F natural - E - D riff that's in the the middle of the tune after the "love the governor" line. To us it sounded right ending on D. It suprising that Lynyrd Skynyrd didnt end the tune when playing live that way as its a good solid ending. The G chord ending does not sound like home or even sweet home alabama ;)
That's F - C/E - Dm.