Doe a Deer (warning, Sound of Music content)

viz

Great way of learning inversions (Edit ... updated, this is from the Sound of Music song, Doe a Deer.

Doe - E Root                             0 2 2 1 0 0

Ray - B 2nd inversion               2 2 4 4 4 2

Me - E 1st inversion                4 7 6 4 5 4

Far - B7 3rd inversion                5 6 4 4 4 x

Sew - E 2nd inversion               7 7 9 9 9 7

Thread - A 1st inversion                9 12 11 9 10 9

La - F# 2nd inversion               9 9 11 11 11 9

Sew (again) - B 1st inversion     11 14 13 11 12 11

Tea - G#  2nd inversion               11 11 13 13 13 11

Bread - c#m 1st inversion                12 11 11 9 9 9

Bring - A 1st inversion                9 12 11 9 10 9

Back - B 1st inversion                11 14 13 11 12 11

Doe - E Root                             12 14 14 13 12 12

MatthewShreddery

Nice!

I saw this somewhere before but forgot about it.

wiz'd

viz

Cheers - yes I find it a particularly good song coz there's roots, major and minor 1sts, 2nds and even a 3rd inversion in there.

frankus

It might just be me being thick, but I think there's not enough context or description here to figure out what you mean unless you've seen this approach before.

Would it be possible to describe the goal and approach a bit more?

viz

Not you being thick, just me not explaining it properly or clearly. It's just a helpful exercise if you want to understand inversions. So like, the chord which guitarists might call E over G#, well that's really an E 1st inversion, because the bottom note of that chord is the major 3rd. If you play an E on fret 8 in the A-barre style, the bottom note is the B, right, so that's probably called "E over B" but it's really just an E 2nd inversion. It's just an easier way of describing x over y chords. Similar to the figured bass notation.

So in Doe a deer, if playing in E, you'd play:

Doe - E major, standard E chord.
Ray - well that's a dominant chord, ie B, but you want to play the bottom F#
Me - that's an E chord again but you want the C# to be the bottom chord, so you play 1st inversion (or E over G#)
Far - this is a B7 chord, with the bass note being the 7th, which is an A, so here you're playing B 3rd inversion, or "B7 over A"
Etc.

It's a really good song for practising your inversions, thus enabling you to hold the tune in the bass.

Phil_aka_Pip

frankus said:

It might just be me being thick, but I think there's not enough context or description here to figure out what you mean unless you've seen this approach before.

Would it be possible to describe the goal and approach a bit more?

I'm a bit thick too. For example, why does the supertonic have to be harmonised with the 2nd inversion of the V chord?

How about an approach which says FOR each degree of the scale, list the triads (from the scale) that contain it, and for the purposes of playing melodies supported by triad harmonies, which of those have that scale degree as their highest note?

eg The tonic is contained within the triads formed on the 1st, 4th and 6th degrees of the scale and is the highest note in the 1st inversion of the I triad, the root position of the IV triad and the 2nd inversion of the vi triad

bloodandtears

Lost... can someone tab this?

Phil_aka_Pip

bloodandtears said:

Lost... can someone tab this?

Tab won't explain it. Not at all.

bloodandtears

Phil_aka_Pip said:

bloodandtears said:

Lost... can someone tab this?

Tab won't explain it. Not at all.

It would show the example chords to support the concept though surely?

frankus

I agree with Phil, tab it and you'll have a Chinese takeaway for 10 people.

Phil_aka_Pip

bloodandtears said:

Phil_aka_Pip said:

bloodandtears said:

Lost... can someone tab this?

Tab won't explain it. Not at all.

It would show the example chords to support the concept though surely?

You need to know the chords first. Practical examples can follow later

bloodandtears

This is what I meant...

Doe - E major, standard E chord.
0-2-2-1-0-0

Ray - well that's a dominant chord, ie B, but you want to play the bottom F#
2-2-4-4-4-2

Me - that's an E chord again but you want the C# to be the bottom chord, so you play 1st inversion (or E over C#)
X-4-6-4-5-4

Far - this is also a B chord, with the bass note being the 7th, which is an A, so here you're playing B 3rd inversion, or "B7 over A"
??????

Is this right??

Phil_aka_Pip

Well, I was questioning WHY that set of chords and not others that have similar notes in.

bloodandtears

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Well, I was questioning WHY that set of chords and not others that have similar notes in.

lol.. well I hadn't got that far..

viz

Yep blood and tears is right in concept, though chord 3 has to have the G#, so it's 46454. Like a C-chord shaped barre.

The A one is the "3rd inversion" of B, eg 56744x or 56444x.

The whole point of it is that you walk up the scale on the low e-string, like in the song.

bloodandtears

"The whole point of it is that you walk up the scale on the low e-string, like in the song. "

I get that now but please supply chord 3 again.. 'cos you've repeated exactly what I put, and there is no low E fret.

and if you would be so kind as to list any more in a similar fashion??

viz

Whoops lollll I meant 476454! I think I deleted the wrong bit of my post )

Phil_aka_Pip

I still don't get it. Why the V chord and not the ii or the vii chord with the F# on the 6th string?

viz

Because that's not the harmony of the song Doe a Deer. You know it? From the sound of music.

viz

The next one is E 2nd inversion:

Sol - 779997. Then A, 1st inversion 9 12 11 9 10 9

stickyfiddle

It works, but only in G, not D