Bold as Love (Mayer version) theory project

rsvmark

Hi clever folks. Setting myself some homework. Not only to play but analyse BAL and understand the playing as it relates to the chord progression.

Tonights question is this. Btw, using standard tuning not Eb as per original.

The verse is:
A E F#m D
A E F#m D
D A Bmin G
D A Bmin G

The chorus is 

A E F#min G
A E D

A E F#min G

A E D

Outro is:
C G Amin F Repeated 3 times 
FFFFFF C repeated 3 times.

So working out the verse and chorus is in A major and is a:
I V vi IV twice
IV I ii bVII...... eh? What the hell is that G major doing there. So I recognise that it isn’t following diatonic harmony (and it’s Hendrix so why does it have to) and the G is a flat major 7 chord ( not a sharp 6 as we already have a min 6 chord).... can anyone explain the technical terminology for what the G is doing please?

the outro is a key change to a I V vi IV in C major. 

How am I doing?

Danny1969

As good as it is to know theory, some chords are just there because the writer thought it sounded cool. A flat 7 chord is very very common in rock and blues because it sounds cool. That's it really. 

rsvmark

Danny1969 said:

As good as it is to know theory, some chords are just there because the writer thought it sounded cool. A flat 7 chord is very very common in rock and blues because it sounds cool. That's it really. 

Thanks @danny1969 - quite. There’s the G, G#, A in triplets as the transition between verse and chorus which is very cool. The exercise for me is about trying to map out what’s going on to understand and increase My knowledge. Just done (worked out and tabbed) the first 20secs and compared to the underlying progression the first observation Is that (I think) he is picking a lot of the root notes in different box positions and outlining a few sus 4 Chords.  More studying tomorrow night!

digitalkettle

You could see the second half of the verse as a key change to D...so you get your I V vi IV again.

Hattigol

digitalkettle said:

You could see the second half of the verse as a key change to D...so you get your I V vi IV again.

My theory knowledge is poor but I'd say this is a brief key change to D too - which also explains the B minor, which obviously wouldn't be a natural selection if it was still in A.

rsvmark

@digitalkettle @Hattigol Thanks, I hadn’t spotted that! 

viz

Hattigol said:

digitalkettle said:

You could see the second half of the verse as a key change to D...so you get your I V vi IV again.

My theory knowledge is poor but I'd say this is a brief key change to D too - which also explains the B minor, which obviously wouldn't be a natural selection if it was still in A.

rsvmark said:

@digitalkettle @Hattigol Thanks, I hadn’t spotted that! 

 Yup a brief modulation to D. 

Btw, the Bm chord is is in A major too. 

rsvmark

viz said:

 Yup a brief modulation to D. 

Btw, the Bm chord is is in A major too. 

Thanks @viz Yup. I thought it was a iI chord if it had stayed in A. Sadly no homestudy this evening as have just finished work and am knackered. Back to it tomorrow

rsvmark

All I can say is....bloody hell its hard! Just about got to the end of the first verse. Can’t play it at all well. And JM sings at the same time..... muchos cudos to him!

Danny1969

rsvmark said:

All I can say is....bloody hell its hard! Just about got to the end of the first verse. Can’t play it at all well. And JM sings at the same time..... muchos cudos to him!

Well JM is a beast at playing very complex parts and singing flawlessly at the same time. Some of the acoustic stuff like Neon, Stop this train, heart of life etc are good examples. Very very difficult parts to do but then to sing at the same time is quite something.