On My Mind Chord
Robyn Ruder
(The example below is in the key of F major/D minor. Ray Charles recorded his version in the key of G major/E minor, so to play along with that version using the chords in this example, put the capo on the second fret.)
You can see that both the neapolitan chord and V use the note D (flat in the first chord, natural in the second one). This is usually considered a bad harmonic relationship (in two chords played next to each other), but with the neapolitan chord, it works. But if you were to double the root (Db), this would be trickier to resolve. Doubling the 3rd is the "safest" way to go.
In terms of chords and melody, Where is my Mind has complexity on par with the typical song, having near-average scores in Chord Progression Novelty and Chord-Bass Melody and below-average scores in Chord Complexity, Melodic Complexity and Chord-Melody Tension.
Where is my Mind is written in the key of E Major. According to the Theorytab database, it is the 5th most popular key among Major keys and the 5th most popular among all keys. Major keys, along with minor keys, are a common choice for popular songs. The three most important chords, built off the 1st, 4th and 5th scale degrees are all major chords (E Major, A Major, and B Major).See the E Major Cheat Sheet for popular chords, chord progressions, downloadable midi files and more!
I think I can do two. I say think because I'm not sure if what I actually hear is the quality of the chord (e.g. major third, minor third, seventh) and not all the notes both separately and as as one. Tweet !function(d,s,id)var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id))js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1445120298060-0'); ); Replies (16)
Adrian HeathDecember 3, 2021, 7:26 AM Two spontaneously, plus "added" notes, requiring great concentration and complete silence..
I think early piano lessons and the Baptist Hymn Book in church gave me a feeling for good harmony.
I know many musical folk who don't though.
Carmen TanzioDecember 3, 2021, 7:29 AM Interesting question.From my piano playing days, I can still "hear" me arpeggiating a C major chord with each distinct note, but when I play back the full chord immediately after, I do not hear what I would call distinct notes.OTOH, when I play back, in my head, a Bach Minuet where a friend is playing the melody on his violin and I am playing a viola part, obvious chords sound like distinct notes between the two instruments.I wonder if it is a quality of tone (violin vs viola) and perhaps frequency separation (higher string of violin vs lower string on a viola) of notes that enables the mind's ear to observe distinct notes played together.
Will WilkinEdited: December 3, 2021, 11:00 AM The way I first learned my son has perfect pitch was when at 7yo he could name any chord by ear when a friend played guitar. He can name all the notes he hears when he names virtually any chord. He's corrected our church organist from the choir loft when a hymn was played with a chord with a G natural that should have been sharp.
Will WilkinDecember 3, 2021, 11:03 AM Funny he can tell by ear what key a piece is in and whether the A is 415 or 440, at least approximately in that he'll tell you if it's modern tuning or older.
Andrew VictorEdited: December 3, 2021, 12:09 PM Will that is amazing, it brings to mind my late friend, tone-master recording engineer Stan Ricker of whom I responded some posts down in the following thread:
=3824It sounds as though you son has that sort of gift.
Of course, Stan had decades of professional recording and other musical experience when I knew him, I have no idea what his abilities were when he was 7 years old.
Henry ButcherDecember 3, 2021, 4:01 PM When a note is heard in the 'inner ear' it is actually sustained so the following intervals can be determined, and so forth until the chord is completed. I don't really know, but that's what I figured is happening after chord hearing practice, following chord progressions and hours of arpeggio practice.
Cotton MatherEdited: December 3, 2021, 11:26 PM Can hear a full chord and extensions ez pz. I get a little lost trying to imagine progressions though. I have been working on this skill indirectly and it has improved a looot... I'm recording an album of original songs and playing all the music from my head. Probably the best music education I've ever gotten.Will, you might have another young Dylan Beato on your hands.
elise stanleyDecember 4, 2021, 12:56 PM I just did a thought experiment that I think worked and wondered if anyone else finds the same thing.If I try to think a third-note chord I can't do it. However, if I think of a note and then think of adding a note a third above I CAN do it. Give it a try...
Henry ButcherEdited: December 4, 2021, 3:10 PM I think I may have a permanent drone in my head, yes, I can hear any interval without sounding the fundamental. But, that's how the training is initiated, by sounding a note then adding the interval above or below, aloud at first then it happens in your head. And, it's only since this thread that I realised I could hear the notes of an interval, and of the triads simultaneously. So my practice has paid off in a way that I would never had thought.
A BDecember 4, 2021, 3:20 PM It would be interesting to ....hear from a cognitive scientist to what extent the mind can entertain 2 things. My understanding was that you can sort of follow 2 separate sound streams (music, conversation) but your brain does it by alternating concentration and filling in the gaps.I would guess that you can play almost as much music in your head as you can hear- apparently Beethoven felt that way. So to the extent that you can actually process two or more REAL simultaneous vibrations together in the mind, you ought to be able to recreate the effect using the imagination. I don't know whether the brain produces an actual electrical sound signal when you imagine music, or some other memory process substitutes... electrons are really fast- but chemical reactions aren't far behind- they rely on electron transfer. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1445120547957-0'); );
Christian LesniakDecember 4, 2021, 3:23 PM I find I need to slightly arpeggiate the chord to really have a sense of the different notes, but I can hear the overall chord in my head as a single unit. It's a skill I would definitely like to develop more, as I find it difficult to know what notes make up a chord when listening to music. I'm much better with piano (as my father was a pianist) and violin, but I can't hear a guitar chord (especially electric) as anything other than a single sound to save my life. I think there is a level of timbre recognition at work here.
joel quiveyEdited: December 4, 2021, 5:37 PM Hearing chords in your head is an uncommon natural talent. There are two versions, passive and active, mentally labeling it when we hear it, or, hearing it in our head without prompting or using the keyboard. Composers need the active chord sense. A lot of us have done the passive version in the dictation portion of our college harmony and musicianship courses. Serious singers spend a lot of time on active interval recognition, which is necessary for sight-singing. The starting point can be the intervals, which we also call two-note chords. There are 24 melodic intervals, but only 12 chordal intervals. There are only 5 three-note chords to learn; major, minor, diminished, augmented , and the suspended fourth (1-4-5). After that we add a note to get all the 6th and 7th chords. Don't be too concerned about inversions, hear the character of the chord. Violinists can start to be sensitive to this by doing all the scales and arpeggios from memory, off-paper, a different key each day.
Sander MarcusDecember 4, 2021, 5:39 PM Interesting discussion. I think the reason Heifetz always played in tune is because he playing everything in nothing flat.
Rowy van HestEdited: December 8, 2021, 3:02 AM I can hear chords and make them in my head, or inner ear. It's a matter of experience, I guess. As a composer I hear a sound, notate it, play it and sometimes change it, so I'm very aware of what I'm hearing.
Adrian HeathEdited: December 9, 2021, 9:49 AM At university in the early 70s, we had to do harmony in our heads, and try it out when a piano became available. Many of us relied on theoretical knowledge, but I and a few others imagined the sounds first. The more complex chords were exhausting! (A fair number of parallel fifths, though..)Nowadays, portable keyboards have made me rather lazy, but it is still a useful trick in the store when choosing new sheet music for my students.
Rowy van HestEdited: December 9, 2021, 6:24 AM "However, can you also hear each note of a simple or complex chord?"I forgot to mention a handy online tool, that renders all sorts of chords. You can try to recognize them:2/3/4 voices: chords 1
3/4/5 voices: chords 2 googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1548883144385-0'); ); This discussion has been archived and is no longer accepting responses.
Note how the E chord, which was so prominent in the earlier versions, has disappeared completely, and the sharp D7/f# has been replaced by the more lax F in the second line. In more recent concert renditions, the E and D/f# are back.
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