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Choosing neither 'maj' nor 'min'

Choosing neither 'maj' nor 'min'

wishnewsky posted on Aug 20, 2020 #1
wishnewsky
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Posts: 13
Joined: Jun 23, 2017
After uploading a track, I noticed that if Key is chosen (let's say, A), but major or minor tonality is not, the Key does not show as well. But, what if song is neither minor or major?

I.e. it ends on power chord (1st-5th-8th) without any 3d played to determine the exact mode, but's it is an A power chord for sure.
+1
wjl posted on Aug 30, 2020 #2
wjl
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Good question wishnewsky, and I was thinking about the same lately - what if you're using a jazz (or church) scale like D Phrygian dominant (the "oriental" one) or such?

For easier ones like (as an example) "Scarborough Fair" which is in D Dorian, you could simply write that in C major which has all the same keys. But my example from above? Twists my brain a bit to be honest... :D
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wishnewsky posted on Nov 26, 2020 #4
wishnewsky
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Posts: 13
Joined: Jun 23, 2017
wjl


Exactly! Or a wholetone scale, as another example.

Also, some songs provide to an improviser a freedom of choice between scales, including not only neither [i]min[/i] nor [i]maj[/i], but also both of those, offering the really good practice choice to the next guy.
wishnewsky posted on Nov 26, 2020 #5
wishnewsky
Member
Posts: 13
Joined: Jun 23, 2017
For instance, there is a song with

1) Bass played by member1
and
2) Drums played by member2

In this setup, the song can not have a major or minor key information _yet_, and will be determined by a guitarist or keyboardist, or any other member3.

Bass player, for example, knows that he played in G, but did not define the mood of the song. After a guitar player (member3) plays his part, the song can turn to be in Gmajor _OR_ in Gminor.
Or both(!) -- in different remixes.

You can say: oh, just use your ears or tuner then to define the notes that were played!
Okay, but what if the main/first/last (not root!) bass note, of the track example above is in G, but the song is actually in some variant of C, also yet undefined? That can easily happen, be valid, and make a beautiful track/song afterwards.
In this case, although a bassline does not state it by itself, bassist can provide the info for further remixers that the song is actually in G. [i]Which[/i] [scale of] G though -- to be defined by next creative person.
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