The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #119631   Message #2596375
Posted By: Vic Smith
24-Mar-09 - 03:41 PM
Thread Name: Accepted chords for traditional tunes
Subject: RE: Accepted chords for traditional tunes
Dick wrote
"aminor f major then thenext bar[eminor or g 6 to g major."


Well, yes, I can see a case for that - and it makes an attractive sequence on the guitar - but I would never use it myself, particularly at the start of a tune. I think that I would feel that the accompanist was trying to grab the attention from the melody players. I would call that "F major" chord a "passing chord" with the emphasis on the "C" note in it as part of the transition from A minor to E minor. I daresay that an equal case could be made for starting with A minor / C major / E minor / G major but I wouldn't use that either for the same reasons.

Dick then wrote
"he starts off,playing the first bar in f major.,then plays e minor for the next chord,but g6 works as well"


I like this sequence even less, particularly at the start of a tune and more particularly the second or third time through when the brain wants to locate itself on the A minor chord which starts the tune. Just because an F major chord contains an "A" and a "C" it doesn't help the feel of a piece. In this case "an unexpected chord" sounds more like "a wrong chord" to me.

As has been said elsewhere in this thread, it is a matter of taste and for my money the "accompanist" should be just that, augmenting and aiding the melody instruments and providing a solid rhythmic base.