Subject: RE: another first - F#
From: PoppaGator - PM
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 10:35 AM

"Isn't C E A D G the time-honored "Circle of Fifths"? That's old enough and common enough for me to consider it an element of "folk" music."

No, the circle of fifths, starting from C would be C - G - D - A - E - B - F# - C# - G# - D# - A# - E# (enharmonically F) - B# (enharmonically C), etc.

C Em Am Dm G and C Em7 Am7 Dm7 G7 are perfectly plausible chord progressions, entirely contained in the key of C with no accidentals.

E - A - D - G is a fragment of the circle of fourths (the circle of fifths going around the other way), and one could play dominant seventh chords and resolve to the next chord, e.g., E7 - Am, D7 - Gmaj., or whatever.

"F# also has a place in the key of E. I play the Smokey Robinson classic "Shop Around" in E with four chords: E/E7 and A (alternating, for much of each verse), then an F# to B7 before resolving back to the E."

Yes, F# or F#7 is the dominant of B. This is quite a common device and it helps to break up the monotony of playing entirely diatonically.

'(The F# comes on the line "My momma told ME." The B7 accopanies "you better" and back to the tonic E for "shop around.")'

The dominant of the dominant (so common it has its own symbol, a D with an overlapping D below and to the right) is also used in "With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock". Lots of other songs, too, but this is one I play frequently. I believe it also occurs in "It's A Long Way to Tipperary", but I'd have to play it to be absolutely sure. It is typical of songs of that era (whereby I believe George Formby, Jr. was quite a bit later).

F# major is the tonic of F# maj. (of course) and the fourth of C# maj. F#7 is the dominant (fifth) of B maj and B min. F# min.7 is the second of E maj., the third of D maj. and the sixth of A maj., which also means that the key of F# min. is the relative minor of A maj. F# half diminished, i.e., F# - A - C - E is the seventh of G maj. The relationship of these chords to the relative minors of the major keys mentioned can be worked out without much difficulty.

Diatonically speaking, leaving aside modes and harmonies built on other scales, and leaving out the names for the Gb chords, which are different names for the same ones when using tempered tuning, that's pretty much the whole scoop.

I tend to get bored with playing songs in "guitar-friendly" keys, so I try to play in all of the keys. If one plays jazz or popular music of the 1920s, '30s and '40s, one will run across chords built on all of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale.