Interchangable Chords?

username217 · Jul 19, 2009

I started playing lucky by jason mraz, and notice that my G and Eminor chords sound pretty much the same. my ukes tuned standard gcea. it's probably something obvious since i usually play by ear, and not really from tabs. any suggestions?

seeso · Jul 19, 2009

Suggestions for what?

haolejohn · Jul 19, 2009

I like blue.

Jraney · Jul 19, 2009

haolejohn said:
I like blue.

It's my favorite.

Myala509 · Jul 19, 2009

Suggestions on how to stop playing jason mraz.

cashew · Jul 19, 2009

haolejohn said:
I like blue.

I like pie.

username217 · Jul 19, 2009

thanks for the constructive responses. (sorry for the vague question) i was curious if somehow my tuning, strumming off or strings are getting bad. I prematurely apologize for my lack in ukulele knowledge.

seeso · Jul 19, 2009

username217 said:
thanks for the constructive responses. (sorry for the vague question) i was curious if somehow my tuning, strumming off or strings are getting bad. I prematurely apologize for my lack in ukulele knowledge.

Sorry for the posts from the peanut section. G and Em sound alike because there's only one note that different between them. It's normal. In jazz, they call those chords "substitions."

Craig · Jul 19, 2009

username217 said:
I started playing lucky by jason mraz, and notice that my G and Eminor chords sound pretty much the same. my ukes tuned standard gcea. it's probably something obvious since i usually play by ear, and not really from tabs. any suggestions?

An Em chord is a type of a G major.....

G, Am, Bm, C, D7, Em, F#m7b5 are all part of G....

Craig · Jul 19, 2009

I think Curt Sheller has some books on basic music theory you may wish to check out.
http://www.CurtSheller.com/index.shtml

haolejohn · Jul 19, 2009

username217 said:
thanks for the constructive responses. (sorry for the vague question) i was curious if somehow my tuning, strumming off or strings are getting bad. I prematurely apologize for my lack in ukulele knowledge.

First welcome to UU. I would recommend that you read up on theory. I play by ear so I can't really help ya.

cashew · Jul 19, 2009

I apologise for my less than stellar comment...I s'pose I didn't really understand what you were getting at

(kinda like when my hubby sees a suggestion/opinion box on forms, he usually mentions his love of pie.)

I s'pose you could swap out the chords, but it will end up sounding different. But, different can be cool.

dhkane · Jul 19, 2009

Em is the relative minor for G. Em is in the sixth position. Em can be substituted for G. In some songs, the major chord turns or resolves into the relative minor chord, like from G to Em. I hope this helps, I know someone else can explain this further.

dhkane · Jul 19, 2009

Oh, I forgot to mention. There is no flats or sharps in the minor chords.

buddhuu · Jul 19, 2009

dhkane said:
Oh, I forgot to mention. There is no flats or sharps in the minor chords.

I'm afraid I don't understand this. The difference between a major chord and a minor chord is that one flattens the 3rd interval to achieve the minor. Some minor chords contain only natural notes (Am and Em, for example), but others contain sharp or flat notes. In an Abm chord all the notes are flats. Fm and Gm contain flats and Bm has a sharp.

Em is the relative minor chord to the tonic chord in G major, as has been observed above.

Certainly G and Em sound sort of similar, but one has a very definite major flavour and the other a very definite minor flavour - that slightly unfulfilled, kind of plaintive, quality inherent in any minor chord.

If you have trouble telling them apart then I would suggest that what you need is ear training as much as, or more than, theory lessons. If you play by ear, then it is a very good idea to be able to identify at least major, minor and dom7 chords by their sounds. It doesn't require perfect pitch, just getting to know the character of the different forms.

username217 · Jul 20, 2009

thanks for the input, much appreciated. i come from a brass background before i picked up an uke.

Craig · Jul 20, 2009

username217 said:
thanks for the input, much appreciated. i come from a brass background before i picked up an uke.

If one harmonizes (stacks the notes on top of each other on a staff), let's say a "C" scale, they end up with these chords: CMaj7, Dm7, E m7, FMaj7, G7, Am7, Bm7b5. This formula: IM7, iim7, iiim7, IVMaj7, V7, vim7, viim7b5, can be applied to any key - GMa7, Am7, Bm7, CMaj7, D7, Em7, F#m7b5. All the chords within each key are related and can be interchanged to varying degrees. I like using a CMaj7 arpeggio over a Am7 chord. :shaka:

nikolo727 · Jul 20, 2009

as you get more into music and listen to it more and more, you will start to hear the differences in each note. dont worry about it.

clayton56 · Jul 20, 2009

You're playing an instrument with no bass. If you were playing them on guitar, or piano, you would hear the difference more readily.

The Em and G have nearly the same notes, as was said, and in fact, the Em7 and G6 have the same notes. But, Em is usually played with E in the bass and G near the top, whereas G6 is played with G in the bass and the E near the top. But if you have no bass string, you miss out on this difference.

For pianists, the note in the bass is the note the chord is named after, so EBGD is Em7 and GDBE is G6.

If you have a bass player, let him alternate between E and G while you strum the Em7/G6 on uke (0202).

Interchangable Chords?

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