I have the staff of notes, but what are the CHORDS?

JackLuis

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I found a song that I'd like to play but couldn't find the chords, but I did find the melody on the staff.

It starts and ends in D at the bottom of the staff, so I thought it was in D-G-A7 but there is a section of a lot of C notes, and C is the seventh of the Key of D. My Key Chord Chart says C#dim would be the seventh, but that sounds terrible!

I saw a video of this and It looked like it started in Am, on a Uke but he may have played in a different key than the music I have.

Is there an easy way to figure this out?

The Song is "I can See Your Aura, And It's Ugly" Just in case some one has figured this out.
 
If you have a recording, you could always cheat and use Yamaha chord tracker app or even Apple Music memos. They will both give you a good starting point on the chords used in a song, Yamaha chord tracker will even let you transpose and slow down speed up etc so you can practice with the original.
 
Try to check key signature first. It might be F/Dm scale. Dm, Gm and Am.
 
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"I haven't listened to this thoroughly enough to determine all the chords, but I don't hear nearly as many sus4 chords as in Dan's version."

I think that's because you're right. It's a Dm. And my second bit is all wrong too.
 
There are no sharps of flats on the starting staff. I'm novice enough to have very little idea about what ubulele and Dan were talking about. I'll look up the Dorian Dm scale and see if that make sense to my hearing.

I'll try picking the notes and see if I can make it sound Okay. There are no 'chords' in the music (notes sharing a common shaft), so I wasn't able to figure it out that way either.

Thanks for the assistance anyway.
 
Do you have an image of the staff you could post? Many of us can quickly work out chord sequences given the printed notes of the melody.

It is here.

It looked to me to be in D/Dm though Am seems to work on a lot of it too.
Here is the best video I found on it.

** Edit**
I found a mandolin tabs fro this and it is just straight picking too. I guess I'll have to learn to pick notes instead of strum chords, EEK!
 
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I thought it was a simple song, didn't know I'd learn so much from it. However that is often the way things work out in Music.
Ukes are fun though. Now I can research Dorian and Mixolydian to see what that really means.

Thanks guys.
 
Here are my thoughts. Definitely in Dorian, which shares the key of C major but uses D as a home.

The harmonizations I wrote in are not anything that I would wager on.

IMG_5182.jpg
 
Here are my thoughts. Definitely in Dorian, which shares the key of C major but uses D as a home.

The harmonizations I wrote in are not anything that I would wager on.

View attachment 94914

The attachment is too small for me to read your notes and when I tried to enlarge it in Word, I couldn't see the image. I see there are a lot of chords you selected. I was doodling it in Am-Dm-E7 and while probably not in the key it sounded pretty good. I'd like to see what you came up with, could you pm me the image as something I can enlarge?

I'm playing this on my Caramel Tenors and Baritone, all dGBE tuned.
 
Hi, Choirguy!

Here are my thoughts. Definitely in Dorian, which shares the key of C major but uses D as a home.

I know you are great music teacher with highest education. I would like to ask you something.

I thought the key might be Am instead of C major, because I thought it might be minor song by Youtube's impression. My question is if you tell this song major by impression.
 
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zztush,

I know the song is in the Dorian mode as it uses the familiar key signature of a minor and C Major (no sharps and flats), there are no flats or sharps in the song, and the song begins on D, ends on D, and hovers around D as a "home." There are seven general modes...and if you aren't in major (Ionian) or minor (Aeolian), the next most common mode is Dorian.

If the normal major scale runs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1, Dorian runs 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2.

JackLuis,

Send me a DM with your e-mail and I will send you a copy.
 
I was a little nervous about posting this online...but the original allows for Creative Commons 3.0 licensure, pending that I clarify that I added chords to the arrangement. As I stated earlier, I won't fight to defend any chord choice, but the chords work for me.

And I need to make it clear that I'm not a fan of the song or its lyrics...just helping out other UU members!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1578110/I Can See Your Aura.pdf
 
Thanks Choirguy. I'll try it your way and see if i can play it, there are a lot of fast shifts I may not be able to make. But that tabs will allow me to start picking notes, which I have not done yet. I just strum chords and hit a few correct notes if they are on the A string in the chord.

I tend to like political songs, 'cause I'm that way, and I had thought I'd adjust the lyrics to fit the current political contest. Then too, it fits some of the California Fruit and Nuts culture we have in my home state. The Southland is a lot weirder than NorCal, except for San Francisco Bay area.

I was playing this a lot slower than it is written to make it sort of bluesy sounding with the Minors. My wife liked the baritone instrumental version, I haven't sung the lyrics for her. :D
 
Thanks Choirguy. I know you are busy, but I still have one question. It sounds minor song to me and very similar to "House of Rising Sun", which is often played on A minor key. May I call the key of this song A minor?
 
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This is how I play it. I do it clawhammer style on the banjo tuned gDGBbD (Gm tuning) - just two chords. You could get fancier, but this works for me.

I Can See Your Aura, and It's Ugly Mark Graham

(Am) I've done lots of spiritual healing
I'm in (E7) touch with all my (Am) feelings
I've read palms and read the (E7) stars for kings and (Am) queens,
And I hate to bum you (E7) out, (Am) but you (E7) have without a (Am) doubt
The ugliest aura that this (E7) poor boy's ever (Am) seen

'Cause (Am) I can see your (E7) aura and it's (Am) ugly.
Your spirit must be (E7) rotten to the (Am) core,
And to a new age (E7) guy like (Am) me
You just bring pain and (E7) mise(Am)ry,
So my dear, I cannot (E7) love you any(Am)more.

By the way, I am a fan of the song and its lyrics. I love the idea of playing new age music on clawhammer banjo.
I just checked out Choirguy's arrangement and realise that my tune is a little different. I learned the song from an old Sing Out! magazine a couple of decades ago and it may have morphed into something different over the years.
 
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