c am f g songs?

philrab66

philrab66

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Hi all need a bit of help, been looking at the c am f g list on this site. Am I missing something every time I look up chords on chordie for these songs they are not in the mentioned chords. i have found one which was U2s with or without me but that is the only so far.
Thanks for your help Phil.
 
Beast of Burden is one off the top of my head.
 
I suspect when you look them up on Chordie they're in another key. I think on the right there's a dropdown that allows you to change keys somewhere - next time you look one up, try changing the key to C and see if you get something closer to C-Am-F-G.

C-Am-F-G is the I-vi-IV-V chord progression with chords specific to the key of C. This is a pretty common progression that can be apply to any key (except the chords will change accordingly - hope that makes sense).
 
janeray1940 said:
I suspect when you look them up on Chordie they're in another key. I think on the right there's a dropdown that allows you to change keys somewhere - next time you look one up, try changing the key to C and see if you get something closer to C-Am-F-G.

C-Am-F-G is the I-vi-IV-V chord progression with chords specific to the key of C. This is a pretty common progression that can be apply to any key (except the chords will change accordingly - hope that makes sense).
Click to expand...

Yes that is what I am finding, I have used the drop down list and sometimes it does get somewhere near to them . i choose ukulele c tuning then go through the semitones to change key.
 
It's best to think of the songlist less of songs being that ARE in the C Am F G progression and more like songs that FIT the C Am F G progression. :)


philrab66 said:
Hi all need a bit of help, been looking at the c am f g list on this site. Am I missing something every time I look up chords on chordie for these songs they are not in the mentioned chords. i have found one which was U2s with or without me but that is the only so far.
Thanks for your help Phil.
Click to expand...
 
ukulefty said:
It's best to think of the songlist less of songs being that ARE in the C Am F G progression and more like songs that FIT the C Am F G progression. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks lefty, I think I need to study a bit more theory. It is hard to fit everything in I guess when you just want to sit down and play a song. But in reality I should be doing some theory also.
Thanks again Phil.
 
philrab66 said:
Hi John
I was not having the problem finding the song thread, I just could not understand when I found chords they where different but as lefty explained (they will fit)
Thanks Phil.
Click to expand...

OK. It is difficult to understand theory. I have no idea what it is but I did once learn something about numbers (roman numeral type) at a workshop hosted by the barnkickers. It made sense while I was sitting there but once I left...it was all Greek to me then:)

I'm an ear player and I know that if I just sit down and start playing those chords while humming a song, I can eventually figure it out. It isn't easy but it does work. Songs don't always sound good but it works.
 
haolejohn said:
... but I did once learn something about numbers (roman numeral type) at a workshop hosted by the barnkickers. It made sense while I was sitting there but once I left...it was all Greek to me then:)
Click to expand...

Don't you mean, it was all Roman to you?

;)
 
ukulegreg said:
I found this

Click to expand...


Thanks for that Greg I recognise the song but couldnt make it out. Being a novice there is so much to learn about music but it is very interesting to hear how different things work.
 
C F G Am are the four most common chords in the key of C. You can play the vast majority of western music with those four chords - but it will be in the key of C rather than whatever key the song was originally in. If a song was made famous by a person playing it in G, it will sound just fine transposed to some other key (C for example) because that is just how our brain treats music. It's the intervals that matter, not the precise pitches. So, a song will generally be played in whatever key the vocalist(s) find(s) comfortable.

John
 
OldePhart said:
C F G Am are the four most common chords in the key of C. You can play the vast majority of western music with those four chords - but it will be in the key of C rather than whatever key the song was originally in. If a song was made famous by a person playing it in G, it will sound just fine transposed to some other key (C for example) because that is just how our brain treats music. It's the intervals that matter, not the precise pitches. So, a song will generally be played in whatever key the vocalist(s) find(s) comfortable.

John
Click to expand...

Hi John I have learnt that much so far, i am going to join a local group at the weekend so hopefully i will get more into the theory side of things. I can not sing and dont think i would even try to so not a problem for me at the moment.
One thing I did not understand was about the intervals? did you mean rests.
 
Last edited:
philrab66 said:
Hi John I have learnt that much so far, i am going to join a local group at the weekend so hopefully i will get more into the theory side of things. I can not sing and dont think i would even try to so not a problem for me at the moment.
One thing I did not understand was about the intervals? did you mean rests.
Click to expand...

No, in music an interval refers to the "distance" between two pitches. If you look at your chromatic western scale it is composed of 12 mathematically related half steps. I.e. C C# D Eb E F F# G Ab A Bb B then back to C. Each of those is a half step interval (notice there isn't an "extra" note between the B and C and the E and F like there are other notes, but the interval from B to C is exactly the same proportion as the interval from C to C#).

This chromatic scale isn't how we play music, though. Most western music is based on a diatonic scale - of which there are several.

The most commonly used scale in western music is the major scale. Using C as the scale makes this easiest to understand. The C major scale is just C, D, E, F, G, A, B. There are no sharps or flats. Notice, however, the pattern of steps and half steps. If we compare this scale to the chromatic scale above you see that we have the following pattern, full, full, half, full, full, full, half (C-D, D-E, E-F, F-G, G-A, A-B, B-C). It's that pattern that gives the scale its characteristic sound.

Anyway, back to that major scale - each of the notes is an interval away from the root (i.e. C). The D is said to be the second, the E is the 3rd, and so on. To our ear, absent any other reference, the interval from C to E sounds just like the interval from D to F# or from G to B (except to an extremely tiny fraction of the population that has perfect absolute pitch). They are all intervals of four half steps, which is a major third.

Both harmony and melody are based on these intervals. So, if you take all of the notes in a song written in D and move them down two half steps, you have that same song, but it is now in C.


This is probably going to keep going way over your head so I'm going to stop now before your eyes start bleeding... :) Don't worry, you really don't need to know much theory to play - and the theory will come as you need it.

John
 
OldePhart said:
No, in music an interval refers to the "distance" between two pitches. If you look at your chromatic western scale it is composed of 12 mathematically related half steps. I.e. C C# D Eb E F F# G Ab A Bb B then back to C. Each of those is a half step interval (notice there isn't an "extra" note between the B and C and the E and F like there are other notes, but the interval from B to C is exactly the same proportion as the interval from C to C#).

This chromatic scale isn't how we play music, though. Most western music is based on a diatonic scale - of which there are several.

The most commonly used scale in western music is the major scale. Using C as the scale makes this easiest to understand. The C major scale is just C, D, E, F, G, A, B. There are no sharps or flats. Notice, however, the pattern of steps and half steps. If we compare this scale to the chromatic scale above you see that we have the following pattern, full, full, half, full, full, full, half (C-D, D-E, E-F, F-G, G-A, A-B, B-C). It's that pattern that gives the scale its characteristic sound.

Anyway, back to that major scale - each of the notes is an interval away from the root (i.e. C). The D is said to be the second, the E is the 3rd, and so on. To our ear, absent any other reference, the interval from C to E sounds just like the interval from D to F# or from G to B (except to an extremely tiny fraction of the population that has perfect absolute pitch). They are all intervals of four half steps, which is a major third.

Both harmony and melody are based on these intervals. So, if you take all of the notes in a song written in D and move them down two half steps, you have that same song, but it is now in C.


This is probably going to keep going way over your head so I'm going to stop now before your eyes start bleeding... :) Don't worry, you really don't need to know much theory to play - and the theory will come as you need it.

John
Click to expand...

Hi John
Thanks for taking the time to write all that. Half of it did go in but you were right to stop were you did brain started to hurt. i am understanding basics so that is a start.
Thanks Phil.
 
Thanks for posting this... was just considering looking for a new song to learn a new chord today :)
 
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