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Thanks as always, @Andrew, for the nice feedback!
thanks @ripley, nice of you to say!
Many thanks @Andrew. I appreciate the feedback!
Thanks @Andrew! That escalated quickly :). You went deep with the theory — I’ve heard some of those terms but will have to learn more to appreciate your insight here.
In any case, I can see how the In scale relates to the minor scale, and in our case D minor, which seems like it might be a nice place to start for an understanding of how the scale works. The A note at the end of bar 4 feels restful to me, but maybe D feels like the root from the minor perspective.
By the way, my question was also about trying to understand the process of arrangement — it seems inevitable that small modifications are introduced to fit with the intended instrument, or the taste of the arranger, so I was curious if there might be a rationale, or if it was simply intuition, etc, that brought forth the G.
@Andrew, Hmm, well I noticed there are 6 notes used in the arrangement, not 5:
D E F G A Bb
So this fact already presents a puzzle, whatever the root note is.
As for the root being D, maybe I’m misunderstanding the convention. The pattern (as described in the video, and elsewhere) is 1 2-flat 4 5 6-flat, which gives for the key of D:
D Eb G A Bb
As this doesn’t line up with the observed notes, I settled on the root being A:
A Bb D E F
This almost matches the notes used in the arrangement — but of course misses G…
@Andrew, I’m confused about the arrangement of Sakura Sakura. As you mention in the lesson, the scale is a traditional Japanese “in scale”, featuring only 5 notes — apparently also known as the “Sakura pentatonic scale”! I inferred that the root note in the arrangement is A, due to the intervals I see. So the 5 notes should be A Bb D E F.
However, I noticed the arrangement also prominently features the note G (“flat 7”?), which seems to fill in one of the big gaps (two whole steps) that normally would be present in this scale.
I have access to one other arrangement, by the great John King. Although it is quite different, it appears to be in the same key and, interestingly, also has instances of the G note, although in that case only 2, somewhat concealed within a 4 note chord.
I wonder if you could shed light on this mystery — is there a reason to include the G?
P.S. It is a real joy to play and learn.
Here’s an idea — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKAKGCVdVd4
@miztaken. The Bb is my favorite chord ;). Is it tenor or concert size?
@miztaken it sounds so sweet on the Moonbird…
@Andrew thanks for the video feedback! You are right, I fumbled a few times, but I think I can iron them out to keep the flow. It’s a beautiful song to play, thanks again. New word for me — Rubato…nice…
@jinajupiter Thumbs up. What do you mean by “different both times”?
@robinboyd After some struggling, I also went to Jack Johnson’s original and noted that he was indeed singing the corresponding note in his key (A, over something like a Bb chord)… so I committed to doing the E.
Anyway, I think your vocal choices personalized your performance, with a nice laid back effect.
@Stephen many thanks for your generous feedback. Your suggestion about adjusting the vocals is interesting. Singing the high notes of the original arrangement was possible for me, but brought out a tone in my voice that just didn’t seem to fit. I’ll have to get a capo and try shifting the whole thing up.
What I really found a bit awkward was the fact that the first note that is sung in the chorus (E) is not found in the chord (F), so it seems to harmonize strangely — I guess we are constructing a Fmaj7 chord (?) with the help of the voice, but it threw me off for a bit, because my voice is instinctually trying to match a note within the chord itself. I had to “power through” it… I wonder if others found this tricky or if it is just me.