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Major or Minor Key ?
Joined: Apr 24, 2006 Posts: 119 MV Mi Amigo |
Posted on Apr 02 2007 02:46 AM
I was sitting here when I realised I don't know if surf tunes are even in major or minor keys ? (!) Well, which is more common ? Does it change from classic to revival /contemporary ? (I had noticed they tend to favour minor chords which would suggest minor keys) PG |
Joined: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 839 United Kingdom 
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Posted on Apr 02 2007 03:31 AM
I'd say Am and Em were the most popular keys - although often with a bridge or middle 8 section in the relative major key (i.e. C or G). Melodies are often in the 'Phrygian' mode with its characteristic flattened second or in the Harmonic Minor scale giving the tunes a slightly 'mysterious' quality. —http://www.myspace.com/thepashuns Youth and enthusiasm are no match for age and treachery. |
Joined: Feb 17, 2007 Posts: 281 Murfreesboro, TN 
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Posted on Apr 02 2007 09:12 AM
I'd say that minor chords are used so much in surf music that they could be considered a major characteristic of the genre. Nearly every surf tune I've written is in a minor key for sure. —Ron (ToneBoy) |
Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 3546 mojave desert, california
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Posted on Apr 02 2007 09:56 AM
My favorites are minor keys: right now, I'm super-big on Bm. -dp |
Joined: Jun 17, 2006 Posts: 1010 Bay City, Michigan
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Posted on Apr 02 2007 11:13 AM
i think its just a lot easier to make a good sounding surf tune in minor. major sounds too happy for surf. speaking of key signatures, isnt it a known fact that most rock n roll songs are in the key of the first note of the song? notice that surf breaks that rule? miserlou, for example, starts on EM, but is in the key of Am, even though its not a traditional scale, that's still what key it is. — |
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Joined: Apr 24, 2006 Posts: 119 MV Mi Amigo |
Posted on Apr 02 2007 06:35 PM
Yeah, that's right. It's the same as the first note most times. |
Joined: Sep 02, 2006 Posts: 3166 Denver, CO 
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Posted on Apr 02 2007 08:18 PM
Perhaps it's because Misirlou wasn't originally a rock song? |
Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 10331 southern Michigan
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Posted on Apr 02 2007 10:04 PM
It's not. It's in E. Ivan —Ivan |
Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 3832 netherlands
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Posted on Apr 03 2007 02:34 AM
... and if you'd consider it Am, it would be harmonic Am, pretty traditional Rules to live by #314: |
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Joined: Apr 24, 2006 Posts: 119 MV Mi Amigo |
Posted on Apr 03 2007 08:58 PM
So, in the context of 60s guitar music more generally, which (to my limited knowledge) had a strong blues influence, any ideas about why this influence didnât come across into surf instro ? (the use of the âblues scaleâ being a practical example) Iâm curiousâ¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦? PG |
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Joined: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 839 United Kingdom
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Posted on Apr 03 2007 09:16 PM
Well.. I think surf has more of a Flamenco influence ... However, the minor pentatonic, or 'Blues Scale' (though some would insist on the addition of the flattened fifth to call it that) is by no means rare in instro music. The lead riff at the turnaround in Link Wray's "Rumble' runs straight down it. —http://www.myspace.com/thepashuns Youth and enthusiasm are no match for age and treachery. |
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Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 3832 netherlands
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Posted on Apr 04 2007 03:37 AM
there'an awful lot of surf songs evolving around a blues scale and a 12 bar blues scheme....Id even think it's more common than the flamenco like miserlou scale songs —Rules to live by #314: |
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Joined: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 839 United Kingdom
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Posted on Apr 04 2007 04:12 AM
Yeah... 'Wipe Out' for one is a straight 12 bar.... —http://www.myspace.com/thepashuns Youth and enthusiasm are no match for age and treachery. |
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Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 10331 southern Michigan
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Posted on Apr 04 2007 07:27 AM
"Surf Beat" by Dick Dale - definitely blues derived. Ivan —Ivan |
Joined: Feb 01, 2007 Posts: 308 Ellicott City, Maryland |
Posted on Apr 04 2007 07:47 AM
When there is a wild solo type thing going on at a point in some surf songs, isn't it usually using the blues scale?...but with not as much note bending so it doesn't sound too blues. Kevin |
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Joined: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 839 United Kingdom
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Posted on Apr 04 2007 12:27 PM
Another sound is the use of the Minor Pentatonic over a strongly Major chord sequence. This has a kind of 'wrongness' that is very evocative of '60s party scenes in the sort of films where people use the word 'Daddio' Here's a link to one of our tunes I used this on if anyone is interested... http://homepage.ntlworld.com/carl.chamberlain/HatsOffToBari.mp3 —http://www.myspace.com/thepashuns Youth and enthusiasm are no match for age and treachery. |
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Joined: Feb 01, 2007 Posts: 308 Ellicott City, Maryland |
Posted on Apr 04 2007 12:30 PM
oh! thanks estreet, I was wondering how to get that sound. |
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