Last Two Dollars

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
I heard this song by Johnnie Taylor on Bluesville (XM radio) and I liked it, so I thought I'd create a track for it.
It's bluesy, but not 12 bar so the chord changes are a little challenging, but it's slow 84 BPM, so not too hard for the fingers.
(Created in Guitar Pro 7 output to mp3 & mixed in Studio One)

Here are the chords:
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/o7wqy1d0gxa05t9/Last Two Dollars-Chords.pdf?dl=0

And here's the track:
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/vwh4q7jjcap5qzz/Last Two Dollars-Backing.mp3?dl=0
 

MarcV

Blues Junior
Gentlemen, never been much of a "mode" guy as I have trouble understanding them but this one was eye opener in that I ended up playing a lot of what I guess is B Dorian. Throwing in the 2 and the 6th to the Bm pentatonic and it sounded just right. Anyone else have the same experience?
 

Ted_Zeppelin

I’ll agree with you so that both of us are wrong.
Gentlemen, never been much of a "mode" guy as I have trouble understanding them but this one was eye opener in that I ended up playing a lot of what I guess is B Dorian. Throwing in the 2 and the 6th to the Bm pentatonic and it sounded just right. Anyone else have the same experience?

I am wrong guy #2 to answer anything about modes but here is where my thinking was. I used the natural minor scale to solo with (1-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7). The chords in this one are the 1-b6-5-4. The one thing that confused me was the 5 was a F#maj chord. The little modal theory that my brain knows is that the 5 should be minor in a minor scale. Oh @Paleo, we need your expertise!
 
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MarcV

Blues Junior
I am wrong guy #2 to answer anything about modes but here is where my thinking was. I used the natural minor scale to solo with (1-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7). The chords in this one are the 1-b6-5-4. The one thing that confused me was the 5 was a Gmajor chord. The little modal theory that my brain knows is that the 5 should be minor in a minor scale. Oh @Paleo, we need your expertise!
Interesting. The Dorian is 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7. Pretty close.
 

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
...we need your expertise!

I'll do what I can.

Chords in minor key = i iib5 III iv v VI VI

Chords in B minor = Bm C#mb5 D Em F#m G A

Bm = i

Em = iv

F#m = v

G = VI

It’s common in a minor progression to make the v chord Major, i.e raise the 3rd, F#m (F# A C#) --->F# Major (F# A# C#).

The F# Major V chord calls for the B Harmonic minor over that chord, i.e. raise the b7 of the B Natural minor scale (A to A#).

You raise the b7 of the Natural minor scale to agree with the raised 3rd of the V chord.

So Natural minor except for Harmonic minor over the V chord.

Only one note difference.

No "modes" needed. :sneaky:


1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 = Natural minor

1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7 = Harmonic minor

1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 = Dorian - The 6 won’t sound ‘”right”.
 
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