How'd I do on figuring out the chords?

[MarkRobbins]

I'm certain that transposing a song into the chord progression is easy for quite a few of you, but this was my first crack at it. This particular piece is not something I would be learning for fun, but I'm a Freemason, and there's a song that's usually sung by the lodge during a part of a degree ceremony. The Masonic lyrics are set to the tune of Pleyel's Hymn. My lodge hasn't used the song for years, primarily because no one knew how it went.

I decided to learn it so I could accompany the members and reintroduce it to the ritual. I couldn't find a chord chart anywhere, but I could find the sheet music. I know enough "theory" to read the key signature, and know how to figure out the standard chords for that key. It's a simple enough melody, but I'm an intermediate guitarist at best.

Pleyel's Hymn is in G, so the major chords would be G, C, and D, while the minor chords would be A, B, and E. The YouTube version has the sheet music as the visual while the song is playing. It can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDjR8yV_BLQ.

The chord progression I came up with is:
G Bm Am G
G Bm Am G
D Em D (with a Dsus2 on one beat of the last D)
G Bm Am G

I think it sounds okay, but I'm not entirely sure I've got it nailed. So, if you want to take a run at what I've done and make suggestions, I'm all ears.

 

[Paleo]

Excellent!

I'd just make a couple of small changes.

G D Am G
G D Am D7 G
D Em A D
G D Am D7 G

D Major because the notes are D F# A rather than B D F# (Just one note difference.)
I threw in a D7 between the Am and G in the 2nd and 4th lines.
And an A in the 3rd line.

Here's a "complete" break down of all the chords (w/o any inversions) I came up with. (Which I will demonstrate first.)

G G D G / Am7 D G
G G D G / Am7 D7 G
D B7 Em A / D A7 D
G G D G / Am7 D7 G

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/dd6dda2npsyzmng/Progression.mp4?dl=0


And here's some melody along with the above chords.

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/ujz6t68kfjybig8/Progression.mp3?dl=0


This was great fun for me. Thanks for the "challenge".

 

[Paleo]

For anyone who may be further interested (and to have a record for myself of what I did):


G---G---D---G / Am7-D-G/ G--G--D---G / Am7-D7-G (Chord names)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
B---D---A---B / C---A---B / B---D---A---B / C---A---G (Chord voices stacked vertically as in score, melody on top)
D---D---D---D / E---D---D /D---D---D---D / E---C---B (Follow any voice horizontally to check out the voice leading)
G---G---F#-G / G---F#-G / G---G---F#-G / A---F#-G
G---B---D---B / A---D---G / G---B---D---B / G---D--G


D---B7-Em-A---D--A7--D
----------------------------------
A---B---G---A / F#-E---D
D---D#-E---E / D---C#-D
F#--B---B---A / A---G---F#
D---B---E---C#/ D---A---D

 

[Paleo]

For even more fun, I wanted to take a closer look at the ascending chromatic line above, highlighted in red, along with the melody:

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/pq5brqki1364lcp/2 lines.mp4?dl=0

I just really like it.

 

[TwoNotesSolo]

Generally "transposing" music means changing it to a different key. The act of listening to it and writing it down is "transcribing". Not trying to be pedantic, we all understood what you meant, but just like knowing a little bit if theory helps people understand each other, knowing the proper meaning if "musical words" helps too.

 

[Eblues (AKA - Herm)]

I understood what he meant so well, I didn't even pick up on the incorrect term. I suppose I just read what I expected it to say, my brain has become very efficient that way... a "skill" that doesn't always work out positively.

 

[MarkRobbins]

Generally "transposing" music means changing it to a different key. The act of listening to it and writing it down is "transcribing". Not trying to be pedantic, we all understood what you meant, but just like knowing a little bit if theory helps people understand each other, knowing the proper meaning if "musical words" helps too.

Yeah, thanks. I sat at the keyboard in complete brain freeze, trying to remember the correct term. I know it's transcribe, but just couldn't remember it to save my life.

 

[MarkRobbins]

Excellent!

I'd just make a couple of small changes.

G D Am G
G D Am D7 G
D Em A D
G D Am D7 G
. . .

This was great fun for me. Thanks for the "challenge".

Thank you so much! That's just what I was looking for. I watched your videos, and it sounded just like what I was trying to get.

Become a Freemason, and your lodge would be thrilled to have you play this at the appropriate place in the Third Degree ritual!