Key for Sympathy for the devil

TwoNotesSolo

Student Of The Blues
Chords are E D, A and the Chorus adds B

Griff always says when you have two major chords a step apart they are the IV V usually, so that would make D and E be the IV and V making the root A.

But soloing in A minor sounds like crap to my ear, A Major sounds better but still off, like you 're playing the wrong song even though it's not dissonant. E Major pentatonic is the solo key that sounds best to me.

So that makes the progression of the verse I bVII IV in E Major

so then googled for I bVII IV expecting to find nothing because I made it up/was confused, and it turns out it is a "real" progression, there is even an entire TrueFire course on it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcdhh8G13PM

So is it in the key of E right?

The E major pentatonic holds all the notes of the E Mixolydian scale which is a relative of A Major though. So should I think of it as E Mixolydian? the only difference between E Mixolydian and E major is the 7th I think, and the D natural fits and the D# doesn't, so is it better described as a song in the E Mixolydian mode, and either E Major pentatonic or E Myxolidian scales will be great for solo?

Then there is that B chord. I think if it were E Mixolydian the B would be minor? So is the key E major in the end? that B would be major in E.

AAaaarg!

I know I says, let's Google for sheet music and see what the key signature is:
some are transposed, but most sheet music I see in the google previews appear to have four sharps. that would be E major! (E Myxolidian would share the key signature of A Major, or 3 sharps)

So sheet music tells me this song is in E Major ?!?!?!?!

Chris, you worry too much you say, just Google what key is "Sympathy for hte Devil" and sites like inwhatkey.com will give you the answer, most of them will also give you the tempo! bliss!

inwhatkey says the key is .... A Major
themodedecoder.com says... E Major
Notediscover.com says... A

Who knew that a 4 chord song (even just the first 3) would give me such as headache.

What say you?

Back to playing the E Mixolydian and E Major blues scale over Mick's rhythm track, because they sound good to me...
 

Crossroads

Thump the Bottom
I don't know theory very well, but when I play over it, I have a tougher time fitting E Major or Mixo but can't seem to hit a wrong note in Em pent.

That said it is delicately an E major chord.

Where oh where is our resident expert on SFTD @sloslunas when you need him?
 
Last edited:

Randy S

Blues Junior
Not familiar with the song but from your description it sounds like it is in the key of A, but the E chord is the tonic chord which makes it E Mixolydian (which is relative to A major). Same basic progression as Sweet Home Alabama (D, C, G). Soloing options would include:

-E Mixolydian
-E major pentatonic
- for a blues/rock sound E minor pentatonic
- a combination of E major pentatonic and E minor pentatonic (which is E Mixolydian with an added b3)

The B chord is somewhat of mystery but probably just using a borrowed chord from the parallel E Major- not that unusual to borrow a chord from a
parallel scale in a chorus.
 
Last edited:

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
I never really listened closely enough to this song to realize how repetitive it is.:whistle:

So it was pretty easy to play along.

The verse is E D A E which I would also consider a I bVII IV I in E Major.

The refrain at the end of each verse (following an "extra" measure of E) is B E B E which would be a V I V I.

Notice that all the lead played in the song occurs only over the progression of the verse.

You can definitely pick out licks up in E Minor Box 1 and then in Box 2 in the 15th-17th fret area, i.e. Griff's 4 Note Solo pattern:).

Even I could play along with some of those licks, which means my ear has improved greatly since I started studying with Griff:cool:.

Major pentatonic doesn't fit/sound good at all, so I'm ruling out both E Major and E Mixolydian.

I'll stick with the Key of E Major: E, A and B as the I, IV and V, with D as a bVII borrowed from the Mixolydian.

But play E minor.

As did Keith.:sneaky:
 
Last edited:

JestMe

Student Of The Blues
Interesting discussion....

I haven't studied this song at all but ... I wonder if this may be a "Modal Interchange," where the mode of a diatonic chord can be changed... in this case that might explain the flip from Bm to B Major ... with a key center of E

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borrowed_chord

Hmmm I maybe trying to say the same thing that Randy S already said!
 

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
I wonder if this may be a "Modal Interchange..

That's how I'm looking at it. The bVII (D) chord is borrowed from E Mixolydian.

So you're mixing E Major (Ionian) with a chord borrowed from the parallel (E) Mixolydian.
 
Last edited:

TwoNotesSolo

Student Of The Blues
What I find interesting is the statements that E Major doesn't fit, or does, or...
Obviously different opinions about what sounds good over the progression.
 

TwoNotesSolo

Student Of The Blues
So then why do you think E Major and E mixolydian sound bad? They should fit (and so should the Em blues scale).
 

Many Moons

Biking+Blues=Bliss
I have just read this whole thread. Now I need to lie down for a while.:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused::confused: It has highlighted the fact that I need to study the theory course I purchased from Griff about 8 yrs ago.:whistle:
 

sloslunas

NM Blues
I don't know theory very well, but when I play over it, I have a tougher time fitting E Major or Mixo but can't seem to hit a wrong note in Em pent.

That said it is delicately an E major chord.

Where oh where is our resident expert on SFTD @sloslunas when you need him?
Don't understand why this is so complicated. Watch Cowboy and Griff. Please disregard the fool at the mic...he has no clue on what is being played!
Sympathy for the Devil (stage right)

Steve
 

JohnHurley

Rock and Roll
I dont understand most of this at all ... if Paleo is confused it is rocket science!

Band yesterday worked on Cake I Will Survive the chord progression works apparently but makes little sense to me!


4EE4137A-7A0C-44B9-945E-EAD5070BF1A0.jpeg
 

tommytubetone

Great Lakes
It looks like things got out of hand after I had to leave. But it also reminds me to formally request that the BGUettes perform in Kalamazoo in August. :Beer:
 

Crossroads

Thump the Bottom
Please forgive my theoretical ignorance. You know the chords, you can figure how the solo works out, you know the chord tones to hit the chord changes.

So what benefit is there in knowing the key? What does that get you? In this case it almost seems detrimental, because while you can get away with sticking some E major in there, it feels like you're stuffing it in, whereas Em just slides right in
 

Randy S

Blues Junior
My two cents worth.

Music is more than just notes from a key. It is the combination of rhythm, harmony and melody (with the solo serving as the melody).
This song has an aggressive beat with a distorted tone (after all it's the Stones- the embodiment of blues based rock) so E minor pentatonic fits perfectly just like in the blues,minor pentatonic is the baseline.

However, take the same chord progression with a more relaxed feel and cleaner tone or even an acoustic based rhythm and E minor pentatonic will not fit as well.E major pentatonic or, if you want a fuller sound using an E based major diatonic scale, will likely sound better. My choice would be E Mixolydian changing to E Major over the B chord. Paleo's choice would be E Major changing to E Mixolydian over the D chord. Both would likely sound good.
 
Top