July 4th Lesson – Star Spangled Banner and the Flat Fifth
Filed Under (Guitar Secrets) by admin on 04-07-2010
I was just noodling around with this famous melody and noticed
the use of the flat fifth as a way to spice up a major chord or
major scale. It’s also used in another famous melody as the video
reveals. Check it out!
Hope you enjoyed that video. Now, try to figure out the rest of the melody of
Star Spangled Banner by ear! It’s all in C major except for the F# as we discussed.
Also, try improvising your own variations AND/OR create
your own new melodies using this flat fifth concept.
And when you’re done, don’t forget to check out “Chord Mastery”.
Btw, If you haven’t downloaded “Chord Mastery” yet, Click Here Now!
Awesome vid,Claude.I esp. like the Simpsons part.
) TY for this.
Please,no political rants. Remember what happened the LAST time you posted after going to an Italian restaurant! You came up with that Uncle Ba Da Boom character! *shudders*
Great fun!!
your videos are so dark no one can see you or what you are doing,,lighten up Claude}:
It would have been nice if you gave the whole tabs.
I guess this is not a flat 5th, but a raised 4. It seems like no big deal, but what this tells us is that we must not play the 4th note, instead use the raised 4.
Looking closeer now, you will find that the melody is Lydian, because of the raised 4th. Lydian scale (or mode) is 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7. In C Lydian this means F# instead of F.
Have a look at some Joe Satriani songs, and you will find a lot of uses for the Lydian mode.
I use it sometimes to give a solo that little bit of extra spice!
GOOD INSIGHT, THX – CLAUDE
Paul Goossens is correct in saying it is lydian. It is not a flat 5th but a raised 4th. Sure it is the same note, but it is the context in which you are using the note, leading, passing tones, etc. Steve Vai is another player that uses lydian(raised 4th) to “spice things up” to great effect. To hear the flat 5th listen to Black Sabbath or Metallica and you get the contextual meaning clearly demonstrated.
YOU’RE RIGHT. I GUESS I’M HEARING IT AS A FLAT FIFTH BECAUSE THE NEXT NOTE IS THE FIFTH IN THIS SONG, AND IT HAS THAT HALF STEP RESOLUTION GOING ON… CHEERS – CLAUDE
Cmajor and b5 makes it so easy to remember. All the notes fall right into place. Thanks!
To add further to why it’s the sharp fourth rather than the flat fifth, I’d guess that the note, in its harmoni context, acts as the major third of the double dominant chord (that is, in C major, the third of the D major chord – which usually resolves in a V-I motion to G major).
Musical theory is real nice to talk about but knowing when to play a note is more important than knowing if it is a sharp fouth or a flat fifth, if it has the right feel and fits you will know. If its the wrong note you will know that too, so you just dont play it the next time. not all music is about theory if you think so then put down your axe and just do the math. Great lesson on music Claude.
Still waiting for that reply , Claude….. My comments have been removed – they’re probably the most accurate about this ‘Lydian’ stuff. I take it you can’t cope with constructive comments…….It’s still in 3/4 time, and still modulating to its dominant (G of C).If there was another F later in the tune, it would probably be natural,as the tune IS in C major.Reply please, Tim.