Doe a Deer (warning, Sound of Music content)

viz · May 2015

Great way of learning inversions (Edit ... updated, this is from the Sound of Music song, Doe a Deer.

Doe - E Root 0 2 2 1 0 0

Ray - B 2nd inversion 2 2 4 4 4 2

Me - E 1st inversion 4 7 6 4 5 4

Far - B7 3rd inversion 5 6 4 4 4 x

Sew - E 2nd inversion 7 7 9 9 9 7

Thread - A 1st inversion 9 12 11 9 10 9

La - F# 2nd inversion 9 9 11 11 11 9

Sew (again) - B 1st inversion 11 14 13 11 12 11

Tea - G# 2nd inversion 11 11 13 13 13 11

Bread - c#m 1st inversion 12 11 11 9 9 9

Bring - A 1st inversion 9 12 11 9 10 9

Back - B 1st inversion 11 14 13 11 12 11

Doe - E Root 12 14 14 13 12 12

MatthewShreddery · May 2015

Nice!

I saw this somewhere before but forgot about it.

wiz'd

viz · June 2015

Cheers - yes I find it a particularly good song coz there's roots, major and minor 1sts, 2nds and even a 3rd inversion in there.

frankus · June 2015

It might just be me being thick, but I think there's not enough context or description here to figure out what you mean unless you've seen this approach before.

Would it be possible to describe the goal and approach a bit more?

viz · June 2015

Not you being thick, just me not explaining it properly or clearly. It's just a helpful exercise if you want to understand inversions. So like, the chord which guitarists might call E over G#, well that's really an E 1st inversion, because the bottom note of that chord is the major 3rd. If you play an E on fret 8 in the A-barre style, the bottom note is the B, right, so that's probably called "E over B" but it's really just an E 2nd inversion. It's just an easier way of describing x over y chords. Similar to the figured bass notation.

So in Doe a deer, if playing in E, you'd play:

Doe - E major, standard E chord.
Ray - well that's a dominant chord, ie B, but you want to play the bottom F#
Me - that's an E chord again but you want the C# to be the bottom chord, so you play 1st inversion (or E over G#)
Far - this is a B7 chord, with the bass note being the 7th, which is an A, so here you're playing B 3rd inversion, or "B7 over A"
Etc.

It's a really good song for practising your inversions, thus enabling you to hold the tune in the bass.

Phil_aka_Pip · June 2015

frankus said:

It might just be me being thick, but I think there's not enough context or description here to figure out what you mean unless you've seen this approach before.
Would it be possible to describe the goal and approach a bit more?

I'm a bit thick too. For example, why does the supertonic have to be harmonised with the 2nd inversion of the V chord?

How about an approach which says FOR each degree of the scale, list the triads (from the scale) that contain it, and for the purposes of playing melodies supported by triad harmonies, which of those have that scale degree as their highest note?

eg The tonic is contained within the triads formed on the 1st, 4th and 6th degrees of the scale and is the highest note in the 1st inversion of the I triad, the root position of the IV triad and the 2nd inversion of the vi triad

bloodandtears · June 2015

Lost... can someone tab this?

Phil_aka_Pip · June 2015

bloodandtears said:

Lost... can someone tab this?

Tab won't explain it. Not at all.

bloodandtears · June 2015

Phil_aka_Pip said:

bloodandtears said:

Lost... can someone tab this?

Tab won't explain it. Not at all.

It would show the example chords to support the concept though surely?

frankus · June 2015

I agree with Phil, tab it and you'll have a Chinese takeaway for 10 people.

Phil_aka_Pip · June 2015

bloodandtears said:

Phil_aka_Pip said:

bloodandtears said:

Lost... can someone tab this?

Tab won't explain it. Not at all.

It would show the example chords to support the concept though surely?

You need to know the chords first. Practical examples can follow later

bloodandtears · June 2015

This is what I meant...

Doe - E major, standard E chord.
0-2-2-1-0-0

Ray - well that's a dominant chord, ie B, but you want to play the bottom F#
2-2-4-4-4-2

Me - that's an E chord again but you want the C# to be the bottom chord, so you play 1st inversion (or E over C#)
X-4-6-4-5-4

Far - this is also a B chord, with the bass note being the 7th, which is an A, so here you're playing B 3rd inversion, or "B7 over A"
??????

Is this right??

Phil_aka_Pip · June 2015

Well, I was questioning WHY that set of chords and not others that have similar notes in.

bloodandtears · June 2015

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Well, I was questioning WHY that set of chords and not others that have similar notes in.

lol.. well I hadn't got that far..

viz · June 2015

Yep blood and tears is right in concept, though chord 3 has to have the G#, so it's 46454. Like a C-chord shaped barre.

The A one is the "3rd inversion" of B, eg 56744x or 56444x.

The whole point of it is that you walk up the scale on the low e-string, like in the song.

bloodandtears · June 2015

"The whole point of it is that you walk up the scale on the low e-string, like in the song. "

I get that now but please supply chord 3 again.. 'cos you've repeated exactly what I put, and there is no low E fret.

and if you would be so kind as to list any more in a similar fashion??

viz · June 2015

Whoops lollll I meant 476454! I think I deleted the wrong bit of my post

)

Phil_aka_Pip · June 2015

I still don't get it. Why the V chord and not the ii or the vii chord with the F# on the 6th string?

viz · June 2015

Because that's not the harmony of the song Doe a Deer. You know it? From the sound of music.

viz · June 2015

The next one is E 2nd inversion:

Sol - 779997. Then A, 1st inversion 9 12 11 9 10 9

stickyfiddle · June 2015

It works, but only in G, not D

Phil_aka_Pip · June 2015

viz said:

Because that's not the harmony of the song Doe a Deer. You know it? From the sound of music.

Er, no not well. I think you've caught me out on not knowing songs from the sound of music before.

viz · June 2015

Hahahahahaa I think I have!!!! You do need to watch it you know.

bloodandtears · June 2015

Doe - E major, standard E chord.
0-2-2-1-0-0

Ray - a dominant chord, ie B, but you want to play the bottom F#
2-2-4-4-4-2

Me - an E chord again but you want the C# to be the bottom chord, so you play 1st inversion (or E over C#)
4-7-6-4-5-4

Far -
5-6-7-4-4-X

Sew -
7-7-9-9-9-7

La -
9-12-11-9-10-9

Tea - ?????

viz · June 2015

Sew has two chords - the E 2nd inversion and then A 1st inversion;

La has 2 chords - F# 2nd and B 1st;

Ti has G# 2nd, then c# minor 1st - that's an unusual chord

Then a quick turnaround back to doe.

ElectroDan · June 2015

I'm out!

MatthewShreddery · June 2015

It's just a musical way of playing a major scale, alternating between inversions of tonic and dominant chords.

In E:

E major chord root position (open low E in the bass)

B7 chord 2nd inversion (F# in bass)

E major chord 1st inversion (G# in Bass)

B7 chord 3rd inversion (A in bass)

etc etc etc

frankus · June 2015

I think I'm lost... is 7 chordwang?

frankus · June 2015

I mean, inversions I get like this:

root: C maj,

1st: Em6

2nd: (a Gsus ... as in Gsus wtf is that?!)

But I also think in terms of Brett Wilmott's harmonic extensions, as explained to me over a beer by Phil Robson many moons ago...

C maj - is also F dominant leaving space for the bass player... etc.

MatthewShreddery · June 2015

frankus said:

I think I'm lost... is 7 chordwang?

What do you mean?

thomasross20 · June 2015

I could never do this stuff on the fly in a live situation.

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Doe a Deer (warning, Sound of Music content)

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