What's the magic of AM and DM chords?

[MarathonMike]

Ex:

Loved the Ohio Players! A very under-rated group.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Stairway to Heaven starts with Am.

Penguin in Bondage starts in Dm

 

[The Duke]

Stairway to Heaven starts with Am.

Penguin in Bondage starts in Dm

Yeah, but there's at least 3 other chords. Can't really think it right now bcuz listening to "Fire".

 

[Uncensored2008]

I've written lots of music and the Am Dm combination is indeed strong especially RnB. But you're not going to write much of a song imo with just 2 chords.

Nope, you need three.

About 80% of Blues based songs are three chords.

Bm - F#m - E is a great combination as well.

 

[Uncensored2008]

Stairway to Heaven starts with Am.

Penguin in Bondage starts in Dm

In fact, it Stairway to Heaven is an arpeggiated pentatonic descending scale in Am. Natural, add 9, add C drop to D. Really quite brilliant.

 

[Woodznutz]

C, AM, F, G/G7: "Young Love", "Blue Moon", classic chord progression/combination.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

"For example, a melody functions in a harmonic climate. The chord that is being played is the harmonic climate – if it's an augmented chord it's a mysterious climate; if it's a diminished chord it's a little tenser; if it's minor it's serious; if it's major it's happy; if it's major seventh you're falling in love; if it's augmented 11th it's bebop. You know these are all established harmonic aromas that people recognize whether they do it consciously or not, that's what's built into you. So a melody functions against a harmonic climate in terms of what is the fractional delay between the time that you hit a note that is tension to that chord, to the the time that you hit a note which is inside the chord which creates the resolution – that's how melodies work. How many notes are you playing in your line that rub against the chord versus how many notes are inside the chord that takes the tension to rest. Your ear is computing that, ok?"

The Frank Zappa Interview Picture Disk, pt.1 - Zappa Wiki Jawaka

 

[CrusaderFrank]

"For example, a melody functions in a harmonic climate. The chord that is being played is the harmonic climate – if it's an augmented chord it's a mysterious climate; if it's a diminished chord it's a little tenser; if it's minor it's serious; if it's major it's happy; if it's major seventh you're falling in love; if it's augmented 11th it's bebop. You know these are all established harmonic aromas that people recognize whether they do it consciously or not, that's what's built into you. So a melody functions against a harmonic climate in terms of what is the fractional delay between the time that you hit a note that is tension to that chord, to the the time that you hit a note which is inside the chord which creates the resolution – that's how melodies work. How many notes are you playing in your line that rub against the chord versus how many notes are inside the chord that takes the tension to rest. Your ear is computing that, ok?"

The Frank Zappa Interview Picture Disk, pt.1 - Zappa Wiki Jawaka

From the same interview

"And one of the techniques I was using last night was: the chord that was stored in the loop has no third in it. That means that the pitch of the chord which determines whether it's major, minor, augmented or diminished, is missing. All you have is the root, the second and the fifth. When you have those three intervals in there you still hear it as a chord, but the notes that you can play against it enable you to encompass all the different variations of the nature of the chord. You can play Major Thirds, Minor Thirds, and everything in between against that chord. It's more like a neutral piece of canvas that you can paint on, and consequently, the bass notes that support that chord ... a lot of different bass notes can be used and each one that goes against the chord creates another set of mathematical possibilities for the melody notes that are happening on top of it. And, when you combine that with the mathematical possibilities of what the harmonic rhythm of the melody notes will be, how many rub – how many relax and all of that stuff – that's a world of opportunities during each song and I love doing that during the show. That's my favorite thing to do in the show."

 

[Uncensored2008]

From the same interview

"And one of the techniques I was using last night was: the chord that was stored in the loop has no third in it. That means that the pitch of the chord which determines whether it's major, minor, augmented or diminished, is missing. All you have is the root, the second and the fifth. When you have those three intervals in there you still hear it as a chord, but the notes that you can play against it enable you to encompass all the different variations of the nature of the chord. You can play Major Thirds, Minor Thirds, and everything in between against that chord. It's more like a neutral piece of canvas that you can paint on, and consequently, the bass notes that support that chord ... a lot of different bass notes can be used and each one that goes against the chord creates another set of mathematical possibilities for the melody notes that are happening on top of it. And, when you combine that with the mathematical possibilities of what the harmonic rhythm of the melody notes will be, how many rub – how many relax and all of that stuff – that's a world of opportunities during each song and I love doing that during the show. That's my favorite thing to do in the show."

Kind of the point of power chords. Is an A power chord a major, minor, 7th? No way to tell, and you can solo against any of those.

 

[MarathonMike]

Nope, you need three.

About 80% of Blues based songs are three chords.

Bm - F#m - E is a great combination as well.

And good ol Rock n Roll 1-4-5 power chords. I always think of "Don't get fooled again" but technically that was 1-5-4.