What key is "Sweet Home Alabama" in?

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 13 Jul 2015 9:45 am

To be honest, I'd even rather play Free Boid.

Ah, yes, Free Boid. Watch the movie "Elizabethtown" sometime. It's Free Boid at it's best…

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 13 Jul 2015 11:39 am

"home" is always Boston for me... I love dat dirty water, it's a wicked pissah.

Pissah!!

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 13 Jul 2015 11:41 am

hey bill, i see it your way!

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 13 Jul 2015 11:42 am

Joachim Kettner wrote:Did they steal it from "White Room" by Cream?

White Room has a totally different chord progression.

The problem many country type steel players have with progressions is that different types of music have different sorts of tonalities and keys. If somebody calls a bluegrass tune and says its in D modal I know to listen for clues to what scale is used and watch out for flat 7 chords.

A jazz two chord tends to be minor and a country two chord tends to be major.

Rock progressions are a different animal.

There is a cool thing happening with pop bands that has been going on a while. I have toured with acts that would morph from major to minor at will within a tune. Its similar to a modal thing but more interesting.

To try and nail down what key something is in according to only one limited system is sorta limited. Like looking at a Vermeer and calling all the colors either red, yellow or blue.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 13 Jul 2015 12:07 pm

White Room has a totally different chord progression.

I knew that.

Mike Heugel · Post by **Mike Heugel** » 13 Jul 2015 2:51 pm

Song was written in D, but Ed King plays the solo in G - see the quote in the pic attached from Gary Rossington, Guitar Techniques Magazine, 2006.

Les Cargill · Post by **Les Cargill** » 13 Jul 2015 3:17 pm

There is no C major chord in the key of D. So I would not consider Mr. Rossington reliable on the subject.

It's a riff he come up with. Probably made him some money. We all know who he is. It *worked out*.

But that ain't key of D.

Mike Heugel · Post by **Mike Heugel** » 13 Jul 2015 4:17 pm

What if it's really I-I7-IV?

Mark van Allen · Post by **Mark van Allen** » 13 Jul 2015 5:54 pm

Les, maybe you missed the part of the discussion about "D mixolydian". That's what I consider songs like this, "Can't you See", "Werewolves of London", etc. to be in.

It's modal. there are thousands of modal tunes, where the chord progressions may seem to fit or rub together differently from similar major or minor progressions. That's the aural charm of modal stuff!

D major: D E F# G A B C# D. The 7 chord in D major would be C# E G or C#mb5.
D Mixolydian: D E F# G A B C The 7 chord becomes C E G which I'm sure you'll recognize is indeed C major. The giveaway to the "sound" is the "going downstairs" sound of the chords D to C… in S.H.A. the riffs on the G chord are straight up bluegrass fills, and I can see where a player could think of the whole tune in G… D mixolydian does contain the same notes as G major and "theoretically" will work. But it's pretty obvious the progression is at rest or "at home" on the D major, where landing on the G leaves it feeling unresolved.

I find it hilarious that the members of the original band have the same argument we're seeing here. You might give some weight to the fact that both the author and producer agree it's in D. Just a thought.

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 13 Jul 2015 7:37 pm

Joachim Kettner wrote:Yes Bill, if you see it this way. I also notice the use of a B-Bender and the piano, (is it Al Kooper, Jon Light?) lightening the mood.
But the message as an answer song to "Southern Man" is dubious. I remember an album by Don Nix and the Alabama State Troupers, it was more of my taste.

Is there a B-bender? I don't remember hearing that. And I've been under the impression there was a keyboard (including piano) player in the band. But I'm very far from being a Skynyrd fan. If I don't have to play "Sweet Home Alabama" or "Gimme Three Steps" ever again, it will be far too soon.

Les Cargill · Post by **Les Cargill** » 13 Jul 2015 8:18 pm

If you squint real hard, D mix looks a little like G.

Mike: I-I7-IV -

Steve Green · Post by **Steve Green** » 14 Jul 2015 2:05 am

Les Cargill wrote:There is no C major chord in the key of D.

In the key of D, isn't a b7 a C major?

I'm talking about a bVII (b7) as used in this example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rxEnGyoqSE

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 14 Jul 2015 8:07 am

Key of D mixolydian flats the 7th note of the scale, just like the key of D minor does. There is a C chord in D minor, and there is a C chord in D mixolydian. Sweet Home Alabama is in D mixolydian. Fancy name for a not-so-fancy key. I usually call it "key of D7th" because most people don't know modes.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 14 Jul 2015 8:17 am

Steve Green wrote:
Les Cargill wrote:There is no C major chord in the key of D.
In the key of D, isn't a b7 a C major?

I'm talking about a bVII (b7) as used in this example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rxEnGyoqSE

In your example, the bVII chord is a "borrowed chord" from another key. It's the IV of IV. That song is in a common major key (a.k.a. ionian mode). That's not what's happening in Sweet Home Alabama. It uses the bVII note and chord from the mixolydian mode. If you play a C# note anywhere in Sweet Home Alabama, it will sound out of key.

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 14 Jul 2015 8:57 am

I had no idea this song was that complicated…

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 14 Jul 2015 9:11 am

Frank Freniere · Post by **Frank Freniere** » 14 Jul 2015 4:45 pm

Barry Blackwood wrote:I had no idea this song was that complicated…

Carl Mesrobian · Post by **Carl Mesrobian** » 16 Nov 2015 9:20 am

I just have to keep this complicated thread going.

How about a medley? SHA with a bridge (a what?) to "Dirty Water" and an outro of "Please Come to Boston"

Stephen Gregory · Post by **Stephen Gregory** » 16 Nov 2015 10:29 am

Simply...the C subs for D7 so the key is D.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 16 Nov 2015 12:01 pm

i think barry will agree we should just eliminate this song from existence.

Carl Mesrobian · Post by **Carl Mesrobian** » 16 Nov 2015 12:33 pm

You could always make it interesting and do it in different modes - Aeolian one measure, dorian one measure, phrygian another, etc. But I don't think there are enough different notes to tell you much about the mode

I think my plan to shed some Western swing on C6 is a much more fulfilling adventure

Sidney Malone · Post by **Sidney Malone** » 16 Nov 2015 8:36 pm

Hey Carl, how about a swing version of SHA....while you shedding on C6?

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 17 Nov 2015 6:29 am

G.

b0b wrote:If you play a C# note anywhere in Sweet Home Alabama, it will sound out of key.

I rest my case.
-------------
However, having re-read MvA's argument:

But it's pretty obvious the progression is at rest or "at home" on the D major, where landing on the G leaves it feeling unresolved.

I hear it differently. Now, I can't find my way home.

Gee....

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 17 Nov 2015 6:53 am

Charlie McDonald wrote:G.
b0b wrote:If you play a C# note anywhere in Sweet Home Alabama, it will sound out of key.
I rest my case.
-------------
However, having re-read MvA's argument:
But it's pretty obvious the progression is at rest or "at home" on the D major, where landing on the G leaves it feeling unresolved.
I hear it differently. Now, I can't find my way home.

Gee....

The problem with that is when you get to the supposed tonic (G), the scale is also Mixolydian. You're not playing a G major scale over G there.

It's got to be D, although I can totally empathize with Ed King soloing in G there--musical dyslexia.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 17 Nov 2015 7:57 am

Incense And Peppermints replaced with Jack Daniels!
Let's be honest "Sunshine Pop" was out of date, now came the machos!