• Registered: 2011-02-13
  • Posts: 1

Topic: Key Signature Question?

Hello, I've been playing for years but just now I am making a strong effort to understand the theory behind the playing?  What key is Pink Houses by John Mellencamp in? I would initially think that it is in G Maj since that is where it starts and resolves to but the F does not fit.  For G Maj shouldn’t it have F# instead of F?   My 2nds guess would be C or Am since it has all the chords from that key but it never really resolves to a C chord and the Am chord is not even in the song.

Thanks for looking and hopefully not laughing! :-)

  • From: Alabama Gulf Coast
  • Registered: 2008-06-24
  • Posts: 1,819

Re: Key Signature Question?

It's in G. The F doesn't need to be in the G scale. The D is.
toots

We pronounce it "Guf Coast".
Ya'll wanna go down to the Guf?

tubatooter1940's Website

  • From: UnitedStates
  • Registered: 2011-02-16
  • Posts: 1

Re: Key Signature Question?

I'm pretty sure it's the key of G Major, in the blues scale of G Major the 3rd -5th & 7th notes of the scale are flattened. Since the 7th note of the G Major scale is F#, you'd flatten the 7th note to F.  No other notes are sharp in the key, and the notes for the F Major chord are F-A-C, so the F Major chord would diffently work in the key of G. Great tune, hope this was some help to ya.

Sixstringsmark's Website

  • Registered: 2019-01-27
  • Posts: 15

Re: Key Signature Question?

Please be aware that, sometimes in songs, writers will add chromatic chords. That is, chords that are not in the key. They do this to add an interesting effect. I am not familiar with the song you mentioned but this could be the case.