A Really Stupid Question About Theory

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1360575943' post='1972394']
I may have read what you were trying to say wrong but I was trying to outline the importance of seeing a chord in relation to it's function:
When a chord has a major third and a minor seventh it's function is dominant.
[/quote]

Indeed, I guess my original post was a deliberate over simplification in order not to overload theOPs brain with too many "it depends" / "except for" etc etc.

[XB26354]

[quote name='yepmop' timestamp='1360159122' post='1965799']
Hi All

I'm currently doing a music theory course which is going well but I think I'm missing some very fundemental knowledge that is preventing me from peicing eveything together.

it's a question a that I feel really embaressed about asking is i think I should really know this. I did ask my online tutour but his responce may as well have been written in swahiliy.

Okay, say the song is in the key of C Major can I only use notes from that major scale or can i use different scales to match the appropiate chords within the song?

Answers as simple as possible

Any help much appreciated.

Many thanks

Tony
[/quote]

He did say simple - talking about theory ends up getting complicated very quickly.
So the answer is yes, what you've said above is one possibility, but there are others. Think of it as a starting point.
The answer lies in harmony, so to know more you'll need to get a better understanding of chords and chord progressions. Get a keyboard!