Hysteria

[Kitsto]

I know it's not fashionable to say so but I like playing along to Def Lepp's Hysteria. It's got that move from D to G then that sublime move down to E (a favourite with Neil Young even though G to E shouldn't really work) then the chorus is just D to C then D to B then another sublime move from E to C - which shouldn't work - then back to D. The middle eight involves A and D. Rick Savage has no pretensions as a bass player. He says he always uses a pick because his right hand is inconsistent at fingering. I use this as a right-hand warm-up alternating finger exercise. It just feels so simple and right. But then I'm a very basic bassist.

[Cat Burrito]

3 hours ago, Kitsto said:

It's got that move from D to G then that sublime move down to E (a favourite with Neil Young even though G to E shouldn't really work) 

It's Em so it should and does work. It's a pretty widely used sequence for that very reason.

[Kitsto]

I am such a dweeb. Of course you're right. It's Em. When I first tried to play guitar I hated barre chords so loved D/C/G but Ema never sounded right with G because, of course, the G in Ema is sharp. So I've always been amazed when the G to E progression works but that's cos in Em it's G natural. Thank you for illuminating that for me, Cat. It's a bit like discovering that whichever day is Christmas will be the same day that New Year falls on. Only twigged that in my 30s. Next month I'm 60. A blinding revelation every thirty years, then. Maybe I have time for one more.

[Cat Burrito]

2 hours ago, Kitsto said:

I am such a dweeb. Of course you're right. It's Em. When I first tried to play guitar I hated barre chords so loved D/C/G but Ema never sounded right with G because, of course, the G in Ema is sharp. So I've always been amazed when the G to E progression works but that's cos in Em it's G natural. Thank you for illuminating that for me, Cat. It's a bit like discovering that whichever day is Christmas will be the same day that New Year falls on. Only twigged that in my 30s. Next month I'm 60. A blinding revelation every thirty years, then. Maybe I have time for one more.

No worries. It's not unusual for all of us to miss something that is perhaps so obvious to others - we all do it.