I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt, but not this forum

[iconic]

I dip in and out of out music theory, learn something, mostly forget it, then put a toe back in and then find I know bugger all....

 

...and keys are still puzzling at times as people try nail a key signature to a hundreds year old music convention to fit modern music....Chris Isaak

Wicked Game was interesting on that 'score'. 

 

But onto a far more heavyweight, classic tune of tremendous gravitas, that is Right Said Fred's, I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt. 

 

It's three chords, E, D and Bm  sublimely arranged, a song smiths dream...well ok, the plumber loved it when it came on the radio, sang the words and, it's easy to noodle along with on the garage beater bass.... there can't be many kitchen installs where the punter plays bass over the radio and the sound of machine tools. 

 

Yet the sheet music to this acoustic gem has it as E major....with more than a few naturals as there aren't any D sharps in the tune. 

 

E major, I know chords get borrowed but even so?..the D would be diminished and the B major in my perfect world.

 

I thought it was A major. 

 

If it is E major how would the chord progression be written...I-viiM-v? 

 

I know, it's me and my sketchy theory, and it very obvious I'm sure, but some words of wisdom would be grateful as to how E major is derived. 

 

On another erm, note, the riff reminds me a Hendrix song, that I can't remember the name of. 

 

Many thanks. 😎

 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2023 by iconic

[Horizontalste]

I can't offer you any resolve (see what I did there), all I have is my own meandering experience (thanks Baz Lurman) which is this.

 

Have you seen that kids film Frozen?

Well the premise is this, "let it goooo, let it goooo"

 

I too went down the "what key is it" rabbit hole & it got me nowhere!

 

I understand now that keys change all the time & the concept is nothing more than an explanation of sorts.

 

If you ain't rocking "I'm too sexy" this weekend with the band without any rehearsal then it's irrelevant what the key centre is. If you are then just make sure the guitarist knows what you're gonna play (don't let that pre madonna dictate).

 

Delving too deeply into that side of theory was nothing more than a headache to me.

I found my time better spent developing my ear & "learning the language" (ommmmmmm)!

[TKenrick]

On 08/04/2023 at 11:14, iconic said:

 

Yet the sheet music to this acoustic gem has it as E major....with more than a few naturals as there aren't any D sharps in the tune. 

 

E major, I know chords get borrowed but even so?..the D would be diminished and the B major in my perfect world.

 

I thought it was A major. 

 

If it is E major how would the chord progression be written...I-viiM-v? 

 

I know, it's me and my sketchy theory, and it very obvious I'm sure, but some words of wisdom would be grateful as to how E major is derived. 

 

 

Having given it a quick listen I'm not sure that the sheet music is totally correct, which doesn't help matters at all.

 

It feels to me like the B chord isn't really Bm, but rather it's more of a Bsus4 thing - there's frequently an E melody note over it in the instrumental sections. The bass also plays a fill that sounds distinctly major in character at one point.

 

So I'd think of it as being in E major, but nobody is really committing to playing the 3rd on the B chord, giving us I - bVII - V (or Vsus4, if you like).

 

The D major chord is a very common substitution, it's a borrowed chord from the parallel key of E minor and is labelled as 'flat 7 major'. This chord crops up all over the place, often with another borrowed chord (flat 6 major) before it.

 

Think about the turnaround of 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love', we're in D major, but we get Bb - C - D (bVI - bVII - I)

 

 

On 10/04/2023 at 20:50, Horizontalste said:

 

If you ain't rocking "I'm too sexy" this weekend with the band without any rehearsal then it's irrelevant what the key centre is. If you are then just make sure the guitarist knows what you're gonna play (don't let that pre madonna dictate).

 

Delving too deeply into that side of theory was nothing more than a headache to me.

I found my time better spent developing my ear & "learning the language" (ommmmmmm)!

 

Totally agree on the first point, being able to actually play the thing takes top priority.

 

But... it's hard to 'learn the language' if you don't know what the words mean. A trained ear is a wonderful thing to have, but we need labels to put on the sounds we hear so we can categorise them - that, for me, is the value of theory.

[Horizontalste]

@TKenrickagreed on all counts!

 

Please don't think it was my intention to take any value or importance from theoretical knowledge.

 

Obviously a well rounded musician needs theory & a good ear & for transcribing accurate identification of the key(s) is vital.

I guess I was trying to say that I spent a hell of a lot of time trying to figure out the key sigs to songs I learnt & it never really got me anywhere. Just lots of frustration.

 

I could get really hung up on it. At the time I believed that I had to know the key(s) to be absolutely sure that I knew the chords.

Now I just hear the chords & the key has little importance in the situations I play in.

 

Obviously everyone is different & anything I say here should be taken as my own experience & not as concrete fact.

 

I'm waffling again! Hope that made sense tho, it nearly does in my head 🤔

 

 

 

[iconic]

Many thanks for your help guys, some interesting points.

 

I usually try play a choon by ear if possible, then if chords are available, use these to check how good or bad 😉my ear is. Then, pad it out with fills n stuff over the chords. 

 

Wouldn't be the first time the dots haven't been as accurate as they could be. 

 

Again, thanks for the help. 😎

Edited April 13, 2023 by iconic

[nekomatic]

Before playing a Freds song I assume you’ve also reviewed the ‘problematic creators and their music’ thread… 

[iconic]

On 13/04/2023 at 08:25, nekomatic said:

Before playing a Freds song I assume you’ve also reviewed the ‘problematic creators and their music’ thread… 

Yes, and? 

[nekomatic]

Only observing that the Fairbrass brothers are now vocal conspiracy theorists, particularly around COVID and vaccines. Not telling you what to think about that, but it might affect how their songs go down with an audience. 

[Baloney Balderdash]

On 14/04/2023 at 13:03, nekomatic said:

Only observing that the Fairbrass brothers are now vocal conspiracy theorists, particularly around COVID and vaccines. Not telling you what to think about that, but it might affect how their songs go down with an audience. 

Yes, without question from now on I at least will always be interpreting the lyrics for "I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt" as being code for anti vax!

 

Who would have thought. 

 

I'll never go shirtless again, especially not after having my chest vaxed. 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash