Is this in G minor regardless of the presence of an 'E' note?

[killahpl]

Hi Everyone,

i'm working on a song whose intro contains the following piano part:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xf5fiy9sfptr2 ... 2.wav?dl=0

(you should be able to play it online as opposed to having to download it)

Now, to the very limited extent that I know music theory, this seems to be in G minor.

As far as I know, the G minor scale consists of: G, A, Bb, C, D, Eb and F.

However, there's a couple of "E" notes in there - does that mean I'm going off-key here?

Thanks a lot for your feedback.

[BertKoor]

Read https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_scale
There are various minor scales.

[jancivil]

With E rather than the Eb in the key sig, it's a Dorian scale. Degrees 6 and 7 may be raised a semitone in minor, although E-F is the characteristic of [G] Dorian.
E to F# makes G ascending melodic minor (classically the natural degrees in descension; there is a simple melodic minor in jazz practice {and 'modes of' ie, starting on various degrees} with both raised). Eb - F# makes G 'Harmonic minor'.

[JumpingJackFlash]

The key of G minor contains both Eb and E-natural (as well as both F-natural, the subtonic, and F#, the leading note).
How they are used (context) may be important.

Regardless, a piece of music can (and usually does) contain notes foreign to the key (chromatic notes).
Again, context can be important. - Tonality isn't just a set of notes, that's why the major key differs from the minor key even though both contain the same notes (and likewise with the various modes).

[ChaosComplete]

Let's talk about the chords you're outlining though. The scale notes by themselves are meaningless since you can put any of the 12 western notes into any melody and they could qualify as passing tones.

You're outlining Gm, C, Eb chords. So that's i IV VI or minor one, Major four, Major six in the key of Gm. In pure Aeolian/Natural minor mode, you'd have a iv (minor four) chord, in this case Cm from the notes C-Eb-G. The IV (Major four) indicates G Dorian, which is where you are for most of the segment that you posted, but the Eb brings us back to a G natural minor feel.

The cool thing about minor keys is that you can float between Natural, Harmonic, Melodic, Dorian, Phrygian, Blues, and even both octatonic scales, as well as others in any combination and make it work. Just pay attention to the chords you're outlining and make the melody make sense and you're all good.

Oh and for examples of the i IV dorian thing, see "Mad World" (the "and i find it kind of funny" section), any time Pink Floyd gets funky, and like, half (probably exaggerating) of Santana's catalog.

[jancivil]

These are good and useful points.

With no context, yeah, we don't know what it is. I admit to not listening to the example. I didn't suspect classical sort of adherence, and that presence of both C and Eb major harmonies is a mix of the two modes probably.

Like I replied to the blues improv. query, E can be merely a grace to F and the real set is just minor pentatonic, or it's a spice to natural minor, what-have-you.

i to IV... Zappa started doing i to IV in City of Tiny Lites and eventually put out a solo off of that calling it The Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression.
i to IV in a vamp lends to real modal usage. I hesitate to call modal as a risk of creating a misunderstanding, 1) eg., G dorian with the one flat looks like F major but isn't, and Gm to C7 can wind up being ii - V7 pretty quick. 2) identity-wise, 'minor key' carries implications 'Dorian' doesn't need.