Learn to play Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones on JustinGuitar!
View the full lesson at Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones | JustinGuitar
Hi all.
Does anyone know what key Brown Sugar is in?
Hello @brianj955 and welcome to the Community.
Not a straightforward answer.
Most of the song can be seen as the key of C.
But, through the famous ‘riff’ are some ‘out-of-key’ chords, Ab, Bb, Eb.
Those chords happen to be the three major chords from the parallel minor key of C minor. These three chords can be described as an example of modal interchange / chord borrowing.
Hope that helps.
Cheers 
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide
Thanks Richard.
Yes that helps.
I figured it was in C, but the Eb, Ab and Bb threw me.
So it’s part Cmaj and part Cmin (Aeolian?).
Just a bit confused by the relative minor scale.
I though the relative minor to Cmaj was Am?
(I’m not good on scales).
Sorry - error on my part. I should have written parallel minor. I have now corrected it.
Not heard of that before, but it makes sense, I think.
Many thanks.
I have watched a lot of Justin’s song videos, but this one is very well done for an older player such as myself. Yes, Virginia, the old memory doesn’t work quite as well as it and the way Justin explained the song was perfect for an old fart like me. Well done Justin!