I don't understand why a song is said to be in A Mixolydian instead of D Major (Louie Louie by The Kingsmen)

[tastysandwich]

Hi all

Louie, Louie by The Kingsmen has the chords A, D, Em, D. I figured this was the key of D, with chord progression V → I → II → I.

But on verifying this with Google, it says it’s “A Mixolydian”. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Are both correct? Or have I stumbled upon some advanced theory and should ignore this song?

Thankyou

[liaty]

The way I understand modes is that they are an offset of another scale. The same notes but you make the root note or start the scale in a different position.

You have worked out that the song fits the D scale. A mixolydian is the 5th degree of the D scale D - E - F - G - A (1,2,3,4,5), which makes A the root or home chord. It uses the chords from the key of D, but starts and ends on A …. Here endeth my poor knowledge

Practical Music Theory

Mixolydian the sound of rock: https://youtu.be/YYmzVHRAo94

[sclay]

Hey mate,

When you play the chord progression of Louie Louise, what chord feels like ‘home’ - the one all the other chords seem to move to? For me its definitely A. So the key is A. But what sort of A?
Looking at the other chords, the Em is the one that seems ‘out of place’ diatonically, as E major is the 5 chord in the key of A major. This Em is ‘borrowed’ from the parallel key of Am. Check your circle of fifths and you’ll see its the 5 chord of Am.
So you could say its in A major with a borrowed chord from the parallel key.

You could also look at it by writing out the notes of all the chords in the progression. When you do, you’ll find all the notes of the A major scale, except the 7th note, which, instead of a G#, its a G. So its a b7.
A major scale with a b7 is the mixolydian mode, so A mixolydian.

Cheers, Shane

[Richard_close2u]

Hello @tastysandwich and welcome to the community.

@tastysandwich

Louie, Louie by The Kingsmen has the chords A, D, Em, D. I figured this was the key of D, with chord progression V → I → II → I.

That is a reasonable first analysis.
Note - were that to be the case, the Em would be denoted as ii (lower case for minor and diminished chords).

However, because the chord A is the resolution chord, the home base, it is the tonic here and needs to inform the analysis.

A major scale, scale degrees and its chords:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 → A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G# → A, Bm, C#m, D, E, F#m, G#dim
If you know about chord construction and how stacking thirds from the major scale builds the triads you will know where those chords come from and their constituent notes.
A → A, C#, E
Bm → B, D, F#
C#m, C#, E, G#
D → D, F#, A
E → E, G#, B
F#m → F#, A, C#
G#dim → G#, B, F#

What we perform this process in reverse from the given chords of the progression in Louie Louie?

Chords
A → A, C#, E
D → D, F#, A
Em → E, G, B

We can fill chords in three of the seven spaces and due to the Em chord need to change G# for G (the 7th scale degree becomes b7th - shown in bold).

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7 ← A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G ← A, --, --, D, Em, --, –

By stacking thirds we could compelte the remaining chords if wanted.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7 ← A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G ← A, Bm, C#dim, D, Em, F#m, G

Where:
Bm → B, D, F# (as above)
C#dim → C#, E, G
F#m → F#, A, C# (as above)
G → G, B, D

The three chords can be seen as coming from a scale that is not A major. They derive from a scale whose root is A but whose 7th scale degree is the note G, a b7. That scale is A mixolydian. The progression is a I, IV, v, IV in A mixolydian.

@sclay also mentions that the Em could be viewed as a borrowed chord. That is also a valid view though in terms of any melodic analysis and any thoughts of playing lead lines over the progression, it too would point towards an emphasis on the b7 note G.

If and when you do work through more theory and have covered Justin’s lessons on modes, the circle of fifths etc you may find useful complementary and supplementary reading here:

The Circle of Fifths - where does it come from, where does it go?

INDEX Below are links to each of the successive parts as this topic expands. The Circle of Fifths Part 1 - where does it come from? The Circle of Fifths Part 2 - isn’t it the same as the circle of fourths? The Circle of Fifths Part 3 - where does it go? (a) major scales The Circle of Fifths Part 4 - where does it go? [b] major & relative minor scales plus pentatonic scales The Circle of Fifths Part 5 - where does it go? [c] major & minor chords The Circle of Fifths Part 6 - wh…

Modes Parts 1 - 9

INDEX Modes Part 1 - An introduction, an Adventure, an Exploration. Modes Part 2 - Modes in Series. Modes Part 3 - Modes in Parallel. Modes Part 4 - Modal Melodies: the Sound of the Modes? Modes Part 5 - The Colour of Modes: A Digression. Modes Part 6 - Chords Associated with the Modes. Modes Part 7 - A Simple and Manageable Step Towards Modal Improvisation. Modes Part 8 - A First Look at Building Modal Chord Progressions. Modes Part 9 - Some Backing Tracks.

Using borrowed chords - introduction + examples

Using borrowed chords to spice up chord progressions Have you ever listened to a song and been surprised when the whole sound and melody shifted to a place that was unexpected? Have you ever learned to play a song and a chord came along that did not seem to fit with your expectations? Have you ever tried to analyse a song and been confused by, and unable to explain, the presence of a mystery chord? Have you ever made up your own chord progression and thrown in random chords that actually sou…

@liaty

The way I understand modes is that they are an offset of another scale. The same notes but you make the root note or start the scale in a different position.

That is often how they are taught - “it’s the major scale but starting on a different note”. I think that particular approach to teaching and learning modes does a disservice to being able to understand, hear and use modes for musical creativity. Modes are scales (with unique intervals and chords) in their own right. Hence I wrote such a large topic in seven parts.

I hope that helps.

Cheers

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