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im finding it hard to hear the chords of poker face. intro verse prechorus and bridge chords , website says it goes G# E/G# F# . but when i hear the actually song i can never hear the chords , i just hear a bass melody going G# G# (lower ovtave G# G# )(lower ovtave G# G# ) D#D# G# G# E B F# F# (lower ovtave G# G# ).

THEN at certain another melody going over it in octave

then a 3rd melody going B x12 B C# B C#

D# x12 E D# E D#

are these melodies counterpointing in some type of way making a G# E/G# F# chord progression in G#minor? can somebody please explain how these chords are playing out are they playing in different octaves( like C2,C3,C4,C5,C6,C7) ? can some please eloborabate on whats going on in the whole and in the bass because i hear 4th and 7th being played when F# comes in and they didnt call it F#7 or F#sus on different site.

http://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab/view/lady-gaga/poker-face

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  • I think in the hooktheory link you provide in your question the track is wrong. In measure 4 the last two notes should be low F#, not G#. You can hear the difference between the youtube and piano audio in that measure. This might be leading to your confusion in your comment to Max's answer - indeed, the chord is F# and not F#/G#.
    – ChristopheLynch
    Oct 8, 2016 at 23:23
  • your right , thank you , i have less confusion now , do you know the two interval going on in the middle along (starting on the the mum /mum mum ma )? and how is it E/G# when the arp ended on a B? is it because the arp started on a G# ? and also i never hear a #F being played i only heard the F# octaves and occasionally being played with a B and D# .. how is a F# chord if there isnt a A# or C# being played?
    – Izu Izzy
    Oct 9, 2016 at 3:37
  • Looking at the hooktheory again, it seems that the chords are referring only to the synth track. When it's written g#m that's literally what's being played in the synth track, not the overall chord for all instruments. So whilst in measure 4 the synth plays a first inversion E chord, the bass just plays notes that are in the E triad. Where the arp ends on a B, then yes, the whole chord at that point would be a second inversion E. The mum/mum mum ma is just G#, the same note repeated. So if you wanted to write the chord for that part of the song, you might call it F#add2 or something.
    – ChristopheLynch
    Oct 9, 2016 at 9:11

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I think you're overcomplicating it a bit! The underlying chords are simply:

The tonic chord (I) -> subdominant chord (IV) -> 7th

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  • Over the 6th chord and 7th chord I hear 7ths and 4ths sometimes in the extra melody and a 7th after the F# sharp in the bassline, its gets confusing because the beginging has a bunch of melodies in different octaves making chords i think , because i dont hear any block chords until the chorus . is this baseline a similar method to like thiller, beat it , Billie jean and Backstreet Boys move your body? How do you define a baseline and call it F# when theres a G# in the bassline shouldn't it be F#maj7/G# why they did just call it F#7 when the extra melody has a 7th and the bass does as well?
    – Izu Izzy
    Oct 8, 2016 at 17:46

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