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I just heard Lenka's "Everything at Once".

The Background chord progression is quite catchy. I tried to figure out its chords, but to no avail.

I tried singular notes: I found F A C A and also C E G. E (where G is down an octave).

How do I find Chords that match up with single notes?

And what are they called?

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    possible duplicate of Finding the chord for a single note
    – Luke_0
    Nov 10, 2012 at 13:46
  • The chords used in the song are Dm, C, A, and Bb (in order of how often they occur). You'll have to figure out where/when each is used yourself as a homework assignment. :-) Nov 10, 2012 at 23:35
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    Strangely enough, I don't find this to be a dupe of that other question. Rather, I think the titles actually need to be switched -- that question is about finding chords that actually sound like a single note (i.e. Power Chords) whereas this song's chords are quite clearly not power chords.
    – NReilingh
    Nov 11, 2012 at 20:41
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    Much more similar to Is it possible to find the correct chords from melody notes alone?, though still not quite.
    – NReilingh
    Nov 12, 2012 at 15:31

2 Answers 2

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As I listen to the song, I don't really hear any tonality change. In such cases, the circle of Fifths is you forever ally.

Around a tonality, there are five chord positions that instinctively sound good. You guess them with that circle.

With the notes like c,g,e,a,f... you're probably in C Major or A minor(both are instrincally linked), so you can go easily to G major, E minor, F major, D minor.

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Without actually listening to the song, there are a few facts you might not be aware of, misconceptions about which could easily lead to the qustion you ask.

The whole point of a chord is the several note blend together and become unified, united. The notes sound as one. On an equal-tempered instrument (piano, guitar, etc) most of the intervals are actually just a little bit out-of-tune with each other. This results in the individual notes becoming more distinct: it's easier to identify the separate notes that compose the chord.

With other tuning systems (Just tuning, Helmholtz tunings) the blending effect can be intensified so many notes unite into a sonic pattern from which the separate notes are very difficult to pick out. With the explosion of computers and digital synthesizers, this territory has been opened-up for colonization.

Often the strongest note you hear (the "melody" of the chords) will be a third or a fifth rather than the root due the effects of "voice leading" or counterpoint.

When you're trying to figure out the chords to a song, 99% of the time you should try to listen for the "bass-line" and ignore everything else. The bass may not play the roots of all the chords; but 99% of the time it will play the root every time the tonic (the Key chord) comes around.

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