What are the Gloria chords?

I'm a long-time guitar player too, and we're absolutely on the same page there.

And yes I am now clearer on your stance. Your last sentence clears it up for me, thank you. We're not even really at odds, in that regard - I think it's a meaningful part of the music. We could, I suppose continue to argue about why that is, which honestly interests me with songs I really love and admire, but . . . I don't even like this song and I never have. I have no idea what drew me into this thread. So I think I'll bow out and let the rest of you go at it. Thanks @ostrichfarm , @varispeed and @drad dog and others for your contributions

 

I guess this won't be evidence that SOMEBODY heard it this way....?

 

Gloria is not something to get that lofty about to me. It's the essence of basic R&R. Can't take it out of the writers hands and get cloudy about it.

Notes are not chords. So it really matters to hear the chord and not the note.

Jimmy Page or whoever is playing a lick in a rock vein, but not a chord. The other players are not playing the chord. Who is?

 

El wrongo.

 

You are asking us to rely on sheet music? If I did that, I can't tell you how many songs I would still be playing wrong.

 

Lots of people make the same mistake when they hear blues. Oh there must be a minor chord in there. Sorry but that is not how it works. The singer voices the minor third and not the guitar. That is why it sounds bluesy. Capiche?

 

I'm hearing the simple-as-it-gets three major chords. Kinda interesting trying out playing the others with the minors but it always comes back to the basic majors for me.

 

Oh keep making faces. Do you know what a mixolydian progression is? You did not mention it.

 

True that.
But this particular sheet music might make you SUSPICIOUS that there was an Em played as the second chord.
You can't deny that it is a teeny bit of EVIDENCE.
Some COMPANY thought it was the right way to play it.
Sure they may have screwed up.
But it might make you SUSPICIOUS that maybe they DIDN'T.
I'm mean THEY were getting PAID to do it.
WE on the other hand are simply having fun pretending our verbal skills are amazing.
No?
Gee.
I THOUGHT this was a great fun topic so excuse me for being silly...
My two cents

 

I took the progression in question (from roughly 0:02.34 to 0:03.28) and looped two beats, then looped each beat separately:

Gloria loops.mp3

If folks can't hear the clear presence of distinct E major and E minor chords there, I'm at a loss. Keep in mind, I'm not talking about what you'd write in a "how to play this song" chord chart, but simply the notes played by the guitar at those points in time.

 

I know we are having fun and it is a cool thread. No disrespect intended.
Ya know the funny thing is that if you play G-A-G sharp notes at the point where everyone thinks there is an E minor chord, it fits like a glove. So....maybe I am wrong.

 

Check out Joe Cocker - High TIme We Went

The guitarist is doing the same thing. it's a guitar lick. It doesn't mean the song went to a minor chord. Although this song might be power chords.

 

All I know is that if was not for Van's amazing vocal, this would not even rise to a song.

 

You have to take sheet music evidence with the right skepticism though wouldn't you agree? And the makers of sheet music often simplify something and distort it. So yes the sheet music "evidence" supports my thesis in this matter. It is a mistake that migrated here.

 

Superb thread, but hey, it's garage rock, not flamin' jazz.

 

I'm hearing it now! I think it's a lead guitar teasing those notes. I can't unhear it now.

But it seems to me that is "E Em E D A" then, if you subscribe to the minor chord view. You just can't go from Em to D

 

I'm surprised to see such a detailed chart, but that's very close to what I'm hearing. Thanks for posting. Rock charts are notorious for being "close enough." What you posted might be the exception to the rule for rock charts.

But we seem to be running around in circles. Folks here are confusing the chords dictated to the rhythm guitarist and the riff line dictated to the "lead" guitarist. It's telling that the sheet music that @Doctor Fine posted indicates that the key signature denotes E Mixolydian (that's not a key, but rather a scale that denotes a tonality) and the key signature is that of A Major. That's a really good piece of sheet music; it gets to the tonality. That's actually correct (and I'm rather embarrassed that I didn't recognize it for what it is), but diverges from the point we've been discussing. I'll lead us in another direction: In the context of E Mixo, the G# G G# toggle in the lead guitar is not E Major to E minor; rather it's E7(#9) as a V chord - at one time it's E7 and at the toggle point, it's E7(#9) (the #9 of E7 being G natural). Thus, the chord progression is V IV I in A Major with the V7 chord being the first chord.

What we have is possibly other sheet music (or the recording itself) that tells the rhythm guitar to play E E min, when what they should tell the rhythm guitar to play is E7 (not necessarily voiced as a DOM7 chord - a DOM7 chord can still function as a DOM7 chord even if not voiced as such) or E7(#9) to capture the G (F# is the 9th in G, so a #9 is G).

Such a simple tune is not so simple.

 

Thank you. I've changed my mind and changed my vote. I can't dispute this. E min it is.

WeTransfer looks very useful - thanks for that, too.

 

Glad you're hearing it! But I don't understand "You just can't go from Em to D" -- could you explain what you mean by that?

 

Superb post! You said in music what I was thinking I swear.

I just ran through gloria with E E7 D A and it is a new experience! I believe it's the 4th chord.

No way Em is in there. the effect comes from the hammering from G to G# that occurs in going to the E7. Everyone try it. E E7 D A, badass right?

 

Well to me it is E7. See above for that.

Em to D sounds off YMMV. It needs to toggle back to E to feel like music to me. But I'm having a crisis now because I am not in agreement with my poll choices anymore. Ah well. Tomorrow...

 

In garage band parlance, it's E D A. In harmonic analysis, it's E7 D A, or V IV I in A Major. One can phrase the V chord as E, E7 or E7(#9) - rules ain't always rules, if you follow me.

 

There is absolutely no doubt that there are two G natural eighth notes happening on the second beat. Since the root in the bass is still a E note, well, then that is one beat of E minor. Whether or not the player or writer thought of it as E minor, or as a transition or blues or who knows what, doesn't matter. the notes are the notes of an E minor chord. Even if he's just letting go of the strings for a beat, the result is still E minor. It's clear as day. And there is no E major right before the D either. That sheet music may not be 1000% accurate but it's close enough to what's there.

If I were playing this song myself, I might skip the E minor. Sounds odd IMO. But it's there, in one of the guitar parts.

 

Man I thought I was goofy when it came to technical stuff. My head hurts.