Welcome to another edition of Connect The Chords! In this episode, we’ll learn how to hear a bVII Chord (flat seven) coming from a mile away as we learn The Rolling Stones’ song No Expectations. I love songs that go back and forth between the I and the IV chords. No Expectations does exactly that until that wonderful moment when the bVII shows up (I-bVII-IV-I). First, listen to the song in the video making mental notes of where in the lyrics you hear these chord changes.The song is in the key of E. You’ll notice the basic chord progression in the verse is I-IV-I. Play this progression over and over until you have it in your ears and under your fingers. The only other thing that happens in the song is the I-bVII-IV-I mentioned above. In the key of E the vii is d# minor. So we’ll lower that a half-step to bvii (d minor) and turn it into a major chord bVII (D Major)
Once you are familiar with the basic chord progression hum the melody and play through the song slowly listening to the changes. After you’ve done this you’ll be ready to play along with the video at tempo by ear. Good luck and have fun!
Key E: I-E ii-f# iii-g# IV-A V-B vi-c# vii*-d#
or transpose the song to the key of C.
Key C: I-C ii-d iii-e IV-F V-G vi-a vii*-b
