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I recently saw the guitar tabs of a For a better day by Avicii and found out that C# chord is played in the interlude though it is not a part of the F Maj key(The key of the song). I am very new to music and I want to know if it's okay to find something off the key or should I remain in the key when making my own tracks??

For a better day by Avicii

Link:https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/avicii/for-a-better-day-chords-1763071

Also if you have time, give me feedback on this idea that I recently created: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FKCxxIEdxeQ6fL2BPR0o-4HBxVK2Ne50/view?usp=sharing

Thanks.

Joe Janiak
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  • You missed the A a couple of lines higher too ! – Tim Jun 16 '21 at 06:48
  • He's kinda playing with D minor here, going between IV-V-I in F major and iv-V-i in D minor, heading into that extended vamp on the D minor chord. This isn't really an answer to the general question though, which, yeah, play any chord that sounds good. – Esther Jun 16 '21 at 07:53
  • (to be clear: i'm not sure avicii had any particular formalization of this in mind, i'm not sure he "knew" that he was kinda "dipping into" a related key; i think he just knew what he wanted his song to sound like and did that, dude had a phenomenal head for sound. "theory" in the sense of "thinking about and being able to deconstruct music" is extremely important, but academic eurocolonial theory is just one route to that) – Esther Jun 16 '21 at 08:10
  • So can I conclude that the chords in the same key would always sound good, but there are some other chords too which though not in the key of the song but will sound great too?? – Joe Janiak Jun 16 '21 at 10:25
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    "chords in the same key would always sound good": maybe not. But what does "sound good" mean? It depends on what you're trying to do. – phoog Jun 16 '21 at 12:10

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As long as your feeling of which chord is "home" doesn't change, you can use any chord and note in any key. And even if it changes, then the key changes, but that's perfectly OK too.

piiperi Reinstate Monica
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I listened to the song and I'm not hearing anything but the Dm chord there. Don't confuse bass activity with actual chords. Sometimes things just like to move around-- they don't have to be analyzed harmonically.

Bennyboy1973
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It's so commonplace - and has been for centuries, to use non-diatonic notes (and harmonies/chords) in pieces that I'm surprised there are so many questions such as this on this site. (yes, it's a dupe).

The C♯ in question lasts for about one beat. It's getting from C to D chromatically.

There has never been any theory, rule, call it what you will, stating non-diatonics can't be or aren't used in any key.

Tim
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