# Sweet Home Alabama: what key is it in? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [September 7, 2023, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752 "2023-09-07T22:48:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/1 "2023-09-07T22:48:03Z")
I don’t know if this has been covered here yet, but it led to a lively discussion this weekend on Facebook. What key would you say this classic Lynyrd Skynyrd song is in and why? Looking forward to some great Straight Dope wisdom here. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/2 "2023-09-07T22:51:22Z")
D or G, depending on how you look at it. > **[In What Key Is “Sweet Home Alabama”? - Guitar Music Theory by Desi Serna](https://www.guitarmusictheory.com/in-what-key-is-sweet-home-alabama/)** > > The song “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd is one of the most famous guitar songs of all time. Learning how to play the song’s Introduction has become somewhat of a requirement for anyone who wants to be taken seriously as a rock guitarist. The... ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/3 "2023-09-08T00:08:41Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > D or G, depending on how you look at it. And how do you look at it? ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/4 "2023-09-08T01:03:57Z")
I think both D and G would be acceptable answers, but I’d probably go for D. The song repeats a cycle of half a bar in D major, half a bar in C major and a whole bar of G major. So G major plays for twice as long as D major. Viewing the song as being in G major produces the major scale/Ionian mode. However, it’s a rock song and the Mixolydian mode, which is like the major scale but with a flattened 7th, and which is produced by viewing the song as being in D, is the quintessential rock scale. If I was going to add a section, such as an instrumental section to the song, but played on a single chord, I think I’d choose D major, rather than G major, as that feels more like the root note to me. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/5 "2023-09-08T01:44:27Z")
[Adam Neely thinks D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVPq_-oJV5U&ab_channel=AdamNeely), although he also thinks a quantum superposition of G and D. Sounds like D to me but the video at the link shows Skynyrd ending the song live on the G chord so they seem to disagree. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/6 "2023-09-08T01:55:02Z")
It’s in G. One sharp (F#) in the key signature. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/7 "2023-09-08T02:06:40Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > It’s in G. One sharp (F#) in the key signature. But that also describes the key of D using the Mixolydian mode. The question centers around whether one considers the D chord or the G chord as the root chord. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/8 "2023-09-08T02:08:55Z")
Tagg analyses it as a common “three-chord Mixolydian loop in D”. He mentions, for instance, an anacrusis containing a repeated a–b–d pattern propelling movement towards the tonic D chord. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/9 "2023-09-08T02:11:08Z")
It’s in D mixolydian. The chords are ambiguous, but the melody pretty clearly resolves to D. In fact, unless I missed it, there is no G in the melody at all. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/10 "2023-09-08T05:00:16Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > the melody pretty clearly resolves to D This. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/11 "2023-09-08T06:14:44Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > I think I’d choose D major, rather than G major, as that feels more like the root note to me. It also comes down to which chord (and tonic) feels like home, doesn’t it? People often focus on the chord progression but neglect to also look at the what the melody is doing. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/12 "2023-09-08T06:16:02Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Sounds like D to me but the video at the link shows Skynyrd ending the song live on the G chord so they seem to disagree. I was surprised by that as well. G does not fer like home to me in this song . ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/13 "2023-09-08T06:17:25Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > It’s in G. One sharp (F#) in the key signature. There are number of modes that have one sharp in the key signature but are not G major, including E minor and D mixolydian. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/14 "2023-09-08T06:20:34Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > In fact, unless I missed it, there is no G in the melody at all Bingo. In fact, in the key of D, it’s mostly a do-re-mi melody, beginning on the third of the scale. If it’s in G, then it’s starting on the major 7th scale degree, an unusual place to start. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/15 "2023-09-08T09:58:35Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > > [@74westy](#): > > > > Sounds like D to me but the video at the link shows Skynyrd ending the song live on the G chord so they seem to disagree. > > I was surprised by that as well. G does not fer like home to me in this song . The same book of Tagg’s says that “The main point here is that if musicians can opt to end on either what they perceive as the tonic or on the last chord of the loop in question, then the harmonic finality marker in live performance is not necessarily the loop’s tonic.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/16 "2023-09-08T12:40:14Z")
It’s an interesting song to me and it sounds like Ed King, co-writer and lead guitarist in this song, believed it was in G. He plays the solo like it’s in G, particularly with the Neil Young style high G note during the solo, but the melody of the singer certainly seems to suggest D. It has the same chord progression as “Werewolves of London” and “All Summer Long,” both of which feel like G. In fact WoL has pretty much only G in the melody, whereas SHA does not have a G even once in the melody.D mixolydian makes more sense to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/17 "2023-09-08T12:50:02Z")
More interesting than one might think: > [@](#): > > What really propels _Sweet Home Alabama_ is its burning guitar riff. Ed King had become intrigued by a guitar rhythm that Rossington had been tinkering with in the studio. “Gary was playing a pattern that you can hear behind the verses,” King says. “I put my guitar part on top of his as a counterpoint. But Gary’s part was the catalyst that started the ball rolling.” > > King says the song took just half-an-hour to write, but the solos had an altogether more mystic origin: “I used to sleep with my guitar next to the bed. The night after we wrote _Sweet Home Alabama_ I had a dream in which I played both the short and long solos. I immediately woke up, got the guitar and started playing what I’d seen in the dream. At rehearsal the next day I just plugged the solos into the spots where we had rehearsed them and they fit perfectly.” > > Producer Al Kooper had his reservations, though. “Four days later, in the studio,” King continues, “Al told me he couldn’t use the solos because I had played them in the wrong key. But the guys in the band, being from the south and believing in superstition and dreams, told Kooper the solos needed to stay as I’d played them. Though they were overdubs, I’d recorded them both on the first take anyway with no mistakes. Kooper says he’s grown to like the solos since.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/18 "2023-09-08T13:05:49Z")
I strongly hear D as the tonic. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/19 "2023-09-08T13:15:28Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > [Adam Neely thinks D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVPq_-oJV5U&ab_channel=AdamNeely), although he also thinks a quantum superposition of G and D. Schrödinger’s key! > [@DPRK](#): > > The night after we wrote _Sweet Home Alabama_ I had a dream in which I played both the short and long solos. I immediately woke up, got the guitar and started playing what I’d seen in the dream. At rehearsal the next day I just plugged the solos into the spots where we had rehearsed them and they fit perfectly.” Interesting how often famous songs, or at least part of them, like a riff or melody, came to the songwriter in a dream. I can think of two other examples off the top of my head: > **["Satisfaction" comes to Keith Richards in his sleep](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/satisfaction-comes-to-keith-richards)** > > In the early morning hours of May 7, 1965, a bleary-eyed Keith Richards awoke, grabbed a tape recorder and laid down one of the greatest pop hooks of all time: The opening riff of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” He then promptly fell back to... > **[“Yesterday” came to Paul McCartney in a dream. Was it a creative miracle?](https://medium.com/getting-art-done/yesterday-came-to-paul-mccartney-in-a-dream-was-it-a-creative-miracle-79839cb303fe)** > > What hope is there for you to write a hit? ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752/20 "2023-09-08T13:34:40Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Schrödinger’s key! Sure seems that way! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-home-alabama-what-key-is-it-in/989752.md?page=2)