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That is correct. It is a ii I V progression in A major. Which is the same as the progression I wrote Am G D but in the key of G.
Last Dance with Mary Jane is Am G D Am, very close. I usually play Am pentatonic over it. It is a weird progression where you can play many different scales depending on the feel you are going for.
 
Last Dance with Mary Jane is Am G D Am, very close. I usually play Am pentatonic over it. It is a weird progression where you can play many different scales depending on the feel you are going for.
Very close in terms of the intervals between chords, but it resolves to the minor chord, so a very different feel. I would call that A Dorian. And yes, A minor pentatonic would work well since the F# that differentiates A Dorian from A Natural Minor isn't in the scale.

Still waiting for the theory geeks to chime in. I love this stuff, but I'm no expert.
 
Very close in terms of the intervals between chords, but it resolves to the minor chord, so a very different feel. I would call that A Dorian. And yes, A minor pentatonic would work well since the F# that differentiates A Dorian from A Natural Minor isn't in the scale.

Still waiting for the theory geeks to chime in. I love this stuff, but I'm no expert.
Last Dance is explained pretty well here. A minor pentatonic is a subset of A Dorian The bridge or chorus (not sure what it is technically) is in E Dorian although I usually just play the chords for that.

 
Nicely unpacked. Thank you for the link. The first couple examples are challenging but also intuitive.

Last Dance is explained pretty well here. A minor pentatonic is a subset of A Dorian The bridge or chorus (not sure what it is technically) is in E Dorian although I usually just play the chords for that.

 
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Interesting, but I think he does us a dis-service by reducing everything to major keys. You really don't get a feel for the modes when you're thinking in terms of an unrelated (okay, maybe distantly related) key.

Edit: And "Sweet Home Alabama": I-bVII-IV-IV ??? How about V-IV-I-I. K.I.S.S.

Edit #2: I take it back... I just sat down and played it and Sweet Home does resolve to the D, so they probably got that one right. 😳
 
This has been a really interesting topic. I think basically it comes down to theory is used to explain things that sound good and is not something that needs to be etched in stone. I am envious of those players who can play by ear and not worry about theory. Myself without theory I could never improvise. I can't play by feel. I have to think about it. I've come to accept that.
 
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