What are some songs in Ab/F minor?

[still.ill]

I find it quite hard to write stuff in this key, not many rock songs written in this (no open notes to take advantage of)

 

[JensL]

Smells like teen spirit?

You can use an open G, it's just not the strongest note in Ab somehow

Jens

 

[guitarjazz]

PDQ Bach Opus 436.8 in F minor.

 

[muzishun]

Tons.

But mostly by artists that tune to Eb.

 

[Bluesful]

I can't find a clip of the studio recording but this is Ab Major.


I know what you mean with the no open notes comment. In the verse Robben plays a DbMaj9 chord. If you accidentally hit the high open E string (or low open E for that matter) when playing that chord it sounds horrendous.

 

[dewey decibel]

About a bizzilion jazz tunes in Fmin. In Ab maj?

Ceora
Cousin Mary
Mood Indigo
In a Mellow Tone
End of a Love Affair
All the Things You Are

There are a ton more, just off the top of mine head.

 

[Lephty]

 

[Bunther]

Johnnie Bassett's "I Can Make That Happen"

 

[JosephCurwen]

I was surprised how little help Google was without dumpster diving down to the nether pages.

The only useful things I found were these shortlists:

http://learnguitarforfree.com/songs-in-the-key-of/a-flat-major
http://learnguitarforfree.com/songs-in-the-key-of/f-minor

My main experience with thinking of songs in key signatures is classical ... but there are simply too many to list. Chopin, Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, you name it, all wrote in F minor/Ab major. Some of the bigger ones are Beethoven's Appassionata (Sonata 23 in F minor), Chopin's Fantasy Op 49 (F minor), Chopin's Polonaise No 6 Op 53 (Ab), Schubert's Sonata D557 (Ab), and Beethoven's Sonata No 31 (Ab).

These aren't exactly "songs" per se, but I'm sure a dedicated soul could translate them to guitar if desired.

Jazz is a much stronger option, since the open G is present in Abmaj7, the open A can be played off for dissonant purposes, and the open D for #11, etc. etc. F minor has that nice high E string to use for a great Fmin/maj7 sound, along with the rest of the usual jazz shadings with the other open strings.

All this presupposes you don't do a Carlos Alomar and use a one-off tuning for whatever song you're writing, modifying it as you need to to get the sound you want.

 

[musicman1]

The ARS version of "Spooky" modulates from E min to F min...the original version might be in F min.

"Feel Like making Love" by Roberta Flack is in F min.

 

[guitarjazz]

"Feel Like making Love" by Roberta Flack is in F min.

Though it starts on Fmi7 it is in key of Eb major.

 

[Flyin' Brian]

George Benson - This Masquerade

 

[Clifford-D]

Song For My Father

Strange Meeting - Bill Frisell

 

[JonR]

Canteloupe Island (Herbie Hancock) - Fm.

 

[deeohgee]

Strange Meeting is a great tune to play, I've been delving into it over the last week. There's no shortage of open notes to use.

Strange Meeting - Bill Frisell

 

[0xeneye]

Bang Bang we play in Fm. Written by Sonny Bono.

 

[tenchijin2]

Only the Lonely by the Motels
Somebody to Love by Queen changes between Ab and Eb

 

[cosmic_ape]

Eric Johnson - Zap