The Simpsons. Everyone knows them, and everyone recognizes the theme song. What most people don’t know is which mode of the major scale it’s based on. The published score for The Simpsons The main theme states that it is written in the key of C major. I am sorry I disagree. It looks to me like it’s actually in the key of G major using the C Lydian scale. To prove my point, you’ll need a little understanding of key signatures.
If you know your circle of fifths from music theory, then you know that C major has no sharps or flats, except for accidentals in a melody. You’ll also know that the key of G major has a sharp (F#), again barring any accidentals on a melody. my problem with The Simpsons; the key signature of the theme is that every F played is an accidental (F#). You can say The Simpsons the theme is in the key of C lidio, but to say that it is C major, for me, is a mistake.
Now, I didn’t write the music, obviously, and I’m not the one who gets the royalties from it. So my opinion is just that, and it’s worth every penny you’ve paid for it. But I would prefer to see that the melody is actually in the key of G major, which, again, has a sharp. If it had been written this way, there would have been no alterations to the melody. Just for fun, I’m going to post the Lydian scale tablature for the key of C Lydian (G Major), and then I’ll post part of the tablature for this piece. It obviously wasn’t written for guitar, but it’s fun to play and listen to anyway. Lydian is one of the least used modes on the guitar, but The Simpsons The theme song is a popular piece.
Here is the C Lydian ascending scale:
E|-----------------------------------------------------8--
B|------------------------------------------8--10--12-----
G|-----------------------------------9--11----------------
D|------------------------9--10--12-----------------------
A|-------------9--10--12----------------------------------
E|--8--10--12---------------------------------------------
…and here is the C Lydian descending scale.
E|--8-----------------------------------------------------
B|-----12--10--8------------------------------------------
G|----------------11--9-----------------------------------
D|-----------------------12--10--9------------------------
A|----------------------------------12--10--9-------------
E|---------------------------------------------12--10--8--
Here is the main melody for The Simpsons theme song. I should note that every two dashes after the first two dashes after the note represent an octave rest or a half beat (in 4/4 time). For example,
"10------12"
it would be the 10th fret on beat 1, then the half beat and second beat are empty, and the twelfth fret is played on beat 2 1/2.
E|------------------------------------------------------------------
B|---------------------10--8----------------------------------------
G|----------9----11---------------9---------------------------------
D|--10---------------------------------10---------------------------
A|-------------------------------------------12--9--9--9--10--------
E|------------------------------------------------------------------
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I hope you enjoy playing these as much as I do. You should play around with this unique mode for a while and maybe you will discover your own theme song.
Thanks, and as always, great shredding!