Back In Black - what key

I beg to differ the song is in A dorian mode the v chord ,E is the tonic making it a V-IV-I progression E is the relative minor of G major and A dorian is the second mode G major allowing the use of the E minor blues scale since the F# is omitted from both A dorian and E minor pentonic the only passing tone I have found in the solo is Bb which is the blue note in E minor blues scale

A Dorian does not omit F#. As a matter of fact, F# is what makes A Dorian Dorian - if you leave it out, there's no difference between the rest of the notes and the notes of A natural minor.

And when you say the v chord ,E is the tonic you're saying it's in the key of E. The V chord is called the dominant in every key, and the tonic is the I chord in every key. That's what those terms mean.

It's in G. https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0067704

It's in G.

No, it isn't.

There's a difference between a key signature and a key. You could make a case for the key of E minor, which shares a key signature with the key of G, but there's absolutely nothing about the song that would indicate it's in the key of G major.

Actually this piece is in the key of d Maj relative b minor. It appears that the opening power chord of e is a minor chord. Iv-v-i progression. What angus has done here has switched the iv chprd gmaj for its relative e minor.A brilliant mive on his part .

Actually this piece is in the key of d Maj relative b minor. It appears that the opening power chord of e is a minor chord. Iv-v-i progression. What angus has done here has switched the iv chprd gmaj for its relative e minor.A brilliant mive on his part .

It moves from E5 to D5 to A5. If it were in the key of D, that's a ii-I-V progression, not a vi-V-I.

The term "key" is a bit loose in music, so there are several interpretations.

You can make a case for a song being in the "key" of the "key signature", the set of sharps or flats that generally define the pitches used. You can make a case for "key" being the set of chords being used. But the best definition of "key" is the identification of the tonic, the note that serves as home base for the progression.

In Back in Black, almost every phrase (and the song as a whole) ends on an A. That's the point of resolution. So it's in the key of "A something".

Throughout the tune we also have B5 and G5 power chords. B is the ii of A, but G isn't in the key of A major - it would be the flatted seventh. So if you're trying to frame the tune within a single key, it's in the key that has A as the tonic, but a b7. And that's A Mixolydian.

A Mixolydian has the same notes as the key of D major, but it isn't the same as D major - because D is not the tonic. No phrases end on a D, and every time you hear the D5 you have a sense that it the progression hasn't ended yet.

The choris ends in with a d chord back in black lyrics

The choris ends in with a d chord back in black lyrics

Noteboat did say "almost every phrase" so I'm not sure what you're getting at here.

D is the Subdominant in the key of A, which actually reinforces Noteboat's point.

The choris ends in with a d chord back in black lyrics

Yes, it does. And it doesn't feel like the song is over at that point, because the D leaves you hanging. You get that feeling because D is not the tonic (which means it isn't the "key"). The song ends on the album by fading out, but if you end it with the main riff followed by an A power chord it WILL feel like the ending, because that's the tonic.

I would also say its in E minor, but you can play Dorian over it sometimes. If you want to be sure put the chords in this app.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while, the solo is kind of a mix of the E minor pentatonic / blues scale and E mixolydian, I believe the vocal melody is too (the vocals seem to be entirely E minor pentatonic with the occasional addition of a C#).

I think it’s clear the tonic is E, based on the solo and vocal melody. So in my opinion the key is E mixolydian - it is kind of vague and open to interpretation though, like a lot of AC/DC songs it mixes up notes from minor and major scales a lot.

.... So in my opinion the key is E mixolydian - it is kind of vague and open to interpretation though, like a lot of AC/DC songs it mixes up notes from minor and major scales a lot.

E mixolydian is not a key, it's the 5th mode of the A major scale. You're right about the song's tonal ambiguity though

Yeh I know it’s not a key and is in fact a mode. I meant it is played with E as the tonic but using predominantly notes from the A major scale, E minor blues scales. Just said E mixolydian as a kind of shorthand.

I would say that songsterr does this perfectly when replicating the exact tones from Back in Black with any instrument frankly

@fluidguitar It certainly looks like key of A (E mixolydian) structurally to start and I can definitely see some ambiguity. E5 with the lack of the 3rd could make it be over looked as ii chord so E Dorian is a great guess too.  I can also see were it could be E Aeolian too. Especially when the G Chord comes in.  I think the tonality changes there, and I am still debating whether it changes to G Major or D Major.

Funny thing  the Key of G , D and A all seem to sound good over the chord prog at certain points. E minor Pent sounds good overall

Still working it out.