You Got It?
June 23, 2011 7:56 PM
Someone please explain the chord structure/key change/whatever in Roy Orbison's 'You Got It'
Some background: I'm bored with my own guitar playing and song writing. I've never really understood or been able to take advantage of key changes or atypical chord inclusions within a song. I've tried to research this issue top-down, but I suck with theory jargon and my eyes glaze over quickly...
So, I'm looking to try the bottom-up approach from the starting point of a song I came across recently whose structure I don't really get (even though it's easy enough to play). Any help from the musically inclined is much appreciated.
Working from this chord arrangement (and, for the sake of simplicity, ignoring the capo) what key is this song in? How do you tell? More importantly, how do you account for the use of a Bm and a B7 in the same song? There doesn't seem to be enough chord variation for this to represent a key change (although, what do I know- see above), but I'm not sure how to account for it otherwise. Is there some underlying theoretical logic for that type of change, or is it more just a case of finding a non-key chord that sounds good?
Some background: I'm bored with my own guitar playing and song writing. I've never really understood or been able to take advantage of key changes or atypical chord inclusions within a song. I've tried to research this issue top-down, but I suck with theory jargon and my eyes glaze over quickly...
So, I'm looking to try the bottom-up approach from the starting point of a song I came across recently whose structure I don't really get (even though it's easy enough to play). Any help from the musically inclined is much appreciated.
Working from this chord arrangement (and, for the sake of simplicity, ignoring the capo) what key is this song in? How do you tell? More importantly, how do you account for the use of a Bm and a B7 in the same song? There doesn't seem to be enough chord variation for this to represent a key change (although, what do I know- see above), but I'm not sure how to account for it otherwise. Is there some underlying theoretical logic for that type of change, or is it more just a case of finding a non-key chord that sounds good?
Play a riff, move it to a different position on the neck, play the same pattern. You have changed keys.
Identifying the key isn't always an easy task. For this song it's pretty simple just looking at the chord chart to see that it's in G without a capo. You need to listen usually for what chord the song sounds like it resolves on or wants to fall back to.
The first chord of a song is many times what key it is in unless the song start with it's chorus.
There is also nothing weird about the selection of chords for this song. In the key of G you have
G Am Bm C D Em D7
Bm7 can be in the same song as a Bm as a passing tone or for a more jazzy feel or to replace playing the Bm totally.
A key change happens when the whole sound of the song moves to a different key. A really good song to hear this is Hendrix - Fire.
In the guitar solo the bass plays the same riff as the chorus but the key changes from A to B. On the outro of the song both those parts are combined and switched back and forth from but it's not really a key change every 4 measures because the feel of the song isn't altered. The chords are more passing back and forth.
posted by zephyr_words at 8:31 PM on June 23, 2011
Identifying the key isn't always an easy task. For this song it's pretty simple just looking at the chord chart to see that it's in G without a capo. You need to listen usually for what chord the song sounds like it resolves on or wants to fall back to.
The first chord of a song is many times what key it is in unless the song start with it's chorus.
There is also nothing weird about the selection of chords for this song. In the key of G you have
G Am Bm C D Em D7
Bm7 can be in the same song as a Bm as a passing tone or for a more jazzy feel or to replace playing the Bm totally.
A key change happens when the whole sound of the song moves to a different key. A really good song to hear this is Hendrix - Fire.
In the guitar solo the bass plays the same riff as the chorus but the key changes from A to B. On the outro of the song both those parts are combined and switched back and forth from but it's not really a key change every 4 measures because the feel of the song isn't altered. The chords are more passing back and forth.
posted by zephyr_words at 8:31 PM on June 23, 2011
I'll take a stab at the second part. I think the short answer is that "legal" chord changes are often better defined locally vs. globally.
In the chorus, the important chords are the I and the vi (G major and E minor). If you just played those chords by themselves, the song would be more boring but it would work. B7 "resolves" into Em, though (moving down a fifth), so adding the B7 there adds excitement from the anticipation of the chord resolving.
The C functions a similar way (a IV-I -- think "amen" at the end of a church service), but even more so because we're coming back to the home key of G. The D at the end of the chorus is an extra bit of deferred gratification, but it keeps the tension up because it's part of one of the most satisfying resolutions, V-I. And as a plus, buried in G->B7->Em is the progression of notes D->D#->E ("everything you need"), so you have some synergy with the melody.
The changes in the minor part of the verse has less to do with those resolving cadences, and more to do with the fact that the chords are very similar:
Finally, that line ends on the fifth with a D chord, which like I said earlier is dying to resolve to the G (the key of the song): you finally get that payoff in the first G of the chorus.
posted by en forme de poire at 9:34 PM on June 23, 2011
In the chorus, the important chords are the I and the vi (G major and E minor). If you just played those chords by themselves, the song would be more boring but it would work. B7 "resolves" into Em, though (moving down a fifth), so adding the B7 there adds excitement from the anticipation of the chord resolving.
The C functions a similar way (a IV-I -- think "amen" at the end of a church service), but even more so because we're coming back to the home key of G. The D at the end of the chorus is an extra bit of deferred gratification, but it keeps the tension up because it's part of one of the most satisfying resolutions, V-I. And as a plus, buried in G->B7->Em is the progression of notes D->D#->E ("everything you need"), so you have some synergy with the melody.
The changes in the minor part of the verse has less to do with those resolving cadences, and more to do with the fact that the chords are very similar:
- G and Em share two notes, and their scales share all but one.
- The Em and Bm chords share one note, and their scales share 7/8 notes as well.
- Bm and D are even stronger: their chords share two notes and their scales share all 8.
Finally, that line ends on the fifth with a D chord, which like I said earlier is dying to resolve to the G (the key of the song): you finally get that payoff in the first G of the chorus.
posted by en forme de poire at 9:34 PM on June 23, 2011
In terms of classical harmony I would analyse the B Major in the chorus in one of two ways:
- a brief modulation to the relative minor (E minor)
- a chromatic variation on Bm that adds colour and drama
The first explanation would be stronger if the song stuck around in E minor longer. It's very common for there to be more than one analysis that's technically valid, and which one you prefer to some extent depends on your taste and sense of how far we've strayed from the home key ("tonic").
It's very common in classical harmony to take two chords that are not the tonic and dominant (I and V) but which are a 5th apart, and make the first one a major chord to intensify the sense of progression. Another example would be if you were writing a progression in G, and instead of going G Am D7 G, (I ii V7 I) you went G A7 D7 G. You could analyse this as a little excursion into D major, or not.
The use of F major chord is also interesting. It gives a sort of modal or bluesy feel. (Lowered 7th notes/leading tones do that). But then we get back into solid G major territory with the D major ("dominant" or V) at the end of the verse, which really wants to be resolved back to G.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:35 PM on June 23, 2011
- a brief modulation to the relative minor (E minor)
- a chromatic variation on Bm that adds colour and drama
The first explanation would be stronger if the song stuck around in E minor longer. It's very common for there to be more than one analysis that's technically valid, and which one you prefer to some extent depends on your taste and sense of how far we've strayed from the home key ("tonic").
It's very common in classical harmony to take two chords that are not the tonic and dominant (I and V) but which are a 5th apart, and make the first one a major chord to intensify the sense of progression. Another example would be if you were writing a progression in G, and instead of going G Am D7 G, (I ii V7 I) you went G A7 D7 G. You could analyse this as a little excursion into D major, or not.
The use of F major chord is also interesting. It gives a sort of modal or bluesy feel. (Lowered 7th notes/leading tones do that). But then we get back into solid G major territory with the D major ("dominant" or V) at the end of the verse, which really wants to be resolved back to G.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:35 PM on June 23, 2011
PS: many if not most popular songs from the rock and roll era onwards, and a lot of folk songs don't lend themselves well to an analysis in terms of classical harmony because they're essentially modal.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:37 PM on June 23, 2011
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:37 PM on June 23, 2011
The reason is simple: It's Roy Orbison.
Roy Orbison's songs tend to contain a lot of mounting, hopeful anticipation leading to a satisfying conclusion. 7ths convey that really well. Off-key 7ths, more so. You want it to resolve, and then it resolves.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:53 PM on June 23, 2011
Roy Orbison's songs tend to contain a lot of mounting, hopeful anticipation leading to a satisfying conclusion. 7ths convey that really well. Off-key 7ths, more so. You want it to resolve, and then it resolves.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:53 PM on June 23, 2011
I think the key thing, no pun intended, is that you don't have to "account" for the presence of the B major chord in a song in G, although in an absolutely strict interpretation, that chord doesn't "belong".
Two quick thoughts:
posted by AmbroseChapel at 11:28 PM on June 23, 2011
Two quick thoughts:
- it's an interesting additionbecause it doesn't belong, i.e. a little piquancy, like chilli added to food
- the interesting musical idea I hear at that point is the melody falling by whole tones, B to A to G, and another set of notes rising in counterpoint by semitones, D to E flat to E
posted by AmbroseChapel at 11:28 PM on June 23, 2011
A piggyback: what is it about Magazine's The Thin Air that makes almost every chord change feel like some kind of a resolution?
posted by flabdablet at 11:33 PM on June 23, 2011
posted by flabdablet at 11:33 PM on June 23, 2011
joe's_spleen has it right: use of modes/modal scales (and their chord structures) is super-prevalent in 1950s-1960s rock 'n' roll.
posted by sinnesloeschen at 4:31 AM on June 24, 2011
posted by sinnesloeschen at 4:31 AM on June 24, 2011
Yeah, the B7 is totally there as an applied dominant to Em. The main chord skeleton of the chorus is a very standard G - Em - C; the B7 is a quick deviation from the mode that both adds some piquant chromaticism and also points directly at the upcoming Em. As some people have pointed out, it also supports the awesome D - D# - E vocal line in the third line of the chorus.
In contrast, the Bm in the verse simply fits into the mode that all the other chords do (B-D-F# are all in the key of G major). A B or B7 chord, with a D#, would have no function there.
posted by dfan at 6:56 AM on June 24, 2011
In contrast, the Bm in the verse simply fits into the mode that all the other chords do (B-D-F# are all in the key of G major). A B or B7 chord, with a D#, would have no function there.
posted by dfan at 6:56 AM on June 24, 2011
A piggyback: what is it about Magazine's The Thin Air that makes almost every chord change feel like some kind of a resolution?
Probably, effective voice leading. There's a pretty strong sense of counterpoint -- lots of individual melodic lines, whose interaction produces the chord structure. (Here's an example from Bach.)
posted by en forme de poire at 12:22 PM on June 24, 2011
Probably, effective voice leading. There's a pretty strong sense of counterpoint -- lots of individual melodic lines, whose interaction produces the chord structure. (Here's an example from Bach.)
posted by en forme de poire at 12:22 PM on June 24, 2011
What dfan said. The B7 is an "applied" or "secondary" dominant. Dominant 7 chords sound good when they resolve down a perfect fifth (e.g., B7 to E or Em). You can use this idea to create a little bit of variation in a chord progression by taking a dominant chord "outside" the key of the song (in this case, B7) and resolving it to a chord that is "inside" the key of the song (in this case, Em). It sounds good because the B7 sounds a little bit wrong, because it's non-diatonic, meaning it's outside the song's key. This creates more tension and makes the resolution to Em more satisfying.
This is a pretty good not-too-technical explanation--look at the section on secondary dominant chords.
This is a bit more technical, but more detailed look at tinkering with the III chord (or "mediant"), which is what the B7 is in this progression.
This is a good article about non-diatonic harmony in general. The section on the Three Chord describes exactly what's going on in this song.
And here's a list of jazz songs that use the I - III7 - vi progression similar to this song.
posted by bokinney at 12:28 PM on June 24, 2011
This is a pretty good not-too-technical explanation--look at the section on secondary dominant chords.
This is a bit more technical, but more detailed look at tinkering with the III chord (or "mediant"), which is what the B7 is in this progression.
This is a good article about non-diatonic harmony in general. The section on the Three Chord describes exactly what's going on in this song.
And here's a list of jazz songs that use the I - III7 - vi progression similar to this song.
posted by bokinney at 12:28 PM on June 24, 2011
bokinney's explanation is much better than mine.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:42 PM on June 24, 2011
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:42 PM on June 24, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
And honestly, for all the theory classes I took, as a songwriter I just go with what sounds good. Sometimes I write songs without even knowing what the chords are.
How do you go about writing songs? Do you figure out a chord progression before figuring out a melody? Do you focus a lot on writing hooks? Do you not really think about the melodies and chords and just sort of sing/play stuff to go along with existing lyrics? For whatever you usually do, maybe you can try changing your approach a little and trying to throw in some different chords just for the hell of it. Eventually it might become more natural for you to branch out. Keep in mind that you can use more than one chord to go along with the same melodic note. You don't really need to "account" for a Bm and a B7 being in the same song - it just works in the context of the song.
posted by wondermouse at 8:18 PM on June 23, 2011