znanje :: teorija teorija » » the harmonic language of the beatles 01. Introduction 02. Form 03. Harmonic Rhtm 0!. Harmon: songs in major 0". #he I$ I%$ %$ &i and ii 'hords 0(. 'hords in the dominant direction 0). *+,loding functional harmon 0-. #raditional #heor and eatles 0/.. b III modalit 0/ 10. 'onclusions
01. Introduction hat ind of noledge maes it ,ossible to ,la a song b ear4 Ho can a musician ,la a song that he or she has ne&er ,laed before$ and mabe ne&er e&en heard before4 hat ha,,ens in the moment of ,laing4 #hese 5uestions$ delimited to harmon and to the field of roc music$ ill be addressed in a stud consisting of to ,arts: a6 a descri,tion of roc harmon$ and b6 an inter&ie stud ith roc musicians.#he descri,tion of roc harmon in itself consists of to ,arts: this stud of eatles harmon$ and a later stud of roc harmon in the 1//0s. From literature about roc harmon$ m ,rimar sources ha&e been 7llan 8oore9s Rock: 8oore9s Rock: The Primary Text Text 1//36$ 1//36$ Richard 8iddleton9s Studying Popular Music 1//06 Music 1//06 and ;ars ;illiestam9s Gehörsmusik 1//"6$ 1//"6$ and Svensk rock. Musik, lyrik, historik 1//-6. 1//-6. 8oore 1//36 di&ides roc harmon into o,en
o,ular music and musicolog ,,. 123<2(6 treats methods for musicological analsis of ,o,ular music. ;illiestam 1//"6 submits a catalogue o&er common chord ,rogressions in roc music ,,. 1/"<2006$ hile his Svensk rock 1//-6 1//-6 has a section about modalit in roc. 7mong the &ast literature on the eatles$ I9&e mainl used ilfrid 8ellers9s Tilight !" The Gods 1/)36? Gods 1/)36? Ian 8ac@onald9s #n 8ac@onald9s #n revolution i huvudet: huvudet: The $eatles inspelningar och %&'() talet 1//!? 1//!? original title Revolution title Revolution in the *ead+ #erence *ead+ #erence A9Brad9s The $eatles: - Musical #volution 1/-36? #volution 1/-36? and finall 7llan 8oore9s Sgt. Pepper 1//)6. 1//)6. 8ellers 1/)36 consists of analses of a number of eatles songs$ toda somehat dated but still containing &aluable insights. 8ac@onald 1//!6 rites a short cha,ter on e&er song that the eatles recorded$ sometimes including comments on harmon. A9Brad 1/-36 is a >h.@. thesis on the music of the eatles$ discussing =tle 'haracteristics in terms of Form$ 8elod$ Harmon$ Harmon$ 7rrangements$ 7rrangemen ts$ and ;rics. ;rics. 7 common trait in the ors mentioned abo&e is that none of them studies the total musical out,ut of the eatles. 'hord ,rogressions are described as &er common or fairl
common$ and conclusions are made b a of e+am,les: e.g. the bassline so
coda << an ending to the song. 'onsidering the relati&el fe t,es of form ,arts$ the amount of &ariation in the eatles9s music is striing. Hoe&er$ songs often start off ith intro6<&erse<&erse
remaining 2/ songs$ 10 are in F major$ ( in $ ! in b$ ! in * b$ 2 in 7b$ 2 in B b? there is one song in @ b. 7lthough songs ma ha&e been trans,osed for different reasons<
The bVII and II chords
#he b%II chord the chord of b major in the e of ' major6 also is used &er freel. #he b%II chord$ too$ can stand as ,enultimate chord$ and a telling detail is that 1oth of the ,rogressions B < b < ' and b < B < ' are used as cadences: as long as the tonic comes in the right ,lace and feels lie home$ the chords before it can be combined in different as. #he II chord the chord of @ major in the e of ' major6 most often follos traditional harmonic con&entions and ,roceeds to B)6 to continue to the tonic$ 1ut the II chord also is used in other as: it &er often ,roceeds to I% and then to I$ and in a number of cases it leads directl to I e.g.$ I9ll Follo #he =un6. The iii chord
#he iii chord *m in the e of ' major6 is used less fre5uentl than the other relati&e minors$ &i and ii$ and also less fre5uentl than b%II and II. #he iii chord furthermore is not used as the ,enultimate chord in cadence
#he i& chord Fm in the e of ' major6$ in traditional harmon considered as &er tension< laden$ in the music of the eatles continues to I or in a fe cases %$ folloing traditional ,rinci,les. #he b%I$ the relati&e major of i& the chord of 7b major in the e of ' major6$ is often used as a substitution for i& e.g.$ I =a Her =tanding #here? cf. 8iddleton 1//0$ ,. 1/-6$ but also in other conte+ts: in the cadence b%I < b%II < I$ often used in roc music? as a tem,orar dominant to the % chord? and in circle of fourths ,rogressions *&erett 1//"$ ,. 1-36$ to name the most common usages. The bIII chord
#he bIII chord the chord of * b major in the e of ' major6 is most commonl used together ith I$ I%$ % and b%II '$ F$ B and b6. #he bIII chord ill onl in rare e+ce,tions be used together ith an of the relati&e minors &i$ ii and iii 7m$ @m and *m6. The v chord
#he & chord is most often used in modulations to the subdominant e$ e.g. &erse ends in '? bridge begins Bm < ') < F. In a fe cases$ the & chord also has the function o f minor dominant$ notabl in =he9s ;ea&ing Home.
ubstitutions and modulations to other !e"s
'hords other than the abo&e are not used in the eatles9s music$ e+ce,t as substitutions e.g.$ the @ b chord as substitution for the B chord$ leading to '6$ or in modulations to other es. #he most common modulation in the eatles9s music is a e change in the bridge$ ith the bridge beginning in the e a minor third abo&e the tonic e.g.$ &erse in 7 major$ bridge in ' major6. 0). *+,loding functional harmon h did the eatles9s harmonic language turn out this a4 #his 5uestion can be ansered on se&eral different le&els. 7 rather self
In diagram 1$ a sector shos the most often used chords in the e of ' in traditional harmon: #he I chord in the middle$ I% to the left$ % to the right and the relati&e minors inside the circle.
*&en in traditional harmon$ there is a certain freedom in the use of the chords ithin this sector. hen traditional harmon uses chords further to the right on the circle e.g.$ an *) chord in the e of ' major6$ the a bac to the tonic is regulated b descending fifths: *) < 7 < @ < B < '. 'hords to the left of I% lie b$ *b and 7b in the e of '6 are seldom used. /iagram 3 shos a circle of fifths ith eatle harmon. #iagram %$ Circle of fifths in &eatles harmon"
#he chords used in a freer a b the eatles are the chords closest to the traditional sector<< %II and II$ or the chords of b and @ in the e of '. #he b%II chord is used totall freel. #he II chord also is used freel$ although it can be said to retain a strong ,reference for mo&ing to % and then to I.
b
'ombining chords freel in this a means that man songs seem modal$ rather than tonal ;illiestam 1//-$ ,. 2"!6. Hoe&er$ it is often a matter of taste if a certain chord ,rogression is ,ercei&ed as modal or tonal. 7 somehat more radical a,,roach ould be to consider tonalit as a s,ecial case of modalit: among man musicall meaningful as of ordering e.g. the chords '$ F$ B and 7m in the eatles music e.g. #he 'ontinuing =tor Af ungalo ill ith 7m < ' < F < B and ;et It e ith ' < B < 7m < F6$ there are a cou,le of cases here the chords ha&e traditional functions: ' < 7m < F < B and F < B < ' < 7m. It9s not a coincidence that it9s b%II and II$ the to major chords closest to res,ecti&el I% and % on the circle of fifths$ that are used more freel. #here are to reasons for this: 16 #he further aa from the tonic one mo&es on the circle of fifths$ the greater the ris that melod notes ill collide ith chords and create unanted dissonances. sing for e+am,le a FG major chord in the e of ' ill mean a &er great ris for clashing ith the melod << not to mention the drastic contrast in the chords themsel&es. #he closer to the tonic one stas on the circle of fifths$ the lesser the ris for such clashes. 26 #hat estern musical instruments are built and tuned the a the are de,ends to great e+tent on the music the ere built for. #he ,iano is an ob&ious e+am,le$ shoing ho estern music has disregarded microtonalit notes 1eteen the es of the ,iano$ e.g. the blue notes of blues$ jazz and roc6 << hile the Indian sitar$ on the other hand$ ob&iousl is built for using microtonalit. #he si+ strings and standard tuning of the guitar mean that the fi&e o,en major chords on the instrument chords ,laed ithout barring$ in the first
,osition$ and using at least one o,en string6 are '$ B$ @$ 7 and *$ and the three most easil ,laed o,en minor chords are @ minor$ 7 minor and * minor. 7 com,arison ith the ,ictures abo&e shos ho the easiest and bestage of the grou, ;ed e,,elin$ 5uoted in ;illiestam 1//"$ ,. 2306$ are telling? and Bullberg in ,ress6 found clear differences in taste beteen oung ,eo,le in and outside music schools. #he ,roblem might not be education in itself$ but deficient or incom,lete education: 7 little learning is a dang9rous thing$ rote 7le+ander >o,e$ and a little learning in this case might mean all the times hen ,eo,le ha&e been taught that it is forbidden for instance to combine certain chords... ithout consideration of the fact that the 5uestion of ho chords are combined together is a matter of stle. ithout a limiting little noledge of traditional music theor$ but ith a great ,ractical noledge of ho different ,o,ular music stles sounded$ the eatles com,osed their songs on guitar and to some e+tent on ,iano6. It9s &er liel that this might lead to situations lie the folloing: e ha&e learned$ ,laed and e&en ritten songs in the e of B$ that ha&e used for instance the chords B$ *m$ ' and @? no e are riting a song in the e of 7$ and h not tr the chords ' and *m in this e too4 #he are easil ithin reach on the instrument$ and de,ending on ho the are used$ the might create interesting colours. hen the eatles9s harmon lea&es the I$ I% and % chord and their relati&e minors to go further in the dominant direction on the circle of fifths it follos traditional con&entions << this holds true$ as e ha&e seen$ for the chords &ii or in just a cou,le of cases %II)6$ III)6 and %I)6. 7lso$ the i& and b%I chords are almost alas used in a traditional a$ e&en if the b%I chord also is used in other conte+ts. e ma no dra a circle of fifths 2diagram 4+, shoing hich chords the eatles used totall freel in the to, sector6$ &ersus hich chords are go&erned b traditional rules. Eote that some chords are missing$ e.g. the bIII chord? see belo.6 #iagram '$ Chords used freel" in &eatles harmon" (top sector) and chords governed b" traditional rules (outside top sector)
0/. b III modalit Anl in rare e+ce,tions is the bIII chord used together ith the minor relati&es ii$ &i and iii. Instead$ bIII is most often used together ith I$ I%$ % and b%II. Ingelf 1/-2$ ,. (6 dras a sim,le but effecti&e ,icture of traditional harmon$ hich mainl uses the chords of F < ' < B < @ < 7 in the e of '$ in other ords I$ I%$ % and to chords in the dominant direction? hile roc harmon in the same e ill use the chords of * b < b < F < ' < B$ that is$ I$ I%$ % and to chords in the su1dominant direction. #he onl form ,art in the eatles9s music here these fi&e chords and none other are used is the instrumental middle section of Here 'omes #he =un. In chord ,rogressions lie ' < * b < F < B >lease >lease 8e6$ ' < * b < F =gt. >e,,er6 and ' < * b < b *&erbod9s Bot =omething #o Hide$ *+ce,t For 8e 7nd 8 8one6$ a cou,le of these fi&e chords are used. #he seem to be combined an hich a$ as usuall ith the ,reicetts In #he6 8idnight Hour 1/("6 and 'reedence 'learater Re&i&als >roud 8ar 1/(/6. oth songs use the ,rogression trans,osed to ' major6 b < B < F < * b < ' in their introductions. 7 later e+am,le$ among man others$ is 8iddle Af #he Road$ b #he >retenders 1/-26. #his justifies consideration of a ne ind of modalit$3 built on the fi&e chords I < bIII < I% < % < b%II$ and in man cases im,ling that other chords e+ce,t in some cases b%I6 are not ,resent in form ,arts using these chords << ith$ of course$ the bIII chord being essential$ as I$ I%$ % and b%II are used in other conte+ts$ too. 7nother circle of fifths 2diagram 5+ shos this ne modalit. #iagram $ Circle of fifths sho*ing bIII modalit"
It should be noted that music of the eatles onl shos tendencies to this ne modalit. Further research might re&eal ho commonl used it is in roc harmon. It is not im,ossible that it actuall is rather uncommon$ but that the characteristic sound of the bIII and b%II chords in a major e maes the listener react strongl to such songs. Ane e+,lanation for using the chords I$ bIII$ I%$ % and b%II might be that the root notes of the chords s,ell out a ' minor ,entatonic scale '$ *b$ F$ B$ b6$ and the chords could be seen as this scale$ harmonised ith major triads on each note cf. *&erett 1//"$ ,. 2216. +armon"$ songs in minor
Af the 1( songs in minor$ 10 are in the guitar es of * and 7 minor$ 2 in ' minor$ 2 in FG minor$ one in 'G minor and one in *b minor? this song$ I9m Anl =lee,ing$ hoe&er$ is ,laed using * minor chords on detuned guitars. =ongs in minor es use chords much the same as major songs do$ although minor songs also use different modes$ i.e. an *olian song in 7 minor might use a @ minor chord$ hile a song in 7 @orian might use a @ major chord. @ifferent modes ill not be found in the same form ,art. 10. 'onclusions hat might someone ho ,las b ear e+,ect in music b the eatles and other$ stlisticall closel related music4 Regarding "orm: that the song has a &erse$ that most often ill feel lie home$ and that ,robabl ill be the first form ,art after the intro$ if there is one6 to be heard. In relati&el fe cases$ the first form ,art to be heard after the intro6 ill be the chorus. Furthermore$ a chorus andCor a bridge that ha&e a contrasting function$ often in songs in major es6 beginning on one of the relati&e majors$ and most ,robabl occurring after to &erses bridge or chorus6 or after to ,airs of &erse << chorus bridge6. Regarding harmony: that songs in major are a lot more common than songs in minor? that there ill be an easil discerned tonic$ or a chord that feels lie home? that chord ,rogressions to a &er large e+tent ill be built on I$ I% and %$ and in lesser degree on their relati&e minors &i$ ii and iii and the b%II and II chords. 'hords other than these ill either
follo traditional functional harmon i.e. chords in the dominant direction$ ,lus the minor subdominant and its relati&e major6 or im,l a ne modalit$ using the major chords I$ bIII$ I%$ % and b%II. #his means that the music of the eatles and their contem,oraries has its starting ,oint in traditional functional harmon$ but a functional harmon here the limits for hat is alloed are slol being e+,anded. 'hords close to the tonic on the circle of fifths are combined totall freel? more chords in the subdominant direction a,,ear in the music? and the II chord can be used in the traditional a$ but also ith a ne freedom. In roc music$ functional harmon has started a slo e+,losion$ that continues to this da. In the 1//0s$ it is ,ossible to com,ose using ,rogressions lie in ' major6 ' < FGm Fade 7a b the *nglish grou, lur$ from their '@ #he Breat *sca,e$ 1//"6 or ' < 7 < F < ' G < In loom b the 7merican grou, Eir&ana$ from Ee&ermind$ 1//16 as the foundation of a song$ ithout being too e+treme. #he eatles and their contem,oraries &er seldom used that ind of chord ,rogressions. In such latter
#his is a short &ersion of the boo $eatles harmoniska spr6k ohansson$ 1//-6. 1. 7s in this e+am,le: '.@mJt*m.*boJt@m)JtB)Jt'.@mJt*m.*boJt@m)JtB)Jt'JtFm.B) If I Fell$ &erse? original e: @ major6 Here$ .6 means s,ace and Jt6 tabulation. 7 s,ace as used hen there ere to or more chords in one bar? a tabulation meant a ne bar. 2. Roc music is &er often com,osed ithout conscious regard to conce,ts such as bars or ,eriods? indeed$ one might as ith 8oore 1//3$ ,. !06: In a music that is not notated$ ho long is a 9bar94 3. Af course$ not a modalit in the traditional sense? but still$ the chords seem to be used in a modal a. #iscograph"
#he folloing 1" ;> or '@ albums are the 13 records that the eatles released during their time as a grou,$ ,lus to com,ilations. #ogether$ the contain the 210 songs used in this stud.
Please Please Me. >arlo,hone. >'= 30!2. 8arch$ 1/(3 7ith The $eatles. >arlo,hone. >'= 30!". Eo&ember$ 1/(3 - *ard /ay8s 9ight. >arlo,hone. >'= 30"-. ul$ 1/(! $eatles or Sale. >arlo,hone. >'= 30(2. @ecember$ 1/(! *elp;. >arlo,hone. >'= 30)1. 7ugust$ 1/(" Ru11er Soul. >arlo,hone. >'= 30)". @ecember$ 1/(" Revolver. >arlo,hone. >'= )00/. 7ugust$ 1/(( - arlo,hone. >'= )01(. @ecember$ 1/(( Sgt. Pepper8s onely *eart8s arlo,hone. >'= )02). une$ 1/() Magical Mystery Tour. >arlo,hone. =88#1. Eo&ember$ 1/() The $eatles 2the =7hite -l1um=+. 7,,le. >'= )0()C-. Eo&ember$ 1/(>ello Su1marine. 7,,le. >'= )0)0. @ecember$ 1/( -11ey Road. 7,,le. >'= )0--. =e,tember$ 1/(/ et 0t $e. 7,,le. >K= 1. 8a$ 1/)0 Rarities. 'om,ilation. *8IC>arlo,hone. >=;> 2(1. Actober$ 1/)/ #he folloing ebsite eatles '@ogra,h6 indicates hich albums indi&idual songs are on: htt,:CCnetno.micron.netCLmroligC -ther recordings
'reedence 'learater Re&i&al: arlo,hone. ;' 02//. 1//" Eir&ana: 9evermind . Beffen. B*@ 2!!2". 1//1 ilson >icett: Greatest *its. @uchesse. '@ 3"20!-. 1//0 #he >retenders: earning To
$eatles ublishing 'or,oration.
*&erett$ alter: #he eatles as 'om,osers: #he Benesis of 7bbe Road$ =ide #o. In ress. Bullberg$ 7nnaiteO. Ingelf$ =ten 1/-26: @aAA) och popharmonik. =tocholm: Reuter P Reuter. ohansson$ MB 1//-6: $eatles harmoniska spr6k. #n 1eskrivande undersökning av harmoniken i $eatles musik. 8usihNgsolan i >iteO$ ra,,ortserie 1//-:01. ;illiestam$ ;ars 1//"6: Gehörsmusik. BNteborg: 7ademifNrlaget. ;illiestam$ ;ars 1//-6: Svensk rock. Musik, lyrik, historik. =rifter frOn Institutionen fNr musi&etensa,$ BNteborgs uni&ersitet$ nr "3. BNteborg: o *jeb FNrlag. 8ac@onald$ Ian 1//!6: #n revolution i huvudet. The $eatles inspelningar och '()talet. #ranslated b *ri 7ndersson from Revolution 0n The *ead: The $eatles8s Records -nd The Sixties. BNteborg: o *jeb FNrlag. 8ellers$ ilfrid 1/)36: Tilight !" The Gods. The Music !" The $eatles. Ee Dor: =chirmer. 8iddleton$ Richard 1//06: Studying Popular Music. 8ilton Menes: A,en ni&ersit >ress. 8oore$ 7llan 1//36: Rock: The Primary Text. /eveloping a Musicology o" Rock. ucingham$ >hiladel,hia: A,en ni&ersit >ress. 8oore$ 7llan F. 1//)6: The $eatles: Sgt. Pepper8s onely *earts ress. A9Brad$ #erence . 1/-36: The $eatles: - Musical #volution. oston: #ane >ublishers. >o,e$ 7le+ander 1)116: -n #ssay !n
Q MB ohansson$ 1/// I==E 1!03<")1" htt,:CC
