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Related Music Theory Alchemy

“Your Song” by Elton John is an iconic pop ballad featuring a piano-driven accompaniment. Harmonically, the song displays rich and varied chord progressions within key of D major, though with a significant usage of borrowed chords and alterations that contribute to a unique and expressive harmonic language. There is a classical and cinematic air about this song establishing it as a flagship Elton John classic.

This chord progression is in the key of C Major, but incorporates a variety of borrowed chords and slash chords that add complexity and color to the song. It’s a good example of how Elton John takes popularly-used chord progressions and puts his own unique spin on them.

“Get You” by Daniel Caesar is a soulful R&B ballad featuring a smooth and emotive chord progression that is both melancholic and uplifting. The progression is derived from the key of D major, but features a borrowed chord from its parallel minor key, D minor, which adds a unique flair to the song. Daniel Caesar’s vocal performance, accompanied by soulful instrumentation, creates a sense of nostalgia and emotional evocation that is characteristic of the R&B genre.

The modality of the song “Yet Again” by Grizzly Bear is primarily in A minor, which makes it a piece in the minor modality. This song uses several traditional progression elements, but intermixes them with unexpected changes, especially the shift from E minor to F major, and the chromatic shift from G major to B flat major.

“Have You Ever Seen The Rain” is a popular song by Creedence Clearwater Revival from the 1971 album “Pendulum”. This song is performed in the key of C major, and uses chords from the diatonic scale. However, it also utilizes borrowed chords and chord inversions to create a bit of colour and novelty.

Elton John – Your Song – Chorus

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Chord Progression

[‘A/C#’, ‘Bm’, ‘Em7’, ‘G’, ‘A/C#’, ‘Bm’, ‘Em’, ‘G’, ‘Bm’, ‘Bm/A’, ‘Bm/G#’, ‘G6’, ‘D’, ‘Em’, ‘G’, ‘A’, ‘Bm’, ‘Bm/A’, ‘Bm/G#’, ‘G6’, ‘D/F#’, ‘Em’, ‘G’, ‘D’, ‘G/D’, ‘A/D’, ‘G/D’, ‘D’]

Chord Progression Analysis

The full list of chords and their roman numerals are as follows:

“`
A/C# (V6),
Bm (vi),
Em7 (ii7),
G (IV),
A/C# (V6),
Bm (vi),
Em (ii),
G (IV),
Bm (vi),
Bm/A (vi6),
Bm/G# (vi6/#5),
G6 (IVadd6),
D (I),
Em (ii),
G (IV),
A (V),
Bm (vi),
Bm/A (vi6),
Bm/G# (vi6/#5),
G6 (IVadd6),
D/F# (I6),
Em (ii),
G (IV),
D (I),
G/D (IV6),
A/D (V6),
G/D (IV6),
D (I)
“`

Similar Chord Progressions

Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are” exhibits a similar approach to chord progression. The chords provided in one line with roman numeral analysis would look something like this:

“`
D (I), Gmaj7 (IVmaj7), F#m (iii), Bm (vi), Em (ii), A (V), D (I), Gmaj7 (IVmaj7), F#m (iii), Bm (vi), Em (ii), A (V), D (I).
“`

Another similar progression can be seen in Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend”, with a slight twist in the key of A Major:

“`
A (I), Em/G (v6), D (IV), Bm (ii), F#m (vi), E (V), A (I).
“`

In both these cases, the songwriters use predominantly diatonic chords, similar to Elton John, and lean into common cadences such as VI – V and ii – V to solidify the tonal center.

Musical Analysis

The progression contains a lot of diatonic chords, including I, ii, IV, V, vi, and their inversions or variations. This helps establish D as the tonic while allowing for dynamic movement between chords.

Regarding non-diatonic chords, Bm/G# is a borrowed chord from the parallel minor, in this case, D minor. This is a common device used in pop and rock music and the baroque technique of changing the bass note under sustained chords is used with the Bm, Bm/A, Bm/G# sequence.

Overall Analysis

Your Song, like many of Elton John’s pieces, is known for its prominent piano accompaniment and strong melodic hooks. The song is in the key of D Major, which is why the frequent return to the D Major chord provides the sense of home and finality in the piece.

Style Analysis

“Your Song” highlights Elton John’s notable use of melodic and harmonic hooks to draw listeners in. Despite the relatively complex chord progressions, the song remains very accessible and singable, a characteristic of many of his most famous works.

Chords in the Chorus section of Your Song by Elton John are:

[‘A/C#’, ‘Bm’, ‘Em7’, ‘G’, ‘A/C#’, ‘Bm’, ‘Em’, ‘G’, ‘Bm’, ‘Bm/A’, ‘Bm/G#’, ‘G6’, ‘D’, ‘Em’, ‘G’, ‘A’, ‘Bm’, ‘Bm/A’, ‘Bm/G#’, ‘G6’, ‘D/F#’, ‘Em’, ‘G’, ‘D’, ‘G/D’, ‘A/D’, ‘G/D’, ‘D’]