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Related Music Theory Alchemy

“Sometimes It Snows In April” is commonly recognised as a hauntingly beautiful ballad that features gentle, intricate piano work and tender vocals. Musically, it explores a slightly complex harmonic structure that creates a profound emotive sound spectrum.

“Kiss” by Prince is primarily a rock song that features pop elements. The song utilizes power chords which are common in rock music, having a stripped-down chord structure that highlights the root and the fifth notes of the chord. The defined chord progression listed for Verse 3 is: [‘A5’, ‘D5’, ‘A5’]. This progression lacks the richness of Major or Minor chords but provides a solid, driving rhythm backbone to the song, prioritizing rhythmic energy over harmonic complexity.

The song “Every Day is Exactly the Same” by Nine Inch Nails is in E minor key. The chord progression found in the chorus consists mainly of common chords found in the E minor key, along with a couple of borrowed chords from E major. The use of borrowed chords adds unique color and tension to the music.

The song “Ceilings” by Lizzy McAlpine is in the key of G Major, employing a mixture of major, minor, and additive chords to create a progression that lends itself to a pop/folk atmosphere. The song is largely composed of diatonic chords in the key of G Major, with an occasional use of a B7, which can be seen as a secondary dominant to Em.

The chorus of “Hate This And I’ll Love You” by Muse features a highly chromatic and non-diatonic chord progression, with a myriad of borrowed chords and some distinctive rock sound. The key within which the progression is based seems to shift between E minor and B minor, with a mixture of Major and minor chords throughout.

Prince – Sometimes It Snows In April – Chorus

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Chord Progression

[‘Aadd9’, ‘E/G#’, ‘Aadd9’, ‘E/G#’, ‘Aadd9’, ‘G#7’, ‘F#7sus4’, ‘F#7’, ‘Aadd9’, ‘Bbsus2’, ‘Bsus2’, ‘F#7add11’, ‘Aadd9’, ‘E’]

Chord Progression Analysis

The chords for the chorus are as follows:

– ‘Aadd9’ (‘I add9’)
– ‘E/G#’ (‘V6’)
– ‘Aadd9’ (‘I add9’)
– ‘E/G#’ (‘V6’)
– ‘Aadd9’ (‘I add9’)
– ‘G#7’ (‘V/V7’)
– ‘F#7sus4’ (‘VI7sus4’)
– ‘F#7’ (‘VI7’)
– ‘Aadd9’ (‘I add9’)
– ‘Bbsus2’ (‘bII sus2’, borrowed from Phrygian)
– ‘Bsus2’ (‘II sus2’)
– ‘F#7add11’ (‘VI7 add11’)
– ‘Aadd9’ (‘I add9’)
– ‘E’ (‘V’)

Similar Chord Progressions

Stairway to Heaven’ by Led Zeppelin contains a similar use of added tone chords and modal mixture:
– ‘Am’ (‘i’)
– ‘G#dim’ (‘vii dim’)
– ‘C’ (‘III’)
– ‘D’ (‘IV’)
– ‘F’ (‘VI’)
– ‘G’ (‘VII’)
– ‘Am’ (‘i’)

‘Hey You’ by Pink Floyd has a comparable chromatic mediant move and usage of sevenths and suspended chords:
– ‘Em7’ (‘i7’)
– ‘D/E’ (‘IVadd9/1st inv’)
– ‘Em’ (‘i’)
– ‘A/C#’ (‘IV/1st inv’)
– ‘D7’ (‘V7’)

Musical Analysis

Prince uses a combination of standard I-V chords (Aadd9, E) along with inversions (E/G#), seventh chords (F#7sus4, F#7, G#7), and suspended chords (Bbsus2, Bsus2) which provide tension and variety while maintaining a strong sense of tonality. The use of the bII sus2 (Bbsus2) chord, which is borrowed from the Phrygian mode, is a particularly interesting choice that further creates harmonic tension and ambiguity.

Overall Analysis

The progression for the chorus of “Sometimes It Snows In April” by Prince exhibits a rich mixture of non- diatonic chords and borrowed chords. The tonal center of the song is A, but it doesn’t strictly follow a specific major or minor scale, creating an interesting blend of light and dark tonalities. This characteristic is a common feature in Prince’s works, showing his notable talent for blending the traditional with the unconventional.

Style Analysis

Prince’s harmonic language in ‘Sometimes It Snows In April’ is a good example of his soulful and complex writing style. His use of add9 and sus2 chords give the piece very lush and open sonorities, while the IV7 and V7 chords provide bluesy and jazzy tensions. The flattened II from the Phrygian mode offers an exotic twist characteristic of Prince’s innovative songwriting.

Chords in the Chorus section of Sometimes It Snows In April by Prince are:

[‘Aadd9’, ‘E/G#’, ‘Aadd9’, ‘E/G#’, ‘Aadd9’, ‘G#7’, ‘F#7sus4’, ‘F#7’, ‘Aadd9’, ‘Bbsus2’, ‘Bsus2’, ‘F#7add11’, ‘Aadd9’, ‘E’]