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The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” presents an interesting mix of major and minor chords with excellent use of chord inversions and borrowings. The song is harmonically adventurous, showcasing the band’s pop mastery with Brian Wilson’s unmatched compositional skills. This song is primarily in the key of A Major, with many borrowed chords and modulation that creates its unique feel.

“God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys showcases the artistic depth and compositional craft of Brian Wilson, the band’s primary songwriter. The song utilizes a complex chord progression and key changes that are unconventional for pop music of its time. The chord progression creates a sense of constant mood transitions, similar to arias in Romantic era music.

The bridge of Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So” features an intriguing chord progression, which presents both diatonic and borrowed chords, as well as chromatic harmony. The song’s key is C major, but it touches on the parallel minor key and incorporates unusual chords such as the Eb major chord, which adds tension and surprise. The chord progression and harmonic rhythm are fairly consistent throughout the bridge, creating a sense of unity.

The chord progression appears to be in the key of Bb Major, and showcases various diatonic chords along with a few borrowed chords. This progression is characterized by a blend of smooth and rich harmony, primarily due to the use of 7th chords and suspensions. The introduction of the dominant B7 chord adds interest, making the progression more unpredictable and complex.

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“Somebody To Love” by Queen is a classic rock ballad in the key of G major, drawing heavily from influences of gospel music and blues progressions. Its bridge, aside from the characteristic gospel and rock elements, includes a modulating progression that is particularly interesting due to its use of borrowed chords, which adds contrast and emphasizes the emotive quality of the song.

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The Beach Boys – Good Vibrations – Bridge

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Chord Progression

[‘A’, ‘A’, ‘D’, ‘D’, ‘A’, ‘A’, ‘E’, ‘F#m’, ‘B’, ‘E’, ‘F#m’, ‘B’, ‘E’, ‘F#m’, ‘B’, ‘E’, ‘E7’, ‘A’, ‘D’, ‘A’, ‘D’, ‘A’, ‘D’, ‘A’, ‘D’, ‘G’, ‘C’, ‘G’, ‘C’, ‘G’, ‘C’, ‘G’, ‘C’, ‘F’, ‘G’, ‘A’, ‘G’]

Chord Progression Analysis

The bridge chord progression is A – A – D – D – A – A – E – F#m – B – E – F#m – B – E – F#m – B – E – E7 – A – D – A – D – A – D – A – D – G – C – G – C – G – C – G – C – F – G – A – G.

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A Major (‘I’), D Major (‘IV’), A Major (‘I’), E Major (‘V’), F# Minor (‘vi’), B Major (‘Borrowed II from the key of A major’), E Major (‘V’), F# Minor (‘vi’), B Major (‘Borrowed II’), E Major (‘V’), E7 (‘V7’), A Major (‘I’), D Major (‘IV’), A Major (‘I’), D Major (‘IV’), G Major (‘Borrowed bVII from the key of A major’), C Major (‘Borrowed bIII’), G Major (‘Borrowed bVII’), C Major (‘Borrowed bIII’), F Major (‘Borrowed bVI’), G Major (‘Borrowed bVII’), A Major (‘I’), G Major (‘Borrowed bVII’)
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Similar Chord Progressions

Similar unique and complex progressions can be found in the music of other innovators from roughly the same era. The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” has a complex chord progression and use of modulation, as does “God Only Knows” and “Wouldn’t it be Nice” by Beach Boys themselves.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to showcase the entire chord progressions of these songs as your inquiry due to their own complexity and the fact that they involve various different sections with their individual characteristics.

Musical Analysis

This progression uses two main borrowed chords, the B Major and the F Major, creating a sense of surprise and intrigue, typical of the psychedelic rock genre that The Beach Boys would help popularize. The contrast between the original key of A Major and the insertion of these unexpected borrowed chords produces a ‘colorful’ tonality that revolutionized pop music. The transition from the dominant E7 back to the tonic A at the end of the progression also has a pulling effect. It brings the listener back to familiar territory after the wanderings of the progression.

Overall Analysis

“Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys is highly complex and represents an exceptional use of harmonic structuring. The richness of the piece lies in Brian Wilson’s innovative and unpredictable songwriting, who was making significant use of modulation at the time, constantly shifting keys, in this case especially during the transition bridge.

Style Analysis

“Good Vibrations” is a marked departure from the early surf rock style of The Beach Boys, instead showcasing rich harmonic intricacies that set it among the classics of psychedelic rock. This use of complex chord progressions, layered vocal harmonies, and unusual instrumentation like theremin and electro-theremin set the song apart and influenced future generations of musicians.

Chords in the Bridge section of Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys are:

[‘A’, ‘A’, ‘D’, ‘D’, ‘A’, ‘A’, ‘E’, ‘F#m’, ‘B’, ‘E’, ‘F#m’, ‘B’, ‘E’, ‘F#m’, ‘B’, ‘E’, ‘E7’, ‘A’, ‘D’, ‘A’, ‘D’, ‘A’, ‘D’, ‘A’, ‘D’, ‘G’, ‘C’, ‘G’, ‘C’, ‘G’, ‘C’, ‘G’, ‘C’, ‘F’, ‘G’, ‘A’, ‘G’]