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Related Music Theory Alchemy

“For No One” is a song from The Beatles’ album Revolver, released in 1966. The song has a melancholic theme, represented quite well through a sophisticated chord progression that features significant use of the minor scale and infrequent use of chord extensions, such as 7th and suspended chords. It’s written primarily in C Major, but the chorus alternates between D Minor and A7, an interesting modal shift (Using structural chords from different modes).

“Yesterday” by The Beatles showcases the innovative use of chord progressions that the group is known for. This song, unlike their other songs, includes borrowed chords and numerous secondary dominant chords. It also uses their favored approach of mixing chords from parallel major and minor scales, hence creating a ‘blended’ modal effect.

Moreover, it uses a mixolydian ♭7 in the main chord sequence, which is quite a popular trick among songwriters for shifting the tonic of a song.

The given chord progression for Tyler, The Creator’s “Gone Gone” verse 2 is primarily in the key of Bb major with a mixture of chords from other modes. The progression displays a combination of diatonic and borrowed chords, exhibiting the stylistic blending commonly found in modern music such as jazz, R&B, and hip-hop.

The piece “When I Was Your Man” by Bruno Mars showcases a common pop ballad structure that follows a typical 4-chord progression with common tone substitution as well as some chords borrowed from the relative minor. Its simplicity is one of its strengths as it allows the focus to fall on Bruno’s vocals and the lyrics, which matches the direct, emotional content of the song effectively.

“The Bullet With Butterfly Wings” by The Smashing Pumpkins essentially revolves around the use of power chords, or 5th chords, to project a raw, grungy intensity. The chord progression (B5, Em, G5), extracted from the second verse of the song, is prominent throughout. The use of power chords results in a composition that doesn’t transpose to a traditional major or minor key, but fits within a modal framework.

The Beatles – For No One – Verse 2

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Chord Progression

[‘C’, ‘C/B’, ‘Am’, ‘C/G’, ‘F’, ‘Bb’, ‘C’]

Chord Progression Analysis

Here is the analysis with borrowed chords:

“`
C Major (I)
C/B (I with leading tone Bass)
A minor (vi)
C/G (I with dominant Bass)
F Major (IV)
Bb Major (♭VII – Borrowed from C Minor)
C Major (I)
“`

Similar Chord Progressions

The progression I – vi – IV – V is common in many other pop songs. A borrowed ♭VII chord and slash chords are less common, but you can see a use of borrowed chords in the work of artists as diverse as Nirvana and Stevie Wonder. For example:

– Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” borrows uses a similar technique in a couple passages. Here is one such progression: [‘F5’, ‘Bb5’, ‘Ab5’, ‘Db5’] (I – ♭III – ♭II – IV assumed to be in the F Major Key. Nirvana used power chords which technically aren’t major or minor but assuming major fits the aesthetic of their music perfectly).
– Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” also uses a similar trick. The progression: [‘Eb min7’, ‘Bb7’] (i – V expressed in Eb minor, the V chord is borrowed from the parallel major).

Of course, these examples don’t match The Beatles chord progression exactly but they do show the use of borrowed chords, which are one unique aspect of the given Beatles progression.

Musical Analysis

This progression consists of the I, vi, IV, and V, a very common progression in pop music known as the doo-wop progression. What is unique here is the use of a borrowed chord, which is less common. This introduces a note (Bb) into the progression that is not in the diatonic key of C Major, creating an unexpected and interesting sound.

Overall Analysis

The progression is in the key of C major. The use of the Bb major is known as modal interchange, where a chord that is not in the key is borrowed from a parallel key, which in this case is C minor. This contributes an interesting tone color to the overall sound. The chord progression does consist a use of slash chords (C/B, C/G) which adds a more complex bassline creating a more harmonically active feeling, and yielding more tension and release.

Style Analysis

The use of borrowed chords was a commonly used technique of The Beatles, allowing them to create more complex and less predictable harmonic structures. The Beatles are known for their innovative chord progressions and this is a classic example. The use of a continuous descending bassline in this progression adds an element of tension and release, typical of their style.

Chords in the Verse 2 section of For No One by The Beatles are:

[‘C’, ‘C/B’, ‘Am’, ‘C/G’, ‘F’, ‘Bb’, ‘C’]