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Related Music Theory Alchemy

“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 chord progression in Radiohead’s “You And Whose Army” showcases the band’s unique style of blending chord progressions from different key centers, as well as their tendency to use borrowed chords. The progression consists largely of diatonic chords from the key of C# minor, but also features a few borrowed chords from D# minor and the parallel major key, C# Major.

The song, “As Tears Go By” by The Rolling Stones, is primarily in the key of G major. Its chord progression contains elements of classic pop songwriting, particularly from the 1960s, featuring major and minor chords, functional harmony, and a few borrowed chords. The verse has a repeating chord sequence that eventually concludes with a resolution to the tonic chord.

The progression starts on the suspended II chord of the key, which anticipates resolution either to the tonic (E major) or the supertonic (F# minor). However, it instead moves to the dominant minor (C# minor), suggesting a borrowed chord from the parallel minor (E minor). The D major chord which concludes the progression is a borrowed II from E minor as well.

The Beatles – Help – Verse

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Chord Progression

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

Chord Progression Analysis

A Major (I) – C# Minor (vi) – F# Minor (ii) – D Major (IV) – G Major (♭VII, a borrowed chord from A Mixolydian) – Repeat this cycle again and return to A Major (I).
All full chord names and roman numerals:

“`plaintext
A Major (I)
C# Minor (vi)
F# Minor (ii)
D Major (IV)
G Major (♭VII)
A Major (I)
C# Minor (vi)
F# Minor (ii)
D Major (IV)
G Major (♭VII)
A Major (I)
“`

Similar Chord Progressions

The A – C#m – F#m – D chord progression is fairly common in pop music. One example is “Earth Angel” by The Penguins. It uses the same I – vi – ii – IV progression in the key of D:

D Major (I) – B Minor (vi) – E Minor (ii) – A Major (IV)
In terms of the borrowed chord (G Major in this case), artists like Radiohead have made use of similar concepts, an example being the verse progression of their song “Paranoid Android”:

“`plaintext
G Major (I)
D Major (IV)
C Major (♭VII, a borrowed chord from G Mixolydian)
“`

It can be noted that while these progressions may share similarities in structure and concept, the musical context and surrounding elements like melody, rhythm, and production play a significant role in carving their unique identities.

Musical Analysis

The A Major to C#m change is a common pop progression that injects warmth and breadth into the piece. The F#m serves as a transition point to the D Major chord, creating an ii – IV movement. This leads to the touch of G Major which is our borrowed chord from A Mixolydian. This chord yields a strong pull back to the tonic (A Major), creating engaging tension and release.

Overall Analysis

The chord progression in the verse of “Help!” by The Beatles is quite characteristic of their style, using common chords but in interesting and unusual ways. The verse of “Help!” notably presents a mix of classic pop chord progression (I-vi-ii-V), secondary dominant chords and chromatic progressions. The Beatles often incorporated novel harmonic structures that added depth and complexity to their pop music, as evidenced in this piece.

Style Analysis

“Help!” is emblematic of The Beatles’ mid-career work, during which they started to experiment more with their sound. The song embodies many features of the British Invasion style, using basic chord structures and progressions but with variation and experimentation – for instance, the borrowed chord, which was a common feature in The Beatles’ music.

Chords in the Verse section of Help by The Beatles are:

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