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Related Music Theory Alchemy

“Penny Lane” by The Beatles is an eclectic and elegant piece of music evident in its rhythm, harmony, melody, and lyrics. It is predominantly in the key of A Major, but it has several key changes and introduces chords that are non-diatonic, giving it a progressive and unexpected feel.

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“Blackbird” by The Beatles is a song mostly in the key of G Major. It’s known for its interesting guitar work and unconventional chord progression. The song employs a mix of functional and non-functional harmony, striking a balance between traditional diatonic harmony and more experimental harmonic ideas. The chord progression also includes several chromatic or borrowed chords (Cm, Dbdim, D# (b5), C#dim, and Ebaug).

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‘Set Fire to the Rain’ is written in the key of D minor. The main course of progression uses the chords of Dm, B-flat Major, F Major and C Major. This is a 6-4-1-5 progression, which is very popular and is used in a lot of pop music.

What makes this progression interesting is that Adele uses the 2nd inversion of the A minor chord, Am/B, and G/A, which gives it a unique timbre. `Am/B` is the 2nd inversion of the `Am` chord and `G/A` is the 2nd inversion of the `G` chord.

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“Undone – The Sweater Song” by Weezer features a chorus with a simple, yet effective chord progression that combines the use of power chords with major chords. This combination gives the song its distinctive indie rock sound and contributes to its overall catchiness. The chorus is based on a four-chord progression with three different chords, where G5 power chord is followed by two major chords, C and D.

“Can You Feel The Love Tonight” is a pop ballad written in the key of G major. The progression makes traditional use of the G major chord scale with a notable exception of a borrowed chord A/C#.

The Beatles – Penny Lane – Chorus

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Chord Progression

[‘G’, ‘Bm’, ‘C’, ‘G’, ‘Bm’, ‘C’, ‘G’, ‘Bm’, ‘C’, ‘E7’]

Chord Progression Analysis

Here, we will analyze the given section of the chorus against the context of the key of A major:
“`
G Major: bVII
B Minor: ii
C Major: bIII
G Major: bVII
B Minor: ii
C Major: bIII
G Major: bVII
B Minor: ii
C Major: bIII
E7: V/vi
“`
The above chords contains borrowed chords which are chords borrowed from the parallel minor key, In the key of A major, the parallel minor is A minor. So, the G and C chords are borrowed from A minor.

Here’s the line with borrowed chords written in code block:

“`G Major (bVII), C Major (bIII)“`

Similar Chord Progressions

The Beatles’ use of borrowed chords and key changes was influential and can be seen in many songs by other artists. For example, the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” uses similar techniques. In particular, “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” by Paul McCartney also utilizes a similar style of chord borrowing and modulations.

Chord progression in these songs:

“God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys:

“`C (I), E7 (V/vi), F (IV), D (bII)“`

“Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” by Paul McCartney:

“`G (I), E7(V/vi), A7 (dominant V)“`

Musical Analysis

Notably, the primary chords in the progression (G and C) are not part of the A major scale. “Penny Lane” is characteristically Beatles-esque in its use of unexpected chord movements and key changes, which add intrigue to the piece without making it sound disjointed or random. The use of the V/vi (E7) chord as a pivot to transition between key areas is very nicely done and is an excellent example of the Beatles’ clever songwriting.

Overall Analysis

“Penny Lane,” written by the Beatles, utilizes key changes and borrowed chords to create an interesting and complex tonal palette. The song is best understood to primarily be in the key of A Major; however, it frequently borrows chords from the parallel minor key, uses unexpected dominant chords, and briefly modulates to other key areas for color and variety. This is characteristic of several Beatles songs, and it’s one of the ways they added complexity to their music while still remaining accessible.

Style Analysis

“Penny Lane” is characterized stylistically by its lush arrangements, complex harmonies, and stylistic mixture of traditional ‘pop’ songwriting, classical influence (particularly Baroque), and modern recording techniques. The section of the chorus analyzed here exemplifies this, with the borrowed chords adding unexpected color to the progression and the E7 resolving back to the home key in a satisfying manner.

Chords in the Chorus section of Penny Lane by The Beatles are:

[‘G’, ‘Bm’, ‘C’, ‘G’, ‘Bm’, ‘C’, ‘G’, ‘Bm’, ‘C’, ‘E7’]