Patterns in music are fundamental for creating musical identity. This repetition ensures the music is coherent and familiar for the listener. In the case of “Perfect” by Smashing Pumpkins, the song makes use of a common popular music chord progression known as the I – vi progression.
“Bullet With Butterfly Wings” by The Smashing Pumpkins is an alternative rock song released in 1995. The song is in the key of E minor and primarily uses power chords derived from the E minor scale throughout the song. Power chords or ‘5’ chords, like B5 or G5, don’t have a major or minor quality and are often used in rock music for their strong and neutral sound. The song also applies modal mixture (borrowing chords from parallel keys) for color and tension.
The song “1979” by The Smashing Pumpkins has a chord progression that can be considered experimental for Pop and Rock music, which typically tend to use simple and easily predictable progressions. In this song, the progression is notably more complex and unpredictable, shifting between ‘E’ and ‘Emaj7’ gives this track a moody feel, and the Amaj7 gives it another color. This progression is in the key of E major.
“Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” by Elton John employs interesting chord progressions and borrows chords from other modes and keys, contributing to its melancholy, yet dynamically expressive mood. The song is set in E minor and uses basic chord progressions, some more sophisticated ones, and many borrowed chords.
“Paint It, Black” is in E minor key, with verse 3 having an exciting harmonic progression: Em – B – Em – B – Em – D – G – D – Em – Em – D – G – D – A – B. The chord progression suggests that the Rolling Stones utilise borrowed chords to impose an air of ambiguity that reflects the song’s lyrical themes. Additionally, this song is a blend of rock and raga rock style and exemplifies the Stones’ 1960s exploration into psychedelia and Eastern musical styles.
“Landslide” by The Smashing Pumpkins is a subtly complicated piece of music. At first glance, the chord progression may seem simple, but it actually incorporates a number of rich musical techniques that give the song its iconic depth and emotional resonance. The song follows a simple yet powerful chord progression and relies heavily on the interplay between the root C major chord, the G6, and the Am minor. There is a recurring theme of returning to the G6, which creates tension and suggests feelings of melancholy or introspection.
“Landslide” by The Smashing Pumpkins is a cover of the original song by Fleetwood Mac, and it blends rock and folk styles. The song features a variety of chords which predominantly mixes major and minor chords to evoke strong emotions. The simple yet effective chord progression emphasizes the sentiment of the lyrics, illustrating the theme of introspection and feeling a loss of control.
“Landslide” by The Smashing Pumpkins is a cover of a popular folk-rock song by Fleetwood Mac. In this song, The Smashing Pumpkins show their alternative rock style, while also paying homage to the folk-rock genre and especially to the founder of Folk-Rock “Fleetwood Mac”. The chords used throughout the song are predominantly composed in the key of G major, with the occasional use of a common borrowed chord (Am) from the G minor key.
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“Landslide” by The Smashing Pumpkins, originally by Fleetwood Mac, is written in the key of G major. The song features simple, but effective, chord progressions that are common in the folk and rock genres. The progression utilizes primary chords in the key (G, D, and C), along with some modal mixture via the borrowing of the minor iv chord (C) and minor vi chord (Am) from the parallel minor key (G minor). The secondary dominant D/F# creates tension and movement towards the Em chord. There is also the use of a G6 chord which adds color to the piece.
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