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Related Music Theory Alchemy

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“Cant Buy Me Love” by The Beatles is a pure example of their early rock-and-roll style influenced by blues. It uses common chord progressions in rock and blues, such as the I-IV-V progression and the use of dominant 7th chords. The song is set in C major, and makes repeated use of the I-IV (C-F) progression. A significant feature in the song is the use of the dominant 7th chords (C7 and F7), which adds some bluesy quality to the song and also serves as a transition chord to the next chord in the progression.

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“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.

The song “Penny Lane” written by the Beatles is in the key of A major. The structure of Verse 4, specifically, has a very effective use of both diatonic (belonging naturally to the key) and borrowed chords (taken from a different key or mode). They have incorporated secondary dominants, pivot modulation, and modal interchange which reflect their knowledge of musical theory and compositional skills.

“Little Sister” by Queens of the Stone Age is in C# minor and features an interesting blend of simple cycle of power chords, articulating a I – V/v – III – V progression during verses. The track is heavy but also melodic, built from a four-chord pattern that creates a mesmerizing tonality within the rock genre.

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.

Yesterday

Song

All Analyses by Song

The significant style note of “Yesterday” is its use of parallel major and minor scales, contributing to its blended modal effect. It mixes modern and classical styles, thus making it quite distinct from typical pop songs.

The Beatles’ extensive use of borrowed chords gives the piece its unique aura, demonstrating their innovative approach to songwriting. Despite the complexity of the progression, the melody remains familiar and inviting.

“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 song “Yesterday” by The Beatles is in the key of F major and spans chord I to VI. It is characterized by a deeply expressive melody and distinctive harmony. The chord progression seems simple, yet it makes full use of secondary dominants, borrowed chords, and subtly shifting tonal centers for narrative, which is a trademark of The Beatles’s songwriting style.

“Yesterday” is predominantly composed in the key of F Major. The song is a classic in pop songwriting and showcases the effective use of borrowed chords to capture a unique, nostalgic sound that has made it one of the most covered songs in pop music. Specifically, in this verse, the use of secondary dominants and borrowed chords from the parallel minor key provides the song’s distinctive tonal color.

“Yesterday” by The Beatles is a classic Pop song in F Major maintaining a 2/2 time signature. The song changes the chords frequently to create a rich harmonic texture, and is known for its iconic descending guitar melody.