Music Theory Tutorial 1 by Jeff Weinberger

Howdy. Good to see y'all again. Time for a new free theory lesson. Last time we discussed the basics of diatonic harmony, looked at a few tunes that use it and discussed the I IV V chord progression. Be sure to review and email questions if anything wasn't clear. This time out I'd like to look at other ways to use diatonic chords. The iim, iiim and vim chords are also pretty useful.

Some great songs are totally or mostly diatonic. Our system of diatonic harmony largely comes from church modes. Just using one of these, the Ionian or major scale, scores of familiar compositions came about.

"With or Without You" by U2:

||: D  |  A   | Bm  | G  :||
   ////  ////  ////    ////  ad nauseum! Literally, this song is 4 chords. This is one of the most commonly used chord progressions in all of modern pop music from the 1950's on:





"Let It Be" by the Beatles:

Verse-                Chorus-

C F | G Am | C G | F C :|| Am G | F C |C G |F C ||
// //  //  //    // //  //  //   //    //   // // // // // //

There actually is a Bb chord in the tag before the organ and guitar solos and also the coda. Let's forget about that for now, though. I'll explain the bVII chord later.

The analysis is:

C F | G Am | C G | F C :|| Am G | F C |C G |F C ||

I  IV |V  vim| I  V| IV I :|| vim V IV I  I  V  IV  I  ||

It, to me is gospel-like in it's directness and simplicity. It turned out to be one of their best received tunes worldwide. Another tune I would put in this category is:

"No Woman, No Cry"  by Bob Marley:

Chorus-

C G | Am F | C F | C G :||
// //  //    //  // //  // //


Play these three songs over and over to reinforce your critical listening skills and analytical skills. There is a reason these songs have been immortalized. A lot of that lies in the simplicity, honesty and directness of the chords, lyrics and melody. Cheers for now.



P.S.-

This explains it fairly well:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4gp0WKrgqY#t=210





"Your Song" by Elton John is a good example. Here are the chords in the key of C rather the the original D. What is a key? It is when the notes and chords of a song conform exactly or closely to only those found in a particular scale. In this case C major. C D E F G A B C. Remember that from last time? I simplified the Am part. It really goes: Am Am/G Am/Gb F. I'll explain "slash" chords later, so for now just play Am for all three of those chords. Here's the tune:
                                                                                        
C Fmaj7 | G Em
//    //       //  //
Am   |Am  G

 C  G |  E Am

 C Dmin7| F G
//  / /        // //

There are so many great examples in pop music, classical, etc. This is just the tip of the iceberg! Go forth and use this new found knowledge. Cheers.