The most basic chords in music are the I, IV, and V. With these harmonies alone, you can write great songs. But there are other ways to amplify their impact. Here, we look at three examples of how to do this.
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The song, "Last Christmas" -- released by the British pop duo Wham! in 1984 -- was written and produced by George Michael (no relation). And it's basically a modern classic.
Notice that the chord progression is just a slight variation on the popular I-V-vi-IV ... only it's played as I-vi-IV-V (but with the IV replaced by its relative minor, ii chord). So the pattern is I-vi-ii-V. This is why it sounds so good on continual repeat for a solid 4 minutes.
The variations on these chords are simply embellishments.
Here's a look at the music theory behind this song, along with a video for you to play along:
Cheers!
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This song in the series is the 2017 tune, "Ho, Ho, Ho" by Sia.
True, it's not as heartwarming as Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" ... and it's not on the same level as Mel Tormé's "The Christmas Song" ... but it is at least a super-catchy ear worm.
So here's an inside look at the music theory behind this song, along with a video for you to play along:
Like Wham!'s "Last Christmas" it's composed using a four-chord loop. So feel free to experiment with the embellishment's shown to add your own variety.
Cheers!
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Music theory is NOT confusing ... but the SYMBOLS people typically use to understand it are.
In this video, we look at how to quickly understand the patterns of music using COLORS and SHAPES.
https://youtube.com/live/mSWUhD0wDiQ
In other posts here, I explain the benefit of color to see music theory. But people often ask, “… but what’s up with the shapes? Why also use these alternating squares and circles?”
So here’s a synopsis of why the shapes are so helpful, which summarizes key points in the video.
Traditionally, musicians try to picture the invisible patterns of sound using uniform black dots … along with letter and number symbols:
The result is a visually complex system of blotches and squiggles that’s confusing and even counterintuitive.
But when you get down to it, the two most fundamental labels used to communicate musical ideas is those letters and numbers.
And together, these two symbol sets — letters and numbers — are meant to illustrate the musical relationships or patterns, which is what music is all about.
But while the letters do at least a decent job of distinguishing each note from the next — like C versus C# versus D, etc. — the colors visually clarify which notes are which more vividly and immediately.
And the color-note assignments here are based on applying the color wheel to the circle of fifths — where both patterns follow the exact same structure and sequence.
For example, in the center image below, the major scales of each key overlap in music to form the circle of fifths. And just as all the keys in music form this daisy-chain pattern, all the colors in the color wheel also bleed seamlessly into one another....
Hello, music nerds. Join us for the next Song Insight -- breaking down another classic tune. Here, we use the ChordMap to navigate harmonic space, followed by a Q&A.
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Join us for this new Song Insight -- breaking down a great composition. We're using the power of music theory (and the ChordMap), followed by a Q&A.
We're hanging out via live stream Saturday, November 23 at 9:00 a.m. (Mountain).
Chat Live or post questions on Locals in advance.
This Open Hour is for supporters. THANK YOU!
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