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Tom O'Brien
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5/3/2022 2:41:43 AM
Music is So Mysterious
After all, it's just sound - a simple physical phenomenon. But, it's sound organized in such a way as to elicit emotion. So, our ears are connected to our nervous system. Sound can stir emotions. But how? Why does a major chord have a positive sound and a minor chord a negative one? It's just a half step difference, but it can turn happiness, triumph, joy, into sadness, fear, anger. Has it always been like this, or was there a time when chords had more ambiguous values? Gregorian chants seem to be in a minor key, even when singing about sacred things. Maybe it just sounded more sober to them. Major keys were for drinking songs. I'm reminded of that great Gilbert O'Sullivan song "Alone Again, Naturally" which has a very sad, but beautiful lyric, though if you weren't really paying attention to the lyric, you would think it was a happy little ditty in a major key.
It's all so mysterious and magical - I guess that's why we do it.
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Richard Scotti
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5/3/2022 9:01:02 AM
---- Updated 5/3/2022 9:02:47 AM
The primary innovation the Beatles brought to popular music was the use of minor chords when the prior generation of songwriters largely relied on major chords. In my opinion the two Beatle songs that won our hearts and minds and revolutionized popular music were She Loves You and I Wanna Hold Your Hand, both of which employed multiple minor chords. That expansion allowed for more melody and emotion than had been used in songs that depended on mostly major chords in previous years. They juxtaposed “happy chords” and “sad chords” in a way that expressed heart felt emotions and transcended the traditional use of those chords. Of course, the lyrics also played an important role in defining and redefining rock/pop chord structures which shaped the listener’s subliminal response. The major vs minor thing is somewhat subjective in my opinion. It all depends on how various chords are arranged and combined with lyrics and melody. She moves in mysterious ways!
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Bryon Tosoff
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5/3/2022 10:42:48 AM
I like the subject matter that Tom brought forth, there are as Richard stated ,different approaches one can take in music with the minor chords intertwined with different levels of energy or melody as what the Beatles did and Richard gave some great examples of some of the greatest pop lyric and song writers ever.
I know when I was young, my music teacher would say, this is a happy chord and this is a sad chord , happy being the major chord and sad supposedly the minor.
Well as I developed my songcrafting over the years and became a composer of a number of songs I found in my adult years my teacher was using this comparison for us to recognize sounds that can seem happy or sad, which is true, of and by themselves those individual chords project those sad or happy emotions, (individually)
Yet, I believe this, if one incorporates various rhythmic aspects, different melodic curves coupled with energy and lyrics that project a more upbeat feel and thought we have a whole different vibe which can give a happy feel throughout a song with using those minor chords
I know I have used this progression in a song entitled shine like a star and it starts with 3 minor chords ( B minor F# minor and C# minor and then E major) , There are other chords in the chorus, but those initial chords set the tone and feel for the composition itself and it actually has a good energy that projects a hopeful upbeat groove, I have lyrics for the song although I never have applied them to this song , and maybe it is time to do so.
So Tom is correct in how minor chords can induce a melancholy feel or such and Richard is correct as well how the Beatles used minor chords intertwined with high energy driving beat coupled with a thoughtful lyrical content which can give one a good feeling
So Richards thoughts are correct and so are Tom's it is all how we use and incorporate those mysterious sounds to connect to ourselves and others
cheers and happy thoughts to all
bryon
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Bryon Tosoff
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5/3/2022 10:52:39 AM
---- Updated 5/3/2022 10:53:06 AM
Shine like a star chorus (addendum : additional notes , these are the other chords for the second part of the song F# minor C# minor A major then E major which helps it set that up beat mood)
good subject by Tom, like it and love Richards thoughts
have a good one all
bt
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Steve April
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5/4/2022 1:45:46 AM
Good discussion all, music calls us in many different ways...
Happened to catch a show "Name That Tune," the other evening, the emotionality in the audience over the snippets of tune, ranging from soul to country, to rock, to pop, music is loved by so many, it's a part of life that uplifts, resonates, and inspires.
Recall a Dylan interview where Dylan said minor chords evoke for him the supernatural...
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Richard Scotti
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5/4/2022 9:43:02 AM
Speaking of Dylan, he has a new book coming out in the fall called Philosophy Of Modern Song.
It can be pre-ordered now. His description of the book was mind-blowing!
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Larree
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5/4/2022 11:46:03 AM
Wow, Richard. Thanks for sharing that. It looks like a definite must-read.
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Richard Scotti
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5/4/2022 1:48:34 PM
Go to bobdylan.com and you’ll see lot’s of unreleased songs for sale and other Dylan merch and info.
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Tom O'Brien
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5/9/2022 2:22:50 AM
Yeah, thanks, Richard. I'd be curious to know what Dylan makes of contemporary music. So much has changed since his heyday.
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Stoneman
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5/11/2022 4:18:13 PM
Very much interested in reading Dylan's take on songwriting and emotion as I am a big fan of his songwriting but not necessarily his singing. But I consider him to be one of the master songwriters of our time along with Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. Those people exhibited what I consider to be genius levels of songwriting proficiency. They (Marvin & Stevie) knew how to interject feeling and emotion into every chord and vocal riff. They also knew how to stay relevant to the times which is a skill that not many artists can maintain for long periods of time. While Dylan had this uncanny knack for timeless emotional melody. The biggest mystery for me is how thousands of great songs can come from 88 keys. It is a miracle that so many combinations of chordal progressions can be created out of such a small amount of musical tools. The modern day songwriter has truly mastered the art of sonic magic. Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat? No, more like watch me pull a song out of my ass. A world class songwriter can fart a song out on key and in harmony. Smell ya later!
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Richard Scotti
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5/11/2022 7:05:04 PM
@Stoneman - I agree with that those three songwriters are all brilliant in different ways. Unfortunately I never saw Marvin Gaye live but I always loved his songwriting and the emotional soulful way he sang. I did however see Dylan many times live and I have to say the guy changed my life. But Stevie Wonder also had a profound influence on me and the times I've seen him live were astonishing. Stevie seemed to levitate the stage and the audience into outer space - the closest one can be to being on LSD without actually taking it. His albums were certainly life changing as well. I agree with you that it's amazing that such complex masterpieces can be constructed with such a minimum of instrumental tools, chords and notes. It's like the universe being created from a tiny atom with a big bang or the act of changing water into wine. Music and the genius that creates it is miraculous and mysterious indeed.
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Paul groover
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5/14/2022 7:01:59 AM
---- Updated 5/14/2022 7:13:18 AM
Spanish castle magic was banned for the longest time because it had a secret chord in it that illicted strange feelings. I think the chord was d minor 13 or something similar. Only came back to light because Hendrix covered it but it was written in 1773 by Benjamin Franklin.
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Tom O'Brien
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5/20/2022 1:45:48 AM
That's spooky, that a chord can have such an effect on people. Every now and then I put my fingers in strange places on the fretboard, just to see what happens without thought being involved. Sometimes the results sound painful, but sometimes there is a quality to the voicing that has a unique beauty. These are secret chords to me, because I have to then parse them out and figure out what chords they actually are. I'm working on something right now that has a chord which is the tonic, the octave, the major 3rd, AND the minor third. It doesn't seem like it should work, but it's all about context.
And I just have to agree that Stevie is probably the best songwriter and all around musician of the entire second half of the last century. Songs in the Key of Life still stands, in my mind, as one of the best album listening experiences I've ever had. It never grows old. It's sonically beautiful. It's thematically beautiful. It's lyrically beautiful. And every instrument is playing a virtuoso part. Don't know if you remember the acknowledgements on the book it came with, but it's a who's who of all the virtuoso players in the music business. Virtuosity is something that's missing in a lot of modern music. Music has gotten too easy to make, and that makes people lazy.
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