#twochords

Narino Turkey/Laz Birol Topaloğlu key: A drone

other recordings: AZE, C# drone Kazım Koyuncu, G drone Beşir Bayraktar, G drone İsmail Türüt, A drone

This is a folksong from a tradition not entirely separate from European, but divergent enough. There are a lot of commonalities, but ultimately the way the structures are and are thought about are different. It’s not unlike how jazz and classical people have most musical things in common, but still the way jazz folk and classical folk talk and think about their music differs. This is all to say that I found this song here. And it looks to me like it’s in D minor with a minor dominant on the fifth degree, because the melody always ends on D and a D minor chord.

Then you listen to the recording above and it’s a pretty different story, isn’t it? First of all, there’s only a drone on A and no chords. The Dm chord sounds a little off. Not horribly so, but not quite right.

It is worth looking at and listening to an acoustic performance by Mr. Bayraktar:

Better Must Come (1971) Delroy Wilson key: A major blues

Euroclassical function names:   tonic   dominantTagg: tonic   counterpoiseRiemann: T Sscale degrees: I IVchord names: A D

slow two—   A        D |:/   /   |/   /   :|

or fast four —   A        D |:/ / / / |/ / / / :| loop

mode: A blues — A B C D D# E G A melody: S L d r me m f se form: intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-interlude-verse-chorus meter: duple suggested time signature: 2|2, 4|4

other recordings: Don Carlos, G

Oye Como Va (1963) Tito Puente Cha-Cha-Chá, USA key: A dorian

Euroclassical function names:   tonic   subdominantTagg: tonic   counterpoiseRiemann: t Sscale degrees: i7 IV7chord names: Am7 D7

  Am7      D7       Am7      D7 |:/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / /:| loop

break:  Am7          D7Am7      D7   Am7   |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |

breakdown:  D7 |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |

mode: A dorian —  A B C D E F# G A melody: Sldrm form: intro-break–verse–break–vamp 1–break–verse–breakdown–vamp 2–break–breakdown–vamp 2a–break meter: duple suggested time signature: 4|4

other recordings: Celia Cruz, G dorian Santana, A dorian Arturo Sandoval, A dorian (but with lots of reharmonization!)

There are two iconic recordings of this one: the original and the Santana version, the latter of which is actually fairly respectful and almost conservative with regards to the original. What I’m calling a vamp is a polyrhythmic layering of different sections of the big band playing riffs over the tonic-subdominant shuttle that is the meat of the song. The piccolo improvises on top of this, but it’s not quite the main attraction. This is still dance music, after all, not bebop.

Little Wing (1975) Neil Young Folk, USA/Canada Elizabeth Mitchell key: F major

Euroclassical function names:   tonic   subdominantTagg: tonic   counterpoiseRiemann: T Sscale degrees: IMA7 IVMA7chord names: FMA7 BbMA7

intro:  FMA7 |/ / / /|/ / / /|/ / / /|/ / / /|  FMA7    BbMA7   FMA7    BbMA7 |/ / / /|/ / / /|/ / / /|/ / / /|  FMA7 |/ / / / |/ / / /|

verse:   BbMA7    FMA7 |:/ / / / |/ / / /:| loop 5x

interlude: loop 2x

mode: F major — F G A Bb C D E F melody: Ldrmsltd’r’ form: intro-verse-interlude-verse verse — AA'A''BB meter: duple suggested time signature: 4|4

other recordings: Neil Young, Bb

Here is another wistful song with major seventh chords. I will have to find an example that isn’t wistful! Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but I find that cut-and-dry associations of sounds and moods get you in trouble pretty quickly (i.e., the old canard “major = happy/minor = sad,” which we can debunk right away with pretty much all of Johnny Cash’s oeuvre but let’s start with “Folsom Prison Blues” and on the other side, my go-to example is the Hollies’ “Bus Stop.”). I’d like to point out here that the major seventh in a major seventh chord has no particular melodic job — it doesn’t push or pull us up or down like the dominant seventh does. Its job is really one of color and mood. It is most common in jazz, but also late 19th century classical (listen to our old friends Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Erik Satie, for example), and as mentioned before Simon and Garfunkel.

Las Vegas Tango (1964) Gil Evans Jazz, USA key: E minor (blues/dorian)

Euroclassical function names:   tonic   dominantTagg: tonic   counterpoiseRiemann: t sscale degrees: i7 iv7chord names: Em7 Am7

 Em7 |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |  Am7               Em7 |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |  Am7               Em7 |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |

mode: E aeolian — E F# G A B C D E; or E dorian — E F# G A B C# D E; or E blues — E F# G A A# B D E melody: drmsl’ form: 12-bar blues meter: duple suggested time signature: 4|4

other recordings: Gary Burton, E minor

< p>Don’t let the beautiful big band orchestration scare you, it’s still just a two-chord song. The tango feel is a little more prominent in the Gary Burton version, at first, then it ventures into a chill hip-hop vibe.

Interestingly, it’s a twelve-bar blues form, but only with tonic and subdominant (basic 12-bar blues, for those not in-the-know, usually also has a dominant chord in the ninth measure, but there are many, many, many variations in chord progressions when it comes to 12-bar blues). The first phrase is just Em and the second and third phrases are a subdominant-tonic shuttle.

Big Mistake (1967) The Bassies Rocksteady, Jamaica key: E aeolian

Euroclassical function names:   tonic   subdominantTagg: tonic   counterpoiseRiemann: t sscale degrees: i ivchord names: Em Am

intro:  Em |/ /|/ /|/ /|/ /|/ /|/ /|/ /|

verse:  Em |/ / |/ / |/ / |/ / | |/ / |/ / |/ / |/ / |  Am |/ / |/ / |/ / |/ / |  Em |/ / |/ / |/ / |/ / |  Am |/ / |/ / |/ / |/ / |  Em |/ / |/ / |/ / |/ / |  Am |/ / |/ / |/ / |/ / |  Em |/ / |/ / |/ / |/ / |

interlude over first four phrases of verse first two verses

mode: E aeolian — E F# G A B C D E melody: MSldrms form: verse — AA’A’’A’’’BA’’’’BA’’’’ meter: duple suggested time signature: 2|4

The guiro part on this song is magic! Usually guiro parts are faster and more in the background and this one is super-simple and really forward in the mix. You can really savor how the timbre changes as the instrument is scraped. It’s as though you can hear the sound of someone’s neck as they slowly shake their head in admonition… You made a big mistake.

As far as I can tell, the Bassies only recorded a handful of singles that were released or included on compilations with other artists and that was it. Ah, how the industry has changed. They’d probably fare better now on Bandcamp!

Roadrunner (1972) Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers Rock/Proto-Punk, USA key: A major/mixolydian

Euroclassical function names:   tonic   subdominantTagg: tonic   counterpoiseRiemann: T Sscale degrees: I IVchord names: A D

  A            D |:/ / / / |/ / / / :| loop (except for two tiny bits, see below)

mode: A mixolydian — A B C# D E F# G A melody: RMsltr form: hmmm… meter: duple suggested time signature: 4|4

other recordings: The Greg Kihn Band, A The Jazz Butcher, A Joan Jett, B

Another 99 percenter: there are two V chords (E) in here, one at the end of the “third verse” (if we can call it that… the line “I’m in love with rock and roll and I’ll be out all night”), and the other at the very end, right after he says “Bye bye.” So, not 100% purely two chords, but not a dealbreaker.