Chapter 9 Flashcards
Descending Bass, Inversions, and Aug Chords (73 cards)
So common is this idea in pop that Chris Ingham awards it the tag: ‘Descending Elaboration of Static Harmony’ (DESH’) which
reflects the fact that the chord is kept constant while the bottom line drops down the major diatonic scale from the root down to the 5th. The bass line carries the song on its own and is not reliant on activity in either the chords or the tune.
The simplest chord that can form the static hannony of a ‘D ESH’ is a major triad. However, in practice, some liberties can be taken according to the key the song is written in, particularly given the inherent quirks of the guitar. With an open -position D chord , for example (as in ‘H er Majesty’), it requires a contortionist to ring out each of the chord tones , 1- 3- 5, while also playing the bass descent. Never mind, the fleeting droning open strings add spice even if, technically, they take us away from truly static harmony.
In any case, simple simultaneous movements in chords add interest to the progression, as we can hear with the few extra fills that McCartney adds in ‘For No One’, another blatant manifestation of the Diatonic Major descent , heard earlier on Revolver.
Major scale theory tells us that the ‘correct’ chord on the 7th degree of the scale should be a diminished triad, or perhaps a m7b5 if
we add a seventh to the stack. But we have long since ruled this chord too dissonant for pop or, as Rooksby puts it succinctly, ‘horrible to sing over’. The chord is therefore typically substituted in various ways, with The Beatles showing us the three most important options when using this specific line.
The next table sets out the three most common options for harmonising the ‘7’ (for a run in the key of C). It also indicates in each case the simple root position triad before confirming the implied inversion in the context of the run. For tracking the bass note in relation to the chord is essential to understanding advanced chord substitution in pop sequences .
Harmonising the ‘7’ (B) in the Diatonic Major Descent
For an example of the next option, the V chord , take a look at ‘ All You Need Is Love’. Again the bass descends from the tonic to the relative minor, but now the linking ‘7’ is harmonised by the simple dominant triad of the key which must now appear in 1st inversion to keep the required F# in the bass. The basic chord sequence can be thought of as
just ‘ I- V -vi’ and, in a band setting, the guitar player might well just play a basic root position D chord. But for solo acoustic renditions, the ‘slash chord’ D/F# is the secret to maintaining the voice leading.
Here, therefore , is another outing for Paul’s I-iii ‘formula’. Though now, in the context of the ‘7’ (the D# bass note), we find the chord as a 2nd inversion ‘slash’ chord.
Having seen some alternatives for harmonizing the ‘7’ , understanding the options for the next two destinations, ‘6’ and ‘5’, should be straightforward.
That just leaves the chord choices for the ‘5’.
A stylish alternative is to use the iii at this point. While ‘Real Love’ shows how it can provide great harmony over the ‘7’ , (in 2nd inversion), it also fits the bill perfectly over the ‘5’, this time in Ist inversion. A fine example is ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’ which features Fm (in the key of Db) at this point in the very same descending run.
The IV chord is an obvious example. After all, the interval structure in the run (half step, whole step, whole step) is the same from both these starting points with in the diatonic structure of the major scale. So, while the table uses the formula 8- 7- 6- 5 in relation to the IV chord (Bb), equally a songwriter could conceive it as 4- 3- 2- 1 in relation to the original I chord (F major). Either way, McCartney was hip to this symmetry by the time of ‘Hey Jude’.
Just as we ‘truncated’ the original descent in ‘All You Need Is Love’ to take us only as far as the relative minor , so The Beatles often used what can be seen as ‘4 - 3- 2’ to take us to the relative minor of the IV. In the verse of ‘Two Of Us’ , this idea provides the only embellishment to the basic tonic - to - subdominant structure seen back in Chapter 2.
In this way the IV - ii move is merely a ploy to extend the subdominant harmony. The moving line here neatly reflects the lyrical
theme of ‘returning home ‘ - in deft contrast to the static images of ‘riding nowhere’ and ‘not arriving’ that fall on the initial bars of the extended tonic.
The 8- 7- 6- 5 formula has stood the test of time in rock and pop , as Chris Ingham points out , mentioning a range of songs
including a trio from the ‘DESH-meister’ himself , David Bowie: ‘Changes’
The 8- 7- 6- 5 formula has stood the test of time in rock and pop , as Chris Ingham points out , mentioning a range of songs including a trio from the ‘DESH-meister’ himself , David Bowie: ‘All The Young Dudes’ and ‘Oh, You Pretty Things’.
The 8- 7- 6- 5 formula has stood the test of time in rock and pop , as Chris Ingham points out , mentioning a range of songs including a trio from the ‘DESH-meister’ himself , David Bowie: ‘‘Oh, You Pretty Things’.
To that diverse list must be added the 1994 Oasis smash hit, ‘Whatever’ , in which Noel Gallagher delivers another ‘8 - 7- 6- 5’ (followed by a textbook IV -V-I cadence) as the repeated intro and verse motif
In this way the descent reveals itself as the ‘Runaway’ /’Three Cool Cats’ trick explored in Chapter 6, which Lennon worked into songs ranging from ‘I’ll Be Back’ to ‘I Am The Walrus’ (the latter in major, and with its coda using the descent from two different
starting points).
3) The Dorian/Aeolian hybrid descent
(8-b7-6-b6)
Just as The Beatles broke free from diatonic boundaries with their basic chord shapes , so ‘borrowed’ and modal harmony would find its way into some of the most distinctive descending lines in their catalogue. ‘Chromaticism’ is the key to understanding a select group of lines that ‘fill in’ the gaps in the diatonic runs detailed above, while keeping the overall principle of a line effortlessly heading ‘south’ from the tonic. Tweaking these major and minor runs in subtle
ways helps bring dozens of Beatles songs into our songwriting framework.
The Dorian/Aeolian hybrid descent
(8-b7-6-b6)
With F# now joining the F natural in the sequence , we are back in the mixed- mode territory of songs like ‘Wait’, which feature
both the natural and flattened 6th notes in their structures. In the same way we can think of this hybrid line as a ‘Dorian
embellishment’ of a standard natural minor line. .
The following chart summarises the run , focusing again on the relationship between the basic chords and the bass notes and inversions implied
The Dorian/Aeolian hybrid descent
(8-b7-6-b6)
This hybrid bass run would emerge as a highly popular and successful line in both rock and pop. Jimmy Page exploited its folky possibilities in ‘Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You’, the acoustic mega -ballad on Led Zeppelin’s seminal 1969 debut , which cycles hypnotically around this descent (continuing on to ‘5’, E in the key of A minor).
The Dorian/Aeolian hybrid descent
(8-b7-6-b6)
In a similar genre, Aerosmith’s haunting ‘Dream On’ features intricate harmony that suggests the run in the Fm verse , before opting for a ‘regular’ Aeolian run in the chorus.