[Smt-talk] I-II-IV as a progression

[jcovach]

I'm guessing you mean the Donovan clip from The Smothers Brothers Show.  Donovan
plays the song in C, but has the guitar tuned down a step, and then uses a capo
on the second fret to compensate.  Some folk singers tuned the guitar down a
step to reduce tension on the top, especially on 12 string guitars.  When you do
this, it's also possible and easy to lower the key of a song if you need to,
without changing the guitar voicings.  So if your voice is tired, just pull the
capo down to the first fret or take it off completely--no transposing required.

One advantage to the Fmaj he plays is that it does not require the first finger
to barre the first and second strings: it's thus easier to play and sounds
pretty too. The use of the IV7 pretty much kills the chromatic descent, though.

BTW, what DID happen to Atlantis? 

"Stay with Me" is a fine example of the use of this progression in a 1950s,
Chuck Berry rock-n-roll context.  Great tune.

John Covach

> A clear example of the I--II--IV--I chord pattern can be found in Rod  
> Stewart’s “Stay With Me” (the main part of the song, after the  
> intro).  The pattern is easily played with barre chords with bass  
> notes on only the 5th and 7th frets, very comfortably within a box on  
> the fretboard, although it lacks a pentatonic sound:
> 
> Stay with Me
>     A  B  D  A
> A--------5-----
> E--5--7-----5--
> 
> The Donovan example is quite different to my ear in that you do get  
> the dominant chord immediately after the three chords in question: C-- 
> D--F--C--G.  This pattern could still fits neatly in the fretboard  
> box, using two diagonal moves between the A and E string:
> 
> Atlantis (transposed to A)
>     A  B  D  A  E
> A--------5-----7--
> E--5--7-----5-----
> 
> But Donavan doesn't play it that way.  It's more folksy voicing, with  
> F maj7 on the third chord. On the YouTube video, he is using a capo  
> and who knows what all is going on.
> 
> Tim Koozin
> 
> 
> On Aug 30, 2009, at 8:30 PM, Nicole Biamonte wrote:
> 
> > Dmitri wrote:
> > BTW, I wouldn't be totally shocked to find I-II-IV in some kind of  
> > New Orleans jazz context.  I can almost hear it in my mind's ear,  
> > can you?
> >
> > I think you could probably find a I-II-IV-V turnaround fairly  
> > easily, but I'm skeptical of I-II-IV on its own in that  
> > repertoire.  I don't know an earlier example than "Eight Days a  
> > Week."  I also can't find a good example of bVII-I-bIII; does  
> > anyone have one?
> >
> > I think I-II-IV belongs to a family of 025-based pentatonic-triad  
> > progressions like the blues "axe-fall" (IV-bIII-I), the "Green  
> > Onions" riff (I-bIII-IV), and similar dominant-based versions (I- 
> > bVII-V and V-bVII-I).
> >
> > Since the original poster asked about sources, I'll note that Allan  
> > Moore briefly discusses this progression in "Patterns of Harmony,"  
> > Popular Music 11/1 (1992).  He interprets it as a third- 
> > substitution for I-bVII-IV.
> >
> > Nicole Biamonte
> > Assistant Professor of Music Theory
> > University of Iowa
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> 
> Dr. Timothy Koozin                    tkoozin at uh.edu         (713) 
> 743-3318
> Associate Professor and Coordinator of Music Theory
> Moores School of Music
> University of Houston
> 120 School of Music Bldg
> Houston, TX 77204-4017
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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John Covach
Professor of Music and Chair, Music Department, University of Rochester
Professor of Theory, Eastman School of Music