<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><br><div><div>On Aug 30, 2009, at 6:18 PM, Paul Steinbeck wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite">[. . .] I think that the indigenous-ness of I-II-IV to the rock idiom can better be explained by guitar chord shapes and the importance of the guitar in rock composition. Guitar-influenced tonal practice, of course, also dominates many styles of classic and contemporary blues, but has not resulted (as far as I know) in any blues songs featuring I-II-IV (or transposed versions such as bVII-I-bIII).</blockquote><div><br></div>A few thoughts on this . . . Guitar voicing sometimes plays a role in these progressions, and sometimes the ear guides the hand. "Yesterday" (the refrain of which concludes I - II - IV - I) has been mentioned in this thread. This song was composed at the piano but recorded on guitar. The song's opening sounds are a thirdless tonic sonority moving down a half step to a thirdless ii of vi. It's an easy hand motion on guitar (played in G major on an instrument tuned a whole step low), but it was created on the piano. It lies equally well on either instrument, but I know of no other pre-metal rock song that moves from a thirdless I to a thirdless VII, even in a power-chord context, so it's hard to say whether this progression is "idiomatic" on guitar. No other chord succession in "Yesterday," including the germane II - IV motion, takes advantage of parallel guitar voicing. "She's Leaving Home" is another McCartney use of II-IV, and I would speculate that this was written at the piano as well.</div><div><br></div><div>The guitar voicing in "Proud Mary," which I mentioned in my previous post, likewise dispenses with parallel chording in the bVII - V and bIII - I motions, thus emphasizing the modal scale-degree respellings through the changing hand positions. I do play the intro riff with parallel voicings in moving from IV to bIII (barring G to F)--can any other guitarists comment on this? --walt everett</div><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><br> <br></blockquote></div><div apple-content-edited="true"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div>Walter Everett</div><div>Professor of Music</div><div>Chair, Department of Theory</div><div>The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance</div><div>1100 Baits Dr.</div><div>Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2085</div><div><br></div><div><a href="mailto:weverett@umich.edu">weverett@umich.edu</a></div><div>voice: 734-763-2039</div><div>fax: 734-763-5097</div></div></div></span> </div><br></body></html>