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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>One other, albeit far-fetched, observation
regarding I-II-IV. As a melodic line rather than a bass line, it makes for
a very good chant intonation (or some Jovial fugue theme)...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Perhaps as I still have fragments from the green
Lutheran hymnal floating around my head, Paul might have been subconsciously
influenced by the pre-Vatican II, Liber Usualis ... something about
"Credo" and "I Believe"...in yesterday.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sincerely,<BR>K. Christian McGuire, <BR>Instructor
of Music History and Music Theory<BR>Studio Artist: Electric Bass<BR>Director of
Rock & Improv Ensembles<BR>Augsburg College<BR>Music Department<BR>2211
Riverside Avenue<BR>Mpls MN 55454<BR><A
href="mailto:mcguire@augsburg.edu">mcguire@augsburg.edu</A><BR><A
href="http://www.augsburg.edu/music/">http://www.augsburg.edu/music/</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>International Society of <BR>Hildegard von Bingen
Studies, Treasurer & Webmaster<BR><A
href="http://www.hildegard-society.org/">http://www.hildegard-society.org/</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Musicologist & Electric Bassist<BR><A
href="http://www.grianeala.com">http://www.grianeala.com</A><BR><A
href="mailto:kmcguire@bitstream.net">kmcguire@bitstream.net</A> / cell:
651-270-5807</FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=kmcguire@bitstream.net href="mailto:kmcguire@bitstream.net">K.
Christian McGuire</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=smt-talk@societymusictheory.org
href="mailto:smt-talk@societymusictheory.org">smt-talk Talk</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, August 31, 2009 9:54
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Smt-talk] Yesterday &
Proud Mary (was I-II-IV as a progression)</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>A few comments [- this reminds me of that
extended thread we had 6 years ago regarding precedents for I-bVII-IV (or the
clichéd-- I Can't Explain, Lovely Rita, Manic Depression, Communication
Breakdown, Sweet Home Alabama, Takin' Care of Business etc
progression).]</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1) Like many here on this list (refer to my
comments I posted some years ago) it has been my intuitive
position as well as that of the many "illiterate"
self-taught guitarists with whom I have played (now in their 50s and
60s), these structures are idiomatic to the way these chords (or power
chords (the "chess Knight move") appear on the guitar fretboard,
BUT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>2) A few thoughts regarding Walt
Everett's note that "Yesterday" was composed on
piano. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I recently taught "Yesterday" to some of my
students. In the process, two other works came to mind</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>a) CONFIRMATION (Charlie Parker 1953) - the
opening progression - This tune (and/or similar ones from Be-Bop and Musical
Showtunes, Jazz, etc.) could easily be rendered on piano and do
not idiomatically transfer to the "BB's Box" pentatonic structure
used by most blues influenced guitarists. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>b) BOURREE from Suite in E Minor (BWV 996)
accompanying the lyric, "...had to go I don't..." - This might be something he
applied while at the piano, but perhaps because of his familiarity
with the Bourree (as Paul stated in an interview, that was the ONE classical
lick that everyone learned how to play) he may have been
transferring his "guitar ear" to the keyboard instrument.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Note, BB's Box is not the only structure that has
a visual or tactile idiomatic influence. As an electric bassist for the
past 26 years (who only begrudgingly plays guitar and then usually
only with "Power Chords") I have found the relationship from F to C to G7 very
easy and natural, likewise C-E7-am -- I'm certain other guitarists
here could provide better examples. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>ANYWAY - Perhaps we would all benefit by watching
Paul play the concluding I-II-IV riff on guitar. Check out this beginning at
1:57 <A
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONXp-vpE9eU">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONXp-vpE9eU</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Notice:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>a) he is using more or less basic chord
voicings, not "BB's Box" inspired blues pentatonic "power chord"
voicings </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>b) the occasional use of thumb for bass
(common among self-taught guitarists) </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>3) PROUD MARY - as a bassist who long ago
supplemented payment for his undergrad Philosophy & Classical Languages BA
by playing weekends in Southern Rock / Biker bands across Northeastern
Iowa, I tended to play the "V-IV-bIII" all on the same string so that,
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>a) I could use more or less the same finger
pattern between "bVII - V" as I did for "bIII - I"</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>b) keeping bIII on the same string as IV and
V provides a more consistent tone color and is less likely to
cause false accents.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sincerely,<BR>K. Christian McGuire,
<BR>Instructor of Music History and Music Theory<BR>Studio Artist: Electric
Bass<BR>Director of Rock & Improv Ensembles<BR>Augsburg College<BR>Music
Department<BR>2211 Riverside Avenue<BR>Mpls MN 55454<BR><A
href="mailto:mcguire@augsburg.edu">mcguire@augsburg.edu</A><BR><A
href="http://www.augsburg.edu/music/">http://www.augsburg.edu/music/</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>International Society of <BR>Hildegard von Bingen
Studies, Treasurer & Webmaster<BR><A
href="http://www.hildegard-society.org/">http://www.hildegard-society.org/</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Musicologist & Electric Bassist<BR><A
href="http://www.grianeala.com">http://www.grianeala.com</A><BR><A
href="mailto:kmcguire@bitstream.net">kmcguire@bitstream.net</A> / cell:
651-270-5807</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=weverett@umich.edu href="mailto:weverett@umich.edu">Walt
Everett</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=smt-talk@societymusictheory.org
href="mailto:smt-talk@societymusictheory.org">smt-talk Talk</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, August 30, 2009 7:57
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Smt-talk] I-II-IV as a
progression</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR></DIV><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><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT><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>
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<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>
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