<div class="gmail_quote"><div>Dear list,</div><div><br></div><div>Of course, voice-leading connections in rock music can be a fruitful avenue for discussion, but reading this thread in relation to some recent music has reminded of the "Melodic-Harmonic Divorce" in rock music (as discussed by Temperley). It seems that, in some cases, the rhythm section may simply supplant II# where ii would work just fine, as evidenced by a completely diatonic melody in the voice. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Case in point: In Katy Perry's recent single "Thinking of You," the chorus progression is (in E): I-II#-IV-V. In both predominant chords, Perry sings the same basic <i>do-re-mi</i> tag on the song's title, thus, the two chords are more or less interchangeable, functionally speaking, while differing substantially in color. However, at the end of verse 1 she does inflect the more conventional IV-iv coloration by singing the flat-6 scale degree. </div>
<div><br></div><div>It is interesting that there is not sort of vocal play on the part of Perry with the #4 coloring, but we do find her using b6. I just wonder if the former would make it too raucous for pop consumption, while the latter has become some sort of bluesy-pop staple? If you care to listen, the link to the official video is below:</div>
<div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxfxDycUVnE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxfxDycUVnE</a> (1st chorus starts at 0:55, next at 2:10) </div><div><br></div><div>best regards,</div>
<div>Brad</div>
<div><br></div>Brad Osborn<br>Ph.D. Candidate, Music Theory<br>University of Washington School of Music<br><a href="mailto:Brad06@u.washington.edu" target="_blank">Brad06@u.washington.edu</a><br><br>Subscriptions Manager<br>
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<br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div></div><div class="h5">On Sun, Sep 27, 2009 at 9:03 AM, Walt Everett <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:weverett@umich.edu" target="_blank">weverett@umich.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br>
</div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div></div><div class="h5">
<div style="word-wrap:break-word"><div><br></div><div><div><div><div>On Sep 22, 2009, at 10:10 PM, Murphy, Scott Brandon wrote:</div><blockquote type="cite"><div><font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size:11pt"> <br>
Earlier posts in this thread proposed various rationales for the progression. Here’s another from a film-music perspective: having another chord besides V follow I-#II not only demotes #II from a more “Classical” role of V/V, but also promotes I-#II as a brief but clear token of the “Lydian” sound that plays an important role in many popular film scores. [citations of John Williams' <i>Superman</i> and <i>Star Wars</i> scores, among others].</span></font></div>
</blockquote><div><br></div>Scott's right--soundtracks are an important source. The "Simpsons" theme opens with a melodic ^1 - ^#4 - ^5 supported by I - II# - I. The beginning of the theme is a quote of "Maria" from *West Side Story*, later corroborated by the trumpet's quote of ^#4 - ^5 - ^8 - ^b7 from "Something's Coming" [see opening and 0:51-52 at <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqog63KOANc&feature=related" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqog63KOANc&feature=related</a>]. (Hats off also, I suppose, to the Georges Jetson and Antheil.)</div>
<div><br></div><div>Interestingly, the I - II# - I neighboring idea is often performed over a ^1 pedal (in examples ranging from the last strophe in Schubert's "Gute Nacht" through many Broadway tunes such as "Tonight" in <i>WSS</i>, and in many rock songs such as those mentioned in the section devoted to the Lydian II in my <i>The Foundations of Rock</i>, pp 256-57), but instead of ^1, ^#4 is sustained through this idea early in the Simpsons theme--a signifier of wackiness? I ascribe the sense of boundless wonderment to these I - II# - I examples. What's also interesting is the pop-rock song in which a phrase can cadence on the major II chord (The Vogues' "Five O'Clock World," BS&T's "Sometimes in Winter," both cases leading into wordless fantasy passages).</div>
<div><br></div><div>Then there are the tons of pop-rock dorian alternations over a ^1 pedal of i - ii - i ("Along Comes Mary") or i - IV - i (I recall John Covach once referring to this as the Santana changes). . . .</div>
<div><br></div><div>The descending line, ^5 - ^#4 - ^4 - ^3 ("How dry I am"), appears often in the classical literature, but almost always as part of a circle of 5ths, as in the support of Susanna's part in the second-act trio of <i>Figaro</i> (mm 40-45), where the applied leading tone's resolution is elided. The Beatles' first use of II# - IV for this descent comes in "She Loves You," and after "Eight Days a Week" it became a pop mainstay.</div>
<div><br></div><div><blockquote type="cite"><div><font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size:11pt"> </span></font></div></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><div><br></div></blockquote></div><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>
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