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Posted

I've tried to analyze this progression taken from a song, but it seems has a little clue about it.

 

Gm  D64  Bb  G63  Cm  G64  Eb  C63  Eb  G  Bb  Fm

 

I think the key is in Gm with a brief tonicized Cm. But here are the problems, after tonicizing Cm we encounter a C63 which doesn't belong to Cm. Then I tend to interpret it back to Gm region as Eb and C63 are parallel in Gm. At the last four chords (which is the repeating part until the song end) again we are faced with the V and iv of Cm, which makes me interpret it as Cm region. Though it ends in Cm region, we can still hear a G tonality because Cm hasn't been firmly established, thus makes it merely a modal interchange. I also used to think that C63 is a borrowed chord from parallel C major. So it's kind of mixture inside Cm region. Is it back to Gm region or what? any ideas?

Posted

after ~1900, common practice rules no longer apply because tonality does not exist in any meaningful sense. pop songs may use chords and progressions borrowed from traditional tonality, but they are as likely to employ modality and arbitrary chord progressions for purely colouristic purposes. trying to analyse a progression like that in functional terms is missing the point.

 

the progression is in G-ish with an ascending bass up until the part with the repeating chords, which is in a G/E-flat-ish region.

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Posted

after ~1900, common practice rules no longer apply because tonality does not exist in any meaningful sense. pop songs may use chords and progressions borrowed from traditional tonality, but they are as likely to employ modality and arbitrary chord progressions for purely colouristic purposes. trying to analyse a progression like that in functional terms is missing the point.

 

the progression is in G-ish with an ascending bass up until the part with the repeating chords, which is in a G/E-flat-ish region.

 

The point is I'm about to write a pop song using this material and dodecaphonic supersonic twelve tone serialism and email it to you.

Guest Kibbletime
Posted

g: _____ c: (v II) VII V i V f: VII V VII II* IV* i

 

it looks like a cycle of tonicisation at the fourth (g - c - f minors) more or less and modal mixture towards the end.

Posted

Some ppl just referred to modality. That's quite shocking. I thought modal is never be functional. Looking at this progression (Gm  D64  Bb), you could just say it's true because there's no leading tone resolution.

 

Do we call this an F major key? C - Bb - F - C

Instead (I - bVII - IV - I) C mixolydian!

Atleast that's what I heard.

 

And neither this> C - G - F - C, with a same logic, never become a key. We may find a deceptive cadence, but there's no strong root progression towards tonic. Should we say an Ionian progression?

Posted

It'd be much more easier to understand if you also included the melody and the phrase structure.

 

BTW, modal jazz is usually non functional, but the rest of modal stuff usually is (ie. Grieg's concerto, 3rd mov).

Posted

I'd recommend you to read a traditional harmony treatise, like Piston's.

The problem is that composers of pop music do not seem to read treatises on traditional harmony.

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