joycechen

Wednesday, October 15, 2008


This song I'm analysing is the theme song for korean drama "Full House", Why.
A song in E m, I will now look into the musical analysis.

From the chorus, it goes from Em-Am-D-G-C-F#-Bsus4-B. Observe there is a 4th apart between almost every chord at the bass. (as drawn) i.e This piece of song has more or less standard chord progressions like any other pop songs which then goes to a bright, unexpected major chord ( in this case F#) before resolving to the dominant chord (B).

Chord progression goes from i- i^6- iv- VII- VII^6 - III- VI - V/V- V4-3- V
Harmonic function as such T------PD-D------------PD--------D------------D
There is a tonicisation at bar 7 ( V/V) due to the C# and A#. Followed by a suspension 4-3 in the next bar.
This, I have grouped as the first part of the chorus whereby there is 2 sentences, each having a phrase structure S-S-L (as shown)

To continue with the next part of the chorus which is rather repetitive in motif ( except the modified fragment at the end), it also have 2 other sentences structures, each having a phrase structure S-S-L (as shown). There is two passing notes (in octaves) to link from the first part to the next part, using C# and D# to link from B to E. This is a very nice technique I love to use in pop songs to enhance the texture of the music, esp when the chords are 4th apart like ive mention earlier on.
In Bar 17, there is also another suspension V^9-8, with C and A as decorative notes. Chord progression are pretty much similar as the previous.

After the chorus, there is a recurring theme from the introduction which also comes in the form as 2 sentences with each S-S-L. At the bass, there is a little fragment of a chromatic scale, or rather, the D# and C# are acting as passing chromatic notes. At the last two bars, there is another tonicisation of vii diminished 7th/V due to the A# and C#. Following that, there is a suspension of V^5-4-3.

In this piece, there is a mixture of chords and broken chords used at the bass. The rhythm is rather interesting here with many tied notes/chords and suspensions, also at the right hand melody. I personally love to play just a little of that with my added improvisations ( added notes/ diff rhythm..)as afterall, pop songs are meant to play leisurely with your own style, right


ps: I forgot to label the bar nos..so maybe abit too troublesome for you to refer to! will do it next time (:

5 Comments:

  • At October 15, 2008 at 8:27 AM , Blogger joyce said...

    oh no. you could press the score to enlarge it!

     
  • At October 27, 2008 at 7:44 PM , Blogger zq said...

    Hi Joyce

    I find it really interesting that you have identified the circle of 4ths. Am just wondering if it's possible to see it as a deliberate reversal of the commonly used Circle of 5ths technique in pop songs? I remember circle of 5ths, but not quite circle of 4ths, but then again, since it's a circle, does it really matter which direction you go, anti clockwise or clockwise? :)

     
  • At October 27, 2008 at 8:01 PM , Blogger zq said...

    To add on,

    I would think that the harmonic function analysis goes like this:
    T--- PD--- (D)---- (T)-----(D) , with the chord VI being treated as a tonic substitute. I guess you could say I'm more anal about finding a sense of closure and completion in phrase harmonic function analysis, which is why I have chosen to see VI as a T substitute instead of a PD substitute :P

    I am also curious as to why you have chosen to repeat the D function twice in your analysis of the chorus.

    Thanks for sharing your analysis with me! Hope what I've said makes sense.. cos I'm also not too sure if I am making sense. Haha! :)

     
  • At October 31, 2008 at 8:04 PM , Blogger ec said...

    testing

     
  • At October 31, 2008 at 8:33 PM , Blogger ec said...

    Hi Joyce,

    I discovered to much dismay that my response to you yesterday was not uploaded... I must have forgotten to send before closing my browser. So here it is again..:(

    ZQ is right about circle of 4ths and 5ths being one and the same thing, and that it is more common to speak of circle of 5ths. However, the 4th/5th difference is not whether it is clockwise or anticlockwise (it's still fifths involved)--whether C to G, for example, is a 5th or 4th depends on whether it is an upward or downward interval.

    As for the functional indication for this circle-of-fifth progression, please refer back to my self-directed learning Word document on Harmonic Function in which I illustrated how to handle the Lament Bass progression and Sequences. How would you then revise your functional interpretation?

    Additionally, please reconsider the following:
    i. between C# and D#, which is the p-n?
    ii. on p.2, how would you interpret the non-harmonic C# in voice-leading terms?
    iii. is it 5-4-3 suspension or p-n?

    You've noted the pervasive use of tied notes. Can you examine it in terms of rhythmic displacement (i.e. relate to the generalized idea of a suspension) and comment a little about this affects the surface harmony?

    Finally, one little detail: the first harmony is simply "i" for the whole bar for this kind of accompaniment, there is no need to break it down to "i-i6".

     

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