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4.22pm
1 November 2012
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“Treat chords” is a term me and my friend came up with years ago to denote a certain chord change using just two chords. Supposedly this change is in the “mixolydian” mode, which is a variation of the minor key.
The reason I call it that is because I first was impressed by it upon listening to a song called “Treat” by Santana (see below at the end of my post) on their first album, where that motif is quite dominant. In that song, the chords are G minor to C7.
In fact, “Treat chords” are quite prevalent throughout the first few albums by Santana.
Anyway, I’ve noticed that Paul also employs them in various songs, far more it seems than John or George ever did, and more than the Beatles did. George’s song “My Sweet Lord ” (also using G minor to C) is the only non-McCartney song I can think of where those chords figure significantly.
Here are some Paul songs that use “Treat chords”:
Uncle Albert — he uses two different keys of them: in this snippet, you hear first G minor to C, then it segues into A minor to D.
Magneto and Titanium Man — here is the snippet. Although websites that show the chords have A major to G major, that’s another way of doing “Treat chords” — since the G major is also virtually the same as E minor 7th, so as that part plays along, we get a feel of the E minor to A change which is the “Treat chords” change in the key of E mixolydian — and Paul is definitely emphasizing that feel in that part of the song.
Bluebird — Here Paul only uses “Treat chords” selectively and briefly, but to good effect. The chords in question here are F minor to B-flat. In this snippet, listen closely to these lyrics:
Touch your lips
with a magic kiss
and you’ll be a bluebird too
and you’ll know what love can do…
Only at the word “be” do the “Treat chords” begin. F minor beginning at “be”, and B-flat right on “too” — then F minor again at “know” and B-flat right on “do”.
*******
If I think of any more songs, I’ll add them.
Here’s just about a minute and a half of “Treat” by Santana.
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Mr. KiteFaded flowers, wait in a jar, till the evening is complete... complete... complete... complete...
10.55pm
1 November 2012
Offline Another one:
Little Lamb Dragonfly — two snippets:
1) the “la la la” part has two Treat chords: A minor/D bass to D, followed by D minor 7th to G 7th (the whole chord pattern is nice: C – A minor/D bass – D- D minor 7th – G 7th – C)
2) F-sharp minor 7th to B 7th (the final repeated phrase “feel a pain” ends the Treat cycle with B7th-sus to B7th)
Faded flowers, wait in a jar, till the evening is complete... complete... complete... complete...
3.24am
15 May 2015
Offline Another one (he said like 17 months later, under another name…):
The parts of “Let ‘Em In” where Paul goes:
Sister Suzie, Brother John,
Martin Luther, Phil And Don,
Brother Michael, Auntie Gin,
Open The Door And Let ‘Em In.
They vary from the main part by going into “treat chords” — specifically Fm to Bb (or if you want to spice those chords up, make them both 7ths). It’s a cool type of treat chord, in that the rest of the song favors F major, so the sudden transition to an F minor chord produces a new effect on the ear.
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ewe2A ginger sling with a pineapple heart,
a coffee dessert, yes you know it's good news...
4.02pm
5 February 2010
Offline In music theory, what you’re talking about is the movement from the ii chord to the V chord, and it’s one of the most commonly used progressions in music. I think it would be almost harder to name the songs where that progression isn’t used. It features prominently in the intro to “Tell Me Why ” (Em7 to A). It’s the catchy hook in the bridge of “From Me To You ” (Gm7 to C).
Pretty much any time you have an Am to D (“Here, There, and Everywhere” at the end of each verse), or F#m to B (“Don’t Let Me Down ” in the first line of each verse), etc., that’s what you’re hearing. It’s a really beautiful and harmonically pleasing way of returning to the root chord, which is why it gets used in nearly every pop song.
The following people thank PeterWeatherby for this post:
ewe2Not a bit like Cagney.
12.32am
15 May 2014
Offline Shouldn’t we talk about this in the “recording and musicology” threads?
“Forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit” (“Perhaps one day it will be a pleasure to look back on even this”; Virgil, The Aeneid, Book 1, line 203, where Aeneas says this to his men after the shipwreck that put them on the shores of Africa)
1.55am
15 May 2015
Offline Well, to Oudis, I figured since I was only talking about Paul songs it would be more fitting here. Peter Weatherby, I see what you mean, but perhaps the examples you give are just brief devices in songs, moments of transition — whereas I was thinking more of longer moments where the two chords become the dominant focus. (The Santana song “Treat” which I cited in my first post is quite prominently doing this — indeed the entire song is just Gm7 – C7… somewhat less so, but still remarkably dominant, is the use in Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord “.)
A ginger sling with a pineapple heart,
a coffee dessert, yes you know it's good news...
