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8.51pm
8 February 2014
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I found this very interesting analysis of the Beatles use of 12-bar blues. One interesting thing is that they used interesting and (afaik) innovative variations on the standard chord progression, using 7ths, 9th, ending on the dominant chord, changing it to a 6-bar or 24-bar sequence. I’d like to learn more about 12-bar blues, the basic blues progression, and hear comments. In particular, it seems to me like there are other Beatles songs that are based are written on a blues progression (I’m So Tired is one), but I don’t know the theory behind it well enough to know for sure. There’s a song on a bootleg I found called “Bar Unoriginal” which is a slow mishmash of three songs (Can’t Buy Me Love , Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby , and Honey Don’t ), all put into the same key, same beat, same chord progression. I put it out on youtube but it’s only gotten 29 views – it really isn’t that exciting but it’s relevant to this topic.
The bio on the dude who wrote this sounds like he might have some other stuff of interest to us: “The United States of America’s only full-time professional Beatles scholar, Aaron Krerowicz graduated from Butler University with a Bachelor’s of Music in Theory & Composition in 2008, from Boston University in 2010 with a Master’s of Music in Composition, and from the Hartt School of the University of Hartford with a Graduate Artist Diploma in the same discipline in 2012. “
I took a quick look at his site and it looks like it has a lot of interesting stuff in the musicology department of Beatles music. aaronkrerowicz.com This is not a commercial for the dude he just looks interesting…
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Shamrock Womlbs, Oudis7.17am
24 March 2014
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I think the use of the dominant seventh chord at the end of the 12-bar blues progression to return to the tonality main chord could be an influence , or a clever advice, from George Martin. Since that is a very “classic harmony” thing to do and G. Martin was trained in classical music and composing and stuff… and if you see the analysis for One After 909 (a song they made in their very early days, before they met George) they didn’t use the dominant seventh chord as a returning thing.
So that probably was a trick that G. Martin did to make the blues kinda more accessible or more recognizable for everyone.
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Matt Busby"I Need You by George Harrison"
