47 of The Beatles' 211 tracks employ a major flat mediant chord (bIII). Those 47 are listed below, along with exhaustive documentation of how they are approached (what chord comes immediately before it) and how they progress (what comes immediately after it): [3] 'Please Please Me' bIII: 4 approach: I x4 progress: IV x3, bVI x1 [6b] 'A Taste Of Honey' bIII: 5 approach: i x3, IV x2 progress: bVII x5 [7] 'Do You Want To Know A Secret' bIII: 1 approach: i x1 progress: bII x1 [9] 'Hold Me Tight' bIII: 4 approach: I x4 progress: I x4 [14] 'It Won't Be Long' bIII: 1 approach: I x1 progress: II x1 [20] 'Don't Bother Me' bIII: 10 approach: IV x10 progress: i x10 [35] 'Things We Said Today' bIII: 4 approach: i x4 progress: bVI x4 [48] 'Another Girl' bIII: 4 approach: Ø x2, IV x2 progress: Ø x2, V x2 [51] 'The Night Before' bIII: 4 approach: I x4 progress: I x1, IV x3 [52] 'You Like Me Too Much' bIII: 2 approach: I x2 progress: V x2 [61] 'Wait' bIII: 10 approach: Ø x6, i x4 progress: Ø x4, V x6 [71] 'Michelle' bIII: 3 approach: i x3 progress: bVI x3 [73] 'Think For Yourself' bIII: 6 approach: v x6 progress: IV x6 [74] 'The Word' bIII: 5 approach: bVII x5 progress: Ø x1, IV x4 [76] 'Girl' bIII: 5 approach: i x1, iv x4 progress: Ø x1, V x4 [84] 'Taxman' bIII: 1 approach: I x1 progress: I x1 [85] 'I'm Only Sleeping' bIII: 16 approach: iv x8, bVI x8 progress: V x4, bVI x12 [91] 'Here There And Everywhere' bIII: 1 approach: iii x1 progress: ii x1 [95] 'Penny Lane' bIII: 3 approach: Ø x3 progress: V x3 [96] 'A Day in the Life' bIII: 2 approach: bVI x2 progress: bVII x2 [97] 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' bIII: 2 approach: I x2 progress: IV x2 [100] 'Only A Northern Song' bIII: 5 approach: Ø x1, V x4 progress: Ø x4, IV x1 [102] 'Lovely Rita' bIII: 4 approach: bVII x4 progress: I x4 [108] 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)' bIII: 5 approach: I x5 progress: IV x5 [109] 'Magical Mystery Tour' bIII: 12 approach: I x12 progress: IV x12 [110] 'Baby, You're a Rich Man' bIII: 2 approach: IV x2 progress: I x2 [115] 'Your Mother Should Know' bIII: 5 approach: Ø x5 progress: V x5 [116] 'I Am the Walrus' bIII: 12 approach: I x6, II x4, IV x2 progress: II x2, IV x10 [128] 'Blackbird' bIII: 4 approach: IV x4 progress: II x2, IV x2 [129] 'Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey' bIII: 6 approach: I x3, bVII x3 progress: I x3, bVII x3 [134] 'Helter Skelter' bIII: 5 approach: I x5 progress: I x2, IV x3 [136] 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' bIII: 5 approach: bVII x5 progress: V x5 [138] 'Mother Nature's Son' bIII: 6 approach: I x6 progress: IV x6 [139] 'Yer Blues' bIII: 8 approach: I x8 progress: V x8 [142] 'Back in the USSR' bIII: 12 approach: I x4, IV x8 progress: IV x12 [143] 'Dear Prudence' bIII: 1 approach: IV x1 progress: bV x1 [144] 'Glass Onion' A MINOR: bIII: 6 approach: bvii x6 progress: bVI x3, bvii x3 [148] 'Happiness is a Warm Gun' bIII: 5 approach: I x5 progress: I x3, i x2 [150] 'Savoy Truffle' bIII: 8 approach: IV x8 progress: V x8 [154] 'The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill' bIII: 6 approach: i x6 progress: bVI x6 [167] 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' bIII: 8 approach: i x8 progress: IV x4, bVII x4 [170] 'Something' bIII: 6 approach: IV x6 progress: V x6 [173] 'You Never Give Me Your Money' bIII: 10 approach: I x4, II x3, bVII x3 progress: V x2, bVI x3, bVII x5 [176] 'Carry that Weight' bIII: 4 approach: Ø x1, I x1, bVII x2 progress: V x2, bVI x2 [177] 'Here Comes the Sun' bIII: 6 approach: V x6 progress: bVII x6 [180] 'The End' bIII: 1 approach: II x1 progress: IV x1 [183] 'Polythene Pam' bIII: 2 approach: I x2 progress: V x2 Those 47 songs use a total of 247 major flat mediants, making it the 12th most common chord in The Beatles' catalog. Here's how those 247 bIIIs are approached: Ø: 18 instances (7.3%) in 6 songs
I: 79 instances (32.0%) in 19 songs
i: 30 instances (12.1%) in 8 songs
II: 8 instances (3.2%) in 3 songs
iii: 1 instance (0.4%) in 1 song
IV: 45 instances (18.2%) in 10 songs
iv: 12 instances (4.9%) in 2 songs
V: 10 instances (4.0%) in 2 songs
v: 6 instances in (2.4%) 1 song
bVI: 10 instances (4.0%) in 2 songs
bVII: 22 instances (8.9%) in 6 songs
bvii: 6 instances (2.4%) in 1 song
And here's how they progress: Ø: 12 instances (4.9%) in 5 songs
I: 20 instances (8.1%) in 8 songs
i: 12 instances (4.9%) in 2 songs
bII: 1 instance (0.4%) in 1 song
II: 5 instances (2.0%) in 3 songs
ii: 1 instance (0.4%) in 1 song
IV: 74 instances (30.0%) in 15 songs
bV: 1 instance (0.4%) in 1 song
V: 59 instances (23.9%) in 14 songs
bVI: 34 instances (13.8%) in 8 songs
bVII: 25 instances (10.1%) in 6 songs
bvii: 3 instances (1.2%) in 1 song
Far less common is the minor flat mediant (biii), found 22 times in 3 songs: [7] 'Do You Want To Know A Secret' biii: 15 approach: iii x15 progress: ii x15 [13e] 'Till There Was You' biii: 5 approach: iii x5 progress: ii x5 [122] 'Lady Madonna' biii: 2 approach: ii x2 progress: ii x2 And rarer still is the diminished flat mediant (biii°), used 8 times in 1 song: [28] 'If I Fell' biii°: 8 approach: iii x8 progress: ii x8 CONCLUSIONS: So what do all these numbers means, and who really cares? My entire career is designed to answer one fundamental question: Why were The Beatles so great? Every presentation I deliver, every book I author, every interview I give, and every blog I write is designed to contribute to answering that inquiry. In traditional classical contexts, tonal chords function in relatively few ways: Certain chords are "required" to progress to others. But The Beatles often use chords that function in multiple ways. And the major flat mediant (by far the most commonly used variety of flat mediants) is a prime example, being approached in 12 different ways and progressing also in 12 different ways. In other words, we can better understand The Beatles' extraordinary use of harmony on a macro level by examining and understanding their use of harmony on a micro level - in this case by studying their use of flat mediant chords in great detail. The tour continues tomorrow as I head even further south.
Tuesday, 24 January 2017, 7:00-8:00 p.m. Amory Municipal Library, 401 2nd Ave N, Amory, MS The Beatles: Band of the Sixties Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members. For the record, I won't be discussing flat mediant chords at all!
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