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I'm a Loser
Baby's in Black
Rock and Roll Music
I'll Follow the Sun
Mr. Moonlight
Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey
Eight Days a Week
Words of Love
Honey Don't
Every Little Thing
I Don't Want to Spoil the Party
What You're Doing
Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby
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Formal structure of "Rock and Roll Music"
Intro (ind) 0:00-0:02 Chorus 0:02-0:22 Verse 1 0:22-0:34 Chorus 0:34-0:54 Verse 2 0:54-1:05 Chorus 1:05-1:25 Verse 3 1:25-1:36 Chorus 1:36-1:57 Verse 4 1:57-2:08 Chorus 2:08-2:27 Coda (ind) 2:27-2:28 Comments: One of the simplest and unambiguous structures of any Beatles recording: alternating verses and choruses (no bridges, no transitions, no solos, no middle 8), with the briefest of introductions and codas. The basic formula of a 12 bar blues progression, as written in Roman numerals with each character representing one measure, is as follows:
I I I I IV IV I I V IV I I This pattern can, of course, be used in any key. Below are 5 examples in C major: in D major: in E major: in G major: in A major: C C C C D D D D E E E E G G G G A A A A F F C C G G D D A A E E C C G G D D A A G F C C A G D D B A E E D C G G E D A A 27 songs recorded and released by the Beatles use a 12 bar blues progression or something comparable. Of those 27, 15 were original compositions and 12 were covers. Below are all 28 tracks, listing their year of release, tonality, a concise harmonic analysis, and brief commentary. [9c] "Boys" (1963) E major E7 E7 E7 E7 A7 A7 E7 E7 B7 A7 E7 B7 It is clearly modeled on the 12 bar blues - the only alterations being (a) every chord is a seventh chord (making each chord slightly more dissonant and gritty sounding), and (b) the very last chord is B (the dominant in E major) instead of the traditional E. No doubt this is because B7 leads very nicely to E, which starts the progression all over again. [9d] "Chains" (1963) Bb major Bb Bb Bb Bb Eb9 Eb9 Bb Bb F9 Eb9 Bb F Another clearly modeled on the 12 bar blues. The only alterations are (a) a few ninths are added to a few chords, and (b) the very last chord is F (the dominant in Bb), which of course leads strongly back to Bb to start the progression all over again. [13c] "Money (That's What I Want)" (1963) E major E7 E7 (A) E7 E7 A7 A7 E7 E7 B7 A7 E7 B7 In addition to adding sevenths to every chord, "Money" also adds an extra A chord in the second measure of each verse. This chord is listed in parentheses above because unlike every other chord listed above it does not represent a full measure. (If it did, it would make this a 13 bar blues pattern instead of 12.) Rather, it represents a brief instrumental fill (listen right after the words "life are free") that embellishes the 12 bar blues progression but does not interfere in any way with its function. [14b] "Roll Over Beethoven" (1963) D major D7 G7 D7 D7 G7 G7 D7 D7 G7 A7 D7 D7 In addition to adding sevenths to every chord, "Roll Over Beethoven" also replaces the second chord (which 'should' be D7) with a G7. The 9th and 10th bars are also reversed (G7 A7 instead of A7 G7). [17] "Little Child" (1963) E major E7 E7 E7 (A) E7 B7 A F#7 (B7) E The most significant departure from the mold that is still clearly based on the mold, "Little Child" turns the 12 bar blues into an 8 bar blues for the verses. It omits measures 4-8 and replaces them with 9-12. But those measures offer something new as well when an F#7 (which has no place in a normal 12 bar blues) is used in the 11th measure. The solo section, however, adopts a more usual 12 bar pattern . . . E7 E7 E7 E7 A A E7 E7 B7 A F#7 B7 . . . although it still is hardly standard with the added F#7 in the 11th measure and yet another dominant chord in the 12th. [23] "Can't Buy Me Love" (1964) C major C7 C7 C7 C7 F7 F7 C7 C7 G7 F7 F7 C7 The only substantial deviation from the model is using an F chord in bar 11 (instead of the more typical C). [24] "You Can't Do That" (1964) G major G7 G7 G7 G7 C7 C7 G7 G7 D7 C7 G7 D7 Just like [9c] "Boys", [9d] "Chains", [13c] "Money (That's What I Want)", and [17] "Little Child", "You Can't Do That" uses a typical 12 bar blues progression except for the very last chord, which is changed to a dominant to heighten the harmonic tension and release when the pattern is repeated. [29b] "Long Tall Sally" (1964) G major G G G G C C G G D7 C7 G D7 The comments above regarding [24] "You Can't Do That" may be iterated in regards to [29b] "Long Tall Sally". [31b] "Matchbox" (1964) A major A7 A7 A7 A7 D7 D7 A7 A7 A7 E7 A7 E7 The only significant deviations from the mold are the 9th through 12th bars (A7 E7 A7 E7 - again ending with a dominant chord - instead of the more typical E D A A). [32b] "Slow Down" (1964) C major C C C C C C C C F F F F C C C C G F C C C C C C "Slow Down" takes the 12 bar blues and augments it into a 24 bar blues. The first 16 measures of "Slow Down" are simply the first 8 measures of a normal 12 bar blues doubled (but proportionally maintained); and the last 8 measures of "Slow Down" are just the last 4 measures of normal 12 bar blues with 4 extra bars of C grafted on to the end. [44] "She's a Woman" (1964) A major A7 D7 A7 A7 A7 D7 A7 A7 D7 D7 D7 D7 A7 D7 A7 A7 E7 E7 D7 D7 A7 D7 A7 E7 Just like [32b] "Slow Down", "She's a Woman" takes the 12 bar blues progression and doubles it into a 24 bar progression. The D7 chords in measures 2, 6, 14, and 22 serve as harmonic ornamental embellishments and thus do not interfere with the overall function of the 12 (24) bar blues progression. (Since this is a McCartney original, perhaps Paul learned the trick from Berry Gordy Junior and Janie Bradford, who wrote [13c] "Money (That's What I Want)" or from Chuck Berry, who wrote [14b] "Roll Over Beethoven".) This is in contrast to the use of the same chord when it is heard in measures 9-12 and 19-20, which do function as integral components of the blues progression. "She's a Woman" also employs a dominant in the final measure (just like [9c] "Boys", [9d] "Chains", [13c] "Money (That's What I Want)", [17] "Little Child", [24] "You Can't Do That", [29b] "Long Tall Sally", and [31b] "Matchbox") [44b] "Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey" (1964 in UK, 1965 in US) G major G G G G7 C C G G D C G G (D) This one is about as standard as a progression can get. The only two things I can mention are the use of a seventh in the 4th bar (to heighten the pull towards C in the 5th bar), and once again the band uses a dominant chord (in this case D) in the final bar (although this time only for the second half of that final bar) to heighten the pull towards the beginning of a repetition of the progression. [46b] "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" (1964) E major E E E E A A E E B7 A E E This one, too, is about as standard as a progression can get. The only thing I can mention is the use of a seventh in the 9th bar, which provides more harmonic dissonance and thus tension to the chords. [46c] "Rock and Roll Music" (1964) A major A7 A7 A7 A7 D7 D7 A7 A7 E7 E7 E7 A7 E7 A7 "Rock and Roll Music" extends the 12 bar blues to a 14 bar blues by repeating the last two measures. [56b] "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" (1965) A major A A A A D D A A E7 D A E7 The only non-standard thing about this one is the use of a dominant chord in the final bar (non-standard, that is, for those other than the Beatles - this is now the 10th of 15 Beatles tracks that use the 12 bar blues to do so, making the deviation actually more common than the standard). [56c] "Bad Boy" (1965 in US, 1966 in UK) C major C7 C7 C7 C7 C7 C7 C7 C7 F7 F7 F7 F7 C7 C7 C7 C7 G7 F7 C7 G7 "Bad Boy" pulls the same trick found in [32b] "Slow Down" and [44] "She's a Woman" in that the first 8 bars of the 12 bar blues have been doubled in length, but retain their proportions. Unlike "Slow Down" and "She's a Woman", however, the final 4 bars of "Bad Boy" are not augmented. This makes a unique (at least in the Beatles' recorded and released output up to this point in history) 20 bar blues progression. The final chord, once again, is a dominant. [58] "I'm Down" (1965) G major G G G G C C G G C C D7 G D7 G Perhaps following the example of [46c] "Rock and Roll Music", "I'm Down" turns the 12 bar blues into a 14 bar blues by repeating the final two measures of the pattern. [65] "Day Tripper" (1965) E major E7 E7 E7 E7 A7 A7 E7 E7 F#7 F#7 F#7 F#7 A7 G#7 C#7 B7 "Day Tripper" is a prime example of what I have come to call the Beatles' adolescence (roughly November of 1964 through December of 1965) - a period of just over one year in which their output is split between songs with clear roots in the past ("Everybody's Trying to be my Baby", Dizzy Miss Lizzy", "Run for your Life", et cetera) and songs that begin to push the boundaries and anticipate the band's experimentation and artistic breakthroughs of the later 60's ("You've Got to Hide Your Love Away", "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)", "In My Life", et cetera). It is as if the band has one foot still firmly in the teeny bopper pop music world and simultaneously the other foot in the more grown-up 'art music' world, just as an adolescent retains aspects from childhood while simultaneously growing into adult life. This can be observed in analyzing "Day Tripper": The first eight measures are identical to the 12 bar blues model (representing the retrospective side), but then the pattern is broken and new and unusual chords - totally and completely unrelated to the 12 bar blues model - are heard (representing the anticipatory, progressive side). Neither F#7 nor G#7 'belong' in E major - much less in an E major 12 bar blues - and yet a listener intuitively feels their propriety. The Beatles are finding their own unique individual solutions to musical problems. They are beginning to distance themselves from the past, taking one of their first steps towards full artistic maturity. "Day Tripper" is one of the first hints at the innovations to come. [74] "The Word" (1965) D major D7 D7 D7 D7 G7 G7 D7 D7 A G D7 D7 This one's about as standard as it can get. [118] "Flying" (1967) C major C C C C F7 F7 C C G7 F C C Fits the mold perfectly. [126] "Don't Pass Me By" (1968) C major C C F F C C G G F F C C Uses the same chords as the mold, in the same order, over the same duration, but with different proportions. [139] "Yer Blues" (1968) E major E E A7 E G,B7 E,A,E,B7 Where [56c] "Bad Boy", [32b] "Slow Down", and [44] "She's a Woman" maintained the proportions of the 12 bar blues but doubled its length (24 instead of 12), "Yer Blues" likewise maintains the proportions but halves its length (6 instead of 12). The last two bars both use more than one chord. The last chord is once again a dominant. [146] "Birthday" (1968) A major A7 A7 A7 A7 D7 D7 A7 A7 E7 E7 A7 A7 The only difference between this and the template is the 10th chord (which is E when it 'should' be D). [155] "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" (1968) D major D7 D7 D7 D7 G7 G7 D7 D7 A7 G7 D7 D7 Standard. [163] "For You Blue" (1970) D major D7 G7 D7 D7 G7 G7 D7 D7 A7 G7 D7 A7 The second chord is a G (instead of D), but this is ornamental and does not effect the function of the 12 bar blues pattern ( a la [13c] "Money (That's What I Want)", [14b] "Roll Over Beethoven", and [44] "She's a Woman"). Last chord is once again a dominant. [166] "The One After 909" (1970) B major B7 B7 B7 B7 B7 B7 B7 B7 B7 B7 E7 E7 B7 F#7 B7 B7 Uses the same chords as a 12 bar blues and nearly in the same order, but it's stretched to 16 bars in duration and is missing an E before the final B. The proportions are not the same as the model. This one does not use a dominant as a final chord. [168] "The Ballad of John and Yoko" (1969) E major E E E E E7 E7 E7 E7 A A E E B7 B7 E E Just like "909", "The Ballad of John and Yoko" stretches the 12 bar blues into a 16 bar blues by doubling the first four measures. It uses the same three chords in nearly the same order (it's missing an A before the final E). CONCLUSIONS
1964: 9 1965: 6 1966: 0 1967: 1 1968: 4 1969: 1 1970: 2
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