An Analysis of “Stairway to Heaven”, Part 4: Transitions

There are two different transitions in 'Stairway to Heaven'. The first, which I call "Transition A", is heard a total of four times. The second, "Transition B", is heard only once.

I've blogged about both transitions before - Transition A was part of my rhythmic displacement series, and I compared the rhythmic instability of Transition B to The Beatles' 'Here Comes The Sun' in another post.

All four Transition As consist of four phrases, each comprised of identical two-measure harmony (a-D). What's different about the total 16 phrases (four Transition As x 4 phrases each = 16 total phrases) are Robert Plant's vocals. Five of those 16 phrases include the line "makes me wonder" while the remaining nine are instrumental. (NOTE: There are two phrases where he sings "Oh", but I'm counting those as instrumental.)

2:15-2:40   Transition A 1 (8 measures)
   2:15   (c)   |a |D |    “Makes me wonder...” (beat 4)
   2:21   (c)   |a |D |    [instrumental]
   2:27   (c)   |a |D |    "Makes me wonder..." (beat 2)
   2:34   (c)   |a |D |    [instrumental]

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3:07-3:31   Transition A 2 (8 measures)
   3:07   (c)   |a |D |    “Makes me wonder...” (beat 2)
   3:13   (c)   |a |D |    [instrumental]
   3:19   (c)   |a |D |    "Makes me wonder..." (beat 2)
   3:25   (c)   |a |D |    [instrumental]

---

3:55-4:20   Transition A 3 (8 measures)
   3:55   (c)   |a |D |    [instrumental]
   4:03   (c)   |a |D |   [instrumental]
   4:09   (c)   |a |D |   [instrumental]
   4:14   (c)   |a |D |    [instrumental]

---

4:45-5:08   Transition A 4 (8 measures)
   4:45   (c)   |a |D |   "Makes me wonder..." (beat 4)
   4:51   (c)   |a |D |    [instrumental]
   4:57   (c)   |a |D |   [instrumental]
   5:02   (c)   |a |D |   [instrumental]

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The final transition, the only iteration of Transition B, is quite different from Transition A, and particularly interesting.

5:35-5:56   Transition B 1 (8 measures)
   5:35   (f)   |Dsus4 |D |C |  |    [instrumental]
   5:46   (f')   |Dsus4 |D |C |G/B |    [instrumental]

But I've already considered this Transition B in a previous blog, so there's no need to repeat it here.