Music

Pitch Memory Survey

 

 

I posted a short survey of how people remember pitches without a reference note. This came about when a Redditor asked what key people sing “Happy Birthday” in (the correct answer being the key that the first/loudest singer chooses).

I, like most people, don’t have perfect pitch, and if someone sits at a piano and plays a popular song, I can’t tell what key they’re playing unless I see their hands. My “movable do” adapts immediately. Problem one for this survey is that, for me (and I’m assuming most others), tonality is “sticky.” Play C – G7 and ask me to sing a song, and it’s likely to come out in C or A minor. After a little longer maybe a closely related key like G or F.

I try to fight that in the survey by asking participants to listen to this “music” between questions. This is one track of Cm – Bdim7 slowly pitch shifted up two whole tones and another of Em – D#dim7 slowly pitch shifted down two whole tones, just trying to disorient the listener.

Anyway, the “answers” are below, but remember there’s no harm in being “wrong”. Perfect pitch memory/recognition is helpful at some tasks in music transcription, but relative pitch is the crucial one that allows you to enjoy and create the vast majority of Western music, recognize when notes are sharp/flat, etc.

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Deerhoof “Cast Off Crown” Chords

 

I1)

  This guitar part is loosely in E major, with a borrowed II chord, and a brief
  modulation to D major.

      ii    V    IV   II     iv of D   I of D
    F#m/C#  B    A   F#/C#   Gm/D      D

  This section is roughly E mixolydian. I believe the guitar is playing power chords
  but it may just be octaves sometimes. The bass and guitars here sound a bit
  improvised, moving independently but transforming these simple power chords into
  more complex harmonies (right):
  
    E      D5/G  E5/A  A5/B  => (Gadd9  Aadd9  B7sus)

    E      D5/B  E5/C  F5/D  => (Bm7    CM7    Dm7)

    C/G    Bb5/C C/F   F5/Eb => (C7sus  F      F7)

    C      Bb5/G C5/F  D5    => (Gm7    FM7    D)

    E      D5/G  E5/A  A5/B  => (Gadd9  Aadd9  B7sus)

I2)

  At 0:22 a blast of bluesy 7th chords in E, with a temporary dissonant C7#9 chord
  (distortion makes this chord hard to identify). These bar lengths are ad-libbed
  (31 beats total) and sometimes the chord changes on an eight note:

    8          6      7       10
    E7         A7     C7#9    F#m7

  The guitar falls out and some simple melodies outline E and A chords.

V)

  This section is in D dorian, but playfully borrows A and D from mixolydian. The
  Cm7 is a bit like a Neapolitan Eb chord (there's a real one later). These "add13"
  and "add11" are just B notes. Probably played as 5th fret of the G string and
  open B string.

    Dm7add13              Cm7         A7     D7add13     Dm7add13  G7add11
    Hey mister hey mister out of this picture.       I'm only the  sister.

  Now a long string of secondary dominant resolutions. This section lacks a strong
  tonal center, but roughly starts out in E dorian:

    V/V    V            i
    F#11   B11          Em7
    Royal- ty I learned I will become

  Now shifts to G major, though it doesn't fully resolve:

    V/V                     v/V              V7
    A7                      Am7              D13
    queen of the cast-offs. I will thrice refuse.

  This D13 is a real 13th [D F# A C E G B] (across multiple guitars), not just a D7
  with added 13th. I think the F# is only in the vocal.

V2) (same progression)

  At 1:27 the bass plays out of sync with the guitars in a wonderful way. Following
  a bar of Dm, the guitars play Cm7 and A7 over a full bar, but the bass seems to
  hold the Dm and cram the last two chords into the last 2 beats:

  guitars:    Dm7                  Cm7           A7
  bass:       D           D        D        Eb E C     A
           Oh lover oh lover,      where is the  thun- der?
  
  So the bass ends up playing D and E natural under Cm7, and C natural under A7.
  Maybe a mistake (?), but sounds amazing, as if those last 3 bass notes are 3
  different chords.

B) (1:56)

    F#m/C#  B  A  F#/C#  Gm/D  D

  Here the verse progression transposed up a whole step with some small
  variations. Before the B chord we have a real F Neapolitan.

    Em7        FM7  B  E7        Em7   A7

    G#11  C#11         F#m       B7  Bm7  E7

E)

  To end we get the intro guitar, not tuned up, but rather *down* a whole step.
  I think this is done for two reasons: So the bridge's E7 can lead into the Em
  (this major to minor change is almost thematic to the song), and so that we're
  spit out in the key of the verses.:

    Em/B   A   G  E/B   Fm/C  C    Dm

Deerhoof “Criminals of the Dream” Chords

 

I)

  See B2 section below. Starts in Eb major, ends in E major.

  A vocal melody is interrupted by a A-G-G bassline, making it sound like
  A7 harmony, but this is a trick. As the bass continues alone we start to
  hear this as what it is: 2-1-1 in G major. The guitars come in with G
  chords to confirm.

V)

  The verses starts in G mixolydian, with bass as a pedal. You can see the
  pattern they're building in the progression:

    G  C/G
    G  F/G  C/G
    G  C/G  F/G  C/G
    G       C/G  F/G  C/G
    G

  A bit of the pattern is then repeated in Eb mixolydian:

    Eb           Db   Ab
    Eb

V2) (with vocals)
B1)

  A lot happens in these 4 chords. The Bb is the V of Eb (shifting from
  mixolydian to ionian). The Db teases that we're back in Eb mixo, but
  instead of leading to Ab, we get harmonic planing down to a C major. The
  melody still has Eb, giving it a jazzy sharp 9 sound, and makes the
  following F chord sound like it functions as the V of Bb. So really the
  C is the V/V of Bb.

    V           VIIb    V/V (of Bb) V
    Bb          Db/Ab   C           F

  A full resolution to Bb is skipped in favor of 2 thrilling modulations:

    I      I
    Db     Eb  (We get a couple nice pentatonic lines here)

B2)

  We start in Eb major, slipping in a borrowed iv chord:

    I      iv          I
    Eb     Abm/Cb /Ab  Eb/Bb 

  The borrowed Abm is used to modulate to Gb major:

    ii   V        IV         V         V7      I
    Abm7 Dbadd9   Cbadd9/Eb  Db        Db7/Cb  Gb/Bb

  A i (Gbm) is used to modulate to E major:

    ii        I        ii   I  V7          I  iv       I
    Gbm/A     E/G#     E/F# E  B7sus/E     E  Am6/E    E

End)

  The G#m chords are dotted with brief A chords then we resolve to E:

    iii            V  I
    G#m7   A  x4   B  E

    v/II    II
    C#m7    F#7add11

Sleep Walk analysis

 

“Sleep Walk” is pretty famous for its I – vi – iv – V verses, but there’s more interesting stuff going on, especially for 1959 top 40 radio.

  • The end of the bridge is a G7#9 (AKA the “Purple Haze” chord). The slide emphasizes this by sliding [D, G] up to [F, Bb] and back, and you can really hear the [B, F, Bb] in the rhythm guitar. I can’t think of any other top 40 song that used it so prominently; even “Purple Haze” mostly omits the major 3rd so it’s not as dissonant.
  • The ending is a G chord with the slide using a falling sixth interval: [G, E] – [Gb, Eb] – [F, D]. This is a common blues trick that turns a 6th chord (6 on top) into a 7th (7 on bottom).
  • The final cadence is pure jazz:
    • C6 [8-x-7-9-8-x]
    • G7b9+ [x-8-9-8-9-x] (root played only by bass)
    • C6add9 [x-10-10-9-10-10]

Analyze my dreams

 

Kristen Schall plays an adorable tourist in a film shot in soft-focus Europe in the early 1900s. In a stunning/terrifying scene she rides a rickety ski lift contraption hundreds of feet up a mountain, with the steep path twisting and turning to follow a busy street that wraps up the mountainside.

Later: I’m in an abandoned storage unit and find an amazing 80’s drum machine made by a kitchen appliance manufacturer. It’s all black and grey plastic, has tons of knobs, most of the labels are worn off, and I need to get my hands on batteries and a cassette 4-track ASAP.

Guitar tunings: Am9 and D6add9

 

I like to make small alterations to standard tuning that allow smaller intervals in the lower register.

Am9 (detune the D to C)

Some chords (note the 3rd intervals between the A and C strings):

Cm7 x-3-3-3-4-3
C x-3-4-5-5-x
Cm9 x-3-3-3-3-3
D6/9 x-5-6-7-0-0
A 5-4-4-6-x-x (or just 5-x-4-6-x-x)
A7 5-7-7-6-5-5 (standard E bar shape!)
Emaj9 0-9-8-8-0-0 (nice 2nd interval between the F# and G#)

D6add9 (detune the G to F#)

This gives you an open major 3rd interval and an easy D6add9 in the upper 5 strings. Some chords:

D6 x-0-0-0-0-2
G6add9 3-x-0-3-0-0
Aadd9 x-0-9-7-10-0
A6add9 5-4-4-0-0-0
A/C# 9-7-7-7-10-x
A13 x-0-5-5-7-0
Em x-7-5-5-5-x
Eadd9 x-7-6-5-7-x
D x-0-0-0-3-5  OR x-0-0-0-7-x
Gmaj9 x-5-5-5-7-5

Chords: “Taramasalata” by Eggstone

 
V)
    Em   G#+/B#  C#m    G#m      F#m   A     F    Dm
    2      2     2      2        2     2     2    2

    F#m    B     C#m    A  G#m   C#m   A  B
    2      2     2      1  1     2     1  1

    Em   G#+/B#  C#m    G#m      F#m   A     F    Dm
    2      2     2      2        2     2     2    2

    F#m    B     Dm     C#m      G#m   A  B
    2      2     2      2        2     1  1

    Em   G#+/B#  C#m    G#m      F#m   A     F    Dm    A
    2      2     2      2        2     2     2    2     8

C)  
    E      B/D#   G#m   F#m   G#m   F#m   C    D
    2      2      2     2     2     2     2    2

    E      B/D#   G#m   F#m   G#m   F#m   C    D
    2      2      2     2     2     2     2    2

    E        C#m7     Amaj9    F#m9
    4        4        4        4

    E        C#m7     Amaj9    F#m9
    4        4        4        4

    E        C#m      F#m7     C    D
    4        4        4        2    2

on YouTube.

Wedding Mixes: Moose

 

Moose “This River Never Will Run Dry” [marry in the morning mix]

In this mix:

  • More balanced volume across the song (you can hear the intro without having to turn it down several times later). This is a simple volume envelope, so it didn’t squash the dynamics any more that they were already.
  • Shortened outro without the screeching halt at the end. Yes, some will find this blasphemous. Judge away.