…if this post were one of the songs this post is about, it would have already changed key.

From: Dan

To: Ian

[Ab] [Fm] [Db] [Eb]
[Bb] [Gm] [Eb] [F]
[Bb]We go to[Gm]gether like 
[Eb]rama lama lama ka [F]dinga da dinga dong
[Bb]Remembered for[Gm]ever as
[Eb]shoo-bop sha wadda wadda [F]yippity boom de boom

This is not a real post. Or, if it is, it’s the worst post I’ll ever put on this blog.

With that said, if you can’t get enough harmonic interestingtasticness, I put every song we’ve ever discussed here at doctorofrock.com into playlists at Spotify and YouTube:

Spotify Web link:
https://open.spotify.com/user/thecobbler/playlist/6yrETgbGcuBUmQOqXYxDp1

Spotify URI:

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hF7BzN_HsTslWjOwV7yx5sW7-K1BPZF

I’ve left off a couple songs that were only mentioned to point out their not-interestingness, but basically that’s everything.

A fun game: listen and try to figure out what in each song we thought was worth talking about. I mean, not “fun” like waterslides or snowball fights, but at least a little fun.

…the Doctor of Rock returns from IR.

From: Dan

To: Ian

[Gm]Head under [Bb]water
And they [Dm]tell me to breathe
[F]easy for a while

…big changes in vocal rhythm from one verse to the next.

It’s always a nice touch when a song uses slightly different lyrics from one chorus to the next… I feel like I’m getting about one dollar more songness out of the song. For example:

First chorus

[D]Do you come from a [A]land down under [Bm][G][A]
[D]Where women glow[A] and men plund[Bm]er? [G][A]
[D]Can you hear can you he[A]ar the thunder [Bm][G][A]
You [D]better run, you bet[A]ter take [Bm]cover [G][A]

Second chorus

[D]I come from a [A]land down under [Bm][G][A]
[D]Where beer does flow[A] and men chund[Bm]er [G][A]
[D]Can you hear can you he[A]ar the thunder [Bm][G][A]
You [D]better run, you bet[A]ter take [Bm]cover [G][A]

But let’s face it, changing “plunder” to “chunder” is hardly a full day’s work. What really impresses me is when a song noticably changes the melody from one verse or chorus to the next, and not just in an improv/let-it-loose/singer-didn’t-really-learn-the-song way. In an on-purpose way.

Continue reading to hear examples of going the extra rhythmic mile… →

…doo-wop-era songs that are more interesting than you remember.

The ’50s and early ’60s have something of a rep for harmonic simplicity. Ask anyone with half a guitar to “write you a ’50s song”, and you’ll get a slow I → vi → IV → V progression, probably pausing for a bridge that starts on the IV, only to return to I → vi → IV → V. Incidentally, the song will also have the words “you” and “love” in the chorus, but lyrical complexity is beyond the scope of this post.

This progression is so common that the Internetz just call it the “’50s progression” (also see Wikpedia’s List of songs containing the ’50s progression).

I’m not here to convince you that the ’50s and early ’60s were really a period of experimental jazz-prog. In fact, I pretty much agree that for ~15 years, chords were definitely almost as simple as Wikipedia would have you believe.

But I do think we’re throwing the II and the iv out with the… damnit, I really thought that metaphor was going to work. What I’m saying is there were a few songs that you probably think of as:

I → vi → IV → V

…that were actually more like:

I → vi → IV → V → something really interesting → I → vi → IV → V

This is similar to the general perception that all ’80s hair bands were only as good as Ratt and Warrant, but actually Guns n’ Roses is awesome and gets unfairly lumped in.

So this post, as per the title, is about “doo-wop-era songs that are more interesting than you remember”. Note it’s not just “interesting chords from the ’50s” (of which I’m sure there are a jillion), it’s songs you probably think of specifically as ’50s progression songs that are actually hiding harmonic good times beneath a thin veneer of I → vi → IV → V.

From: Dan

To: Readers and Meghan Trainor

The [Em]snow glows white on the [Cadd9]mountain tonight
Not a [D]footprint to be [Am]seen
A [Em]kingdom of iso[Cadd9]lation, and it
[D]looks like I'm the [A]Queen

I miss that [Em]happy friend that I had
[A]You've been acting so sad
Won't you come [D]back? yeah [Bm]yeah

You never [Em]take your time with your girls no more
[A]Always with your new boy
But he ain't all [D]that
But [B]you don't know yet

…exploring the combinatorics of pop’s favorite chords, and finding the obvious gaps.

From: Ian

To: Dan

…the Doctor of Rock’s guide to matching your musical goals to musical starting points.

Recently a friend asked for my thoughts on whether he’d end up a happier musician by focusing on one instrument (depth-first) or spreading his time across instruments, composing, recording, singing, etc. (breadth-first). I’ve spent most of my life as a breadth-first musician with a short attention span, but I don’t really come down on one side or other. My thoughts ultimately boiled down to “first try to figure out what aspects of music make you happy, then work backwards from there”.

I’m going to more or less paste these thoughts in this post. So if you’re ready to take some advice from a mediocre hobbyist with no notable musical experience, read on!

…searching for the line between “pop with a lot of keys” and “prog”.

From: Ian

To: Dan, Raja

CHORUS (in Am)
Listen to your h[Am]eart[F] when he's c[C]alling for y[G]ou.
Listen to your h[Am]eart[F] there's nothing e[C]lse you can d[G]o.
I don't kn[C]ow where you're g[G]oing and [F]I don't know [C]why,
but listen to your h[Am]eart[F] before[G] you tell him goodbye[Am].

SOLO (in Am)
[Am] [F] [G] [Am] x 2
[C] [G] [F] [C]
[Am] [F] [G] [G]

BRIDGE (in D) (note the G → D cadence to smoothly move into the bridge)
[D] And there are voices that want to be heard.
[Bm] So much to mention but you can't find the words.
[A] The scent of magic, the be[G]auty that's been
[A] when love was wilder [B] than the wind.

CHORUS (in E)
Listen to your h[C#m]eart[A] when he's c[E]alling for y[B]ou
Listen to your h[C#m]eart,[A] there's nothing [E]else you can [B]do
I don't kn[E]ow where you're g[B]oing and [A]I don't know w[E]hy,
but listen to your h[C#m]eart[A] bef[B]ore you tell him goodb[C#m]ye.

From: Dan

To: Ian