Friday, January 31, 2014

Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton. The Beautiful Tritone.

Before I dig into the Clapton, I want to look at a couple other songs. I've had this Mindy Gledhill song stuck in my head for a while now. (I'm not ashamed to admit I heard it a few years back in an underwear commercial - don't judge)


What really gets me, beyond the pretty singing and delicate arrangement, is the third chord. Of course, it is the IV chord. I've gone on at length on why the IV chord is often the most impactful, my theory being that it is between the I and V, where all the drama happens. What really makes it special in this song is how unexpected it is, due to the movement of the bass. The line starts on "do," then "ti", and when you'd expect it to keep moving stepwise to "la" it instead jumps right to "fa."


The root-position IV chord sounds so bold and warm and comes out of nowhere.

The jump from "ti" to "fa" is a tritone interval. This is the interval that most music students are taught to avoid when writing parts in theory and counterpoint classes. These classes typically focus on the choral writing of Bach, and the principles are consistent today. It may no longer be consider the Devil's Tone, but it is still a rare melodic interval. Despite several centuries of composers finding ways to break the "rules," the fact is that they still apply. Tritones don't move as smoothly as seconds, thirds, fourths and fifths. As a practical matter, there just aren't a lot of tritones available to the bassist in diatonic music. "ti" and "fa" are the only tones a tritone apart, so unless IV is going to vii, you won't hear it very often in Western pop music.

Another perfect example is "Take My Breath Away," the 80s ballad from Top Gun:


This song is great because it has both possibilities for contrast. In the verses the synth bass goes to the expected "la," then when they get to the chorus and the lyrics to land harder, it goes to the root position IV chord. (except the middle chorus, for some reason - maybe to build some anticipation for the final chorus) This makes the chorus dramatically prettier and creates contrast with the verse. It's brilliant writing - I could almost do a post on this song by itself.

Wonderful Tonight



That brings me to Eric Clapton's classic Wonderful Tonight. Most young guitar players learn this ballad pretty early on; it has an easy lead riff and the chords are simple enough for most beginners to play. Gigging musicians like myself have probably long since burned out on it, but it is always a reliable way to get people slow dancing.

Its simplicity belies some of the more nuanced brilliance of the song. For example:
  • Beginning drummers will often play eighth notes on the hi-hat, but the groove is much busier than that. My friend and drummer Andy Robbins pointed out that, with the ghost notes, almost every 16th note is played in the groove.
  • The organ, Rhodes, and rhythm guitar all play busy parts that fill out the song without sounding like they're stepping on each other. That's not easy!
  • I love the slight hesitation before the band comes back in at the end of the bridge, as he says "...how much I love you." That kind of thing is less common in the age of computerized click tracks.
And, of course, the chord progression has the wonderful "ti" to "fa" tritone. Although the bassist softens it with an approach note, the chords and effect are almost the same (and in the same key) as the Mindy Gledhill song above.

All theory aside - while I admit that I have burned out on Wonderful Tonight - I appreciate the nuances and, most of all, its simplicity. There are no vocal acrobatics or guitar wizardry. Anyone can sing it. Not lofty metaphors; it reads like a poem some guy wrote on a napkin for his wife one night. Sometimes little things make you happy. In my case, it's an unexpected root-position IV chord.


Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Bonus Post - O Holy Night Versions Reviewed

As I mentioned, the holidays are a busy time for us musicians, and so I never did write a followup to my O Holy Night post. I'm sorry kids, Santa didn't come this year...but he's here now!

What makes a performance of O Holy Night good? There are a handful of bullet points that I look for:
  • Faithfulness to the song. This is a classic carol, evocative of Christmas nostalgia for many - not a showpiece for egotistical divas.
  • Chords. I'm not opposed to reharmonization, but it should be thematically consistent. Don't use all of the original chords and then beef a couple just to be clever.
  • Dynamics. The song is placid to begin, and should build to the climax. You have to work hard to mess up the dynamics of this song.
  • The climax. This song more or less builds to the high note; it is the summit, so singers should pick a key in which they can nail it. Don't force it, don't milk it, just nail it.
With this in mind, here are my reviews of some well-known and less-well-known versions of O Holy Night:



1. Josh Groban

I hate to give Josh Groban credit, but this is pretty solid. My biggest gripe is that some of the orchestral swells outpace the song a little bit. The tympani, especially, seems to push the dynamics a bit much. A little minimalism in the arrangement would have been refreshing. A couple points lost for squaring up the form, but I guess that's pop music for you. He milks it a bit by tagging the chorus and holding the high note a little long but, eh, it works. 

Grade: A-



2. Luciano Pavarotti

Expectedly, Pavarotti is true to the form. Taking the song in Eb, he sets himself up for a true tenor's climax. There isn't much to complain about in terms of form and arranging.

That said, I feel like the heavy vibrato and constant forcing detracts from the gentleness of the song. On top of that, it seems like he's always pushing the tempo. The high note is very forced. It's not bad - I'd definitely play it in the background while decorating the tree - it just doesn't quite give me that warm Christmas feeling.

Grade: B+



3. Celine Dion

Did Celine Dion sing this? O holy crap. I would never buy a Celine Dion album, but she is good at what she does and I believe she has some of the best producers in the business. Her songs are always perfectly crafted, and they do climaxes right - I might even write about one of them someday.

On this one, however, I think they blew it. The whole first half is quite nice. I appreciate the simplicity and reserve. The choral interlude is a little corny, but I'll let it slide. I see no reason for a synth bass when they have a string orchestra handy, but that's barely audible. Then as it builds toward the climax, you start to hear the Celinisms come out in her voice. You know what I'm talking about.

Like Groban, she tags the climax - and man, does she milk it. It's not the worst thing in the world, but think it seals my opinion. Her recording starts out like a nice Christmas Carol and ends up like a Celine Dion song.

Grade: C



4. Celtic Woman/ Chloe Agnew

I really didn't want to do this one, but it's the top hit on YouTube and has over 11 Million views. I don't know why these corny, overproduced PBS specials bug me so much. They're just so...sanitary. There's nothing wrong with the arrangement, it's just really, really artificial. They make it look like some magical medieval congress in - is that a freaking castle? - while these photogenic wood nymphs sing perfect angelic tones. If anyone was actually at one of these "performances" I guarantee it sounded nothing like what you hear. They go back, correct pitches, rerecord parts, etc...basically airbrush every hint of impurity out of it until it is a perfectly digestible flavorless syrup for public consumption.

I mean, I guess that's what the Groban and Dion versions are, but there's something about the visual presentation that really rubs me the wrong way. The real sin is that it completely abandons the tone of the carol. Jesus was born in manger, not in a castle in front of privileged, white bread ticket holders.

Grade: C-



5. Kings College

I need a little detox after that last one, so we're going to church. John Rutter arrangements occasionally rub me the wrong way, but this one is solid. I love the organ; it's warm, supportive and never gets in the way. Best of all, there is no studio magic here, just beautiful cathedral acoustics.

Grade: A



6. *NSYNC

You might think that I would hate this one - especially since I had to do a full transcription of it years ago - but I don't. It's poppy, studio perfect, deviates far from the original, and doesn't really build to the climax very much.

However, I still think it's a really good arrangement. It appears to have been arranged by producer Robin Wiley, who has some major vocal writing skills. The reharmonizations are really nice and it has some great moments, including a smooth modulation. Also, they do a pretty decent job of it live, without any pitch correction. I don't think I'd put it on as we open presents on Christmas morning, but as a standalone it's not half bad.

Grade: B



8. Mariah Carey

Ok...they're going for a gospel thing here...nothing wrong with that. The melismas are a bit much, but actually pretty reserved for Mariah. The gospel choir works. Organ solo in the middle? Thats...weird. It sounds like she's going for it too early in the second chorus, but as we all know Mariah has an extra whistle octave to work with. Sure enough, right at the climax, there it is: the Double B. For those looking on a piano, here it is:

What can I say? It's a good arrangement, all the pieces fit, the climax is great. It also has nothing to do with Christmas or the original tone of the song. As a novelty, I'll give it the same treatment as *NSYNC.

Grade: B



That's about all I can handle. I hope the holidays were great for everyone, here's to a whole new year of picking apart the best (and worst) songs!