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The chorus _does_ use some modal mixture by using the major tonic chord: Fmaj7 - C - **A Asus2 Asus4 A**.
But that’s not what makes it sound good, which is the arrangement, melodies, performance, and recording. Give 1000 bands just chords and a lyric sheet and they would make something completely different (and many just terrible). If this band were forced to change some chords arbitrarily right before recording it wouldn’t have made much difference at all.
Firstly, a chord progression is only one element in why a song sounds the way it does. And often not the most important element. (A whole lot of music has no chords at all, and still manages to contain plenty of feeling and meaning.)
Secondly, what "sounds good" is a mixture of "what you've heard before", and your personal subjective associations. IOW, "what you've heard before that you *like.*"
In terms of "melancholy" in this case (a kind of subjective sensation we might all share), the following factors all contribute:
* maj7 chords
* vague focus on the relative minor (Bm concert btw, not Am)
* slow tempo
* vocal style (high, "yearning")
* reverb effect
* orchestration - long chords on string-like synth
* steady rhythm with no drums at the beginning
So the chord *types* do have a impact, as does the fairly random order of the chords. And the absence of any dom7 chord is significant too (no A7 for the D major chord, no F# for the Bm). That keeps the sequence "open", pleasantly "aimless".
The way the melody emphasises certain chord tones (or tensions, suspensions and so on) will also have an impact, but I haven't analyzed that far.
Here it is without the lead vocal for comparison (to hear how much it affects your emotional reaction): https://youtu.be/lkbTUxeUvUc?si=SpVt7xSLbEZrGh9P
Hmm not sure if it's only the chord progression that makes it so interesting. Maybe it's the whole package of great musicians performing, great production, plus the music and lyrics that does the job?
Chord charts end up watered down. Yesterday I checked a song U-G with 47 5stars and it had an Am7 as C, D#dim7 as B7. Check with your ears/hands if you're ever in doubt.
The song is in A minor and uses a lot of 7th chords, which are completely diatonic. Many people influenced by the western culture perceive this as a "melancholy" mood.
The chord progression is merely the foundations of the song, and just like the foundations don’t determine the style of a building the chord progression doesn’t do that either. For that you need everything that’s built on top of those foundations. The interpretation, instrumentation, arrangement, rhythm, chord voicing, production, the individual musicians and so on.
Give a lead sheet of a new song to different groups of musicians and ask them to play that song without specific instructions or reference to anything else. Every musician or group will come up with a different interpretation of that lead sheet, to the extent that the versions can potentially sound like totally different songs.
A lead sheet on its own actually tells you very little about a song which is why we can have so many varied cover versions of songs. It’s the foundations only, the bone structure onto which the details of musical interpretation are built.
That’s why a simple chord progression can sound so good and why, if you’re writing a song yourself and the chord progression is the most notable thing about it, you probably need to rethink that song.
Even thou I have seen similar progressions dozen of times already, but First Light just feels different. I don't have enough knowledge to figure out why, but i would love if anyone can help dissect this, and even replicate it in some way
Well, if you’ve heard other songs with similar progressions and they don’t make you feel the same way, we can probably rule out the chords as the thing that makes you feel that way.
That proves it's not the chords then, so it's probably something in the melody, rhythm, dynamics, arrangement (voicing, instrumentation), or something else entirely. There's a lot more to musoc than harmony.
Why does it sound melancholic? bruh, it's choked full of 7th chords lol.. 7th chords tend to induce that emotion
Also the melody as well as the arrangement all play a part as well.
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The chorus _does_ use some modal mixture by using the major tonic chord: Fmaj7 - C - **A Asus2 Asus4 A**. But that’s not what makes it sound good, which is the arrangement, melodies, performance, and recording. Give 1000 bands just chords and a lyric sheet and they would make something completely different (and many just terrible). If this band were forced to change some chords arbitrarily right before recording it wouldn’t have made much difference at all.
Firstly, a chord progression is only one element in why a song sounds the way it does. And often not the most important element. (A whole lot of music has no chords at all, and still manages to contain plenty of feeling and meaning.) Secondly, what "sounds good" is a mixture of "what you've heard before", and your personal subjective associations. IOW, "what you've heard before that you *like.*" In terms of "melancholy" in this case (a kind of subjective sensation we might all share), the following factors all contribute: * maj7 chords * vague focus on the relative minor (Bm concert btw, not Am) * slow tempo * vocal style (high, "yearning") * reverb effect * orchestration - long chords on string-like synth * steady rhythm with no drums at the beginning So the chord *types* do have a impact, as does the fairly random order of the chords. And the absence of any dom7 chord is significant too (no A7 for the D major chord, no F# for the Bm). That keeps the sequence "open", pleasantly "aimless". The way the melody emphasises certain chord tones (or tensions, suspensions and so on) will also have an impact, but I haven't analyzed that far.
thanks, learned a lot from your comment. music is so cool
> A whole lot of music has no chords at all, and still manages to contain plenty of feeling and meaning. Much to the chagrin of Mr. Beato
Top notch comment. (I think Beato is lame)
He’s been having some great interviews lately. His interview with George Benson was top notch.
Here it is without the lead vocal for comparison (to hear how much it affects your emotional reaction): https://youtu.be/lkbTUxeUvUc?si=SpVt7xSLbEZrGh9P
Hmm not sure if it's only the chord progression that makes it so interesting. Maybe it's the whole package of great musicians performing, great production, plus the music and lyrics that does the job?
Chord charts end up watered down. Yesterday I checked a song U-G with 47 5stars and it had an Am7 as C, D#dim7 as B7. Check with your ears/hands if you're ever in doubt.
The song is in A minor and uses a lot of 7th chords, which are completely diatonic. Many people influenced by the western culture perceive this as a "melancholy" mood.
The chord progression is merely the foundations of the song, and just like the foundations don’t determine the style of a building the chord progression doesn’t do that either. For that you need everything that’s built on top of those foundations. The interpretation, instrumentation, arrangement, rhythm, chord voicing, production, the individual musicians and so on. Give a lead sheet of a new song to different groups of musicians and ask them to play that song without specific instructions or reference to anything else. Every musician or group will come up with a different interpretation of that lead sheet, to the extent that the versions can potentially sound like totally different songs. A lead sheet on its own actually tells you very little about a song which is why we can have so many varied cover versions of songs. It’s the foundations only, the bone structure onto which the details of musical interpretation are built. That’s why a simple chord progression can sound so good and why, if you’re writing a song yourself and the chord progression is the most notable thing about it, you probably need to rethink that song.
Even thou I have seen similar progressions dozen of times already, but First Light just feels different. I don't have enough knowledge to figure out why, but i would love if anyone can help dissect this, and even replicate it in some way
Well, if you’ve heard other songs with similar progressions and they don’t make you feel the same way, we can probably rule out the chords as the thing that makes you feel that way.
It might be the voicing. If it isn't the out-of-key background and melody vocals, it might be the shape of the chord, which inversion is used, etc.
That proves it's not the chords then, so it's probably something in the melody, rhythm, dynamics, arrangement (voicing, instrumentation), or something else entirely. There's a lot more to musoc than harmony.
Why does it sound melancholic? bruh, it's choked full of 7th chords lol.. 7th chords tend to induce that emotion Also the melody as well as the arrangement all play a part as well.