I'm listening to Pachelbel's Canon now, and am sort of gobsmacked at the fact that the sequence is exactly the same; I totally hear it now, but would never have guessed until you told me
-insert Pachelbel's Rant joke here-
Actually, I find it more annoying when it happens in reverse -- when I'll be playing someone that has a Pachelbel progression in it, and suddenly my brain starts singing R. Kelly's "World's Greatest" along with it. Fortunately I don't have occasion to play that progression very often. :)
...? Would I understand if you explained?
Sure. It's not really complicated; it just has nothing to do with the question above. :)
Basically there are three functions of chords: tonic (I, iii), subdominant (IV, vi, ii), and dominant (V, vii). A whole crapload of music goes
tonic -> subdominant -> dominant -> tonic
except sometimes there'll be extra chords in there, like a I hanging out with the subdominants where it doesn't belong, or a V near the beginning that isn't really doing V-ish things. These are called extensions (tonic extensions, dominant extensions, subdominant extensions).
The Pachelbel canon breaks down like this:
C: tonic G-a-e: either subdominant, or sequential material that doesn't count, depending on who your theory professor is F-C-F: subdominant (the C is a subdominant extension) G: dominant
If this song followed the pattern exactly, the chorus would begin on a subdominant extension C. Instead, it begins on a tonic C. (Williams can do that, because F-C is a legitimate ending cadence in pop music -- but for Pachelbel the final cadence has to be G-C, so he can't just stop there.)
Hey, thanks for helping me pretend I don't teach high school for a little while! :)
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 03:36 am (UTC)-insert Pachelbel's Rant joke here-
Actually, I find it more annoying when it happens in reverse -- when I'll be playing someone that has a Pachelbel progression in it, and suddenly my brain starts singing R. Kelly's "World's Greatest" along with it. Fortunately I don't have occasion to play that progression very often. :)
...? Would I understand if you explained?
Sure. It's not really complicated; it just has nothing to do with the question above. :)
Basically there are three functions of chords: tonic (I, iii), subdominant (IV, vi, ii), and dominant (V, vii). A whole crapload of music goes
tonic -> subdominant -> dominant -> tonic
except sometimes there'll be extra chords in there, like a I hanging out with the subdominants where it doesn't belong, or a V near the beginning that isn't really doing V-ish things. These are called extensions (tonic extensions, dominant extensions, subdominant extensions).
The Pachelbel canon breaks down like this:
C: tonic
G-a-e: either subdominant, or sequential material that doesn't count, depending on who your theory professor is
F-C-F: subdominant (the C is a subdominant extension)
G: dominant
If this song followed the pattern exactly, the chorus would begin on a subdominant extension C. Instead, it begins on a tonic C. (Williams can do that, because F-C is a legitimate ending cadence in pop music -- but for Pachelbel the final cadence has to be G-C, so he can't just stop there.)
Hey, thanks for helping me pretend I don't teach high school for a little while! :)