The major sixth chord or arpeggio is an inversion of the minor chord a third below.
But major sixth chords don’t necessarily have a “minor” sound. Whenever I’m playing anything with major chords on the guitar or piano, I like to throw in the sixth just because I like the sound of it, especially leading into a major seventh chord. I also like the sound of a dominant seventh resolving into a major sixth, and I used that sound prominently in the rhythm guitar track on this song. That extra note in the chord does make a large difference.
Yes. If anything, major sixth chords actually sound more cheerful or “upbeat” to me than vanilla major triads, almost in a cheesy sort of way. Maybe it’s because they remind me of 1920s and 1930s popular music or something.
I view the major seventh (chord and interval), and the Locrian and Lydian modes, as being “cousins.” If you’re playing a sharp fourth in a Lydian scale, that sharp fourth is also the major seventh interval of the fifth of that same scale, if that makes any sense. Also, if you’re playing a Locrian passage, you’re starting on the seventh scale degree, and so technically you using the interval of the major seventh - the same interval that can impart a wistful tone to a major chord, can sound menacing and unstable if it’s lower in the inversion. Sorry to keep plugging my own music, but the guitar solo that I play in this song, and the bass part of the same, heavily incorporates the interval of the major seventh, but using a Locrian feel, if that makes any sense. There is a sense of uncertainty and ominousness underlying the fast-paced and adventurous-sounding solo section. (I’m referring to the part which begins at 1:07.)
(Oh, and the organ part in the verses is also throwing in a lot of major sixths. I use them a lot.)
Oh, indeed. The SMB3 theme is actually what I was thinking of when I mentioned the C-C6-Cmaj7-C6 progression. I mean, I know there’s a ton of songs that use it, but that’s the first one that came to mind, being a child of the 80s. And that’s exactly the kind of thing where I just lop it all into “one chord.”
This is a thread about two chord songs. Locrian and Lydian modes may be in play, but it’s kinda not the point. From a generalist standpoint, it’s much more about “do I like this song because of its simplicity or did I not realize it was simple because it’s crafted in a complex way?
I get that you’re discussing theory complexity within the latter branch, but try to make sure non theory folks have an inkling of what you’re trying to say.
I think most people understand these concepts intuitively, but lack the vocabulary to talk about them. That’s what “music theory” means to me, it’s a vocabulary to talk about music just like we have words for different colors and how they are mixed. You don’t need to know about music theory to be a great musician though. There are plenty of people that have that intuitive grasp of it without being able to articulate it into words, and that’s fine. But it makes it easier to talk about with other people to have some theory knowledge.
I often find myself in the role of music tutor to my friends who love music as much as I do, but lack that vocabulary to discuss the concepts. I always tell them to not overthink it. I sit with them at a piano or with a guitar and I show them the major scale; I describe to them the different intervals; I describe how playing with the intervals changes the sound of the chord, with the third making it major or minor, and I explain what the major seventh and the dominant seventh are (“dreamy vs. bluesy”) is how I usually put it, and I explain how you can create tension and mystery in a song by jumping around between the sixth, dominant seventh, major seventh, and octave (a form of chromaticism); I explain to them how when a song is in a certain key, all that it means is that the notes comprising the chords of the song can all be found within the scale in question. I explain how you can have a minor chord in a song but still have it be in a major key, because the notes in the minor chord are still part of the major scale of the key. And I explain some basic chord progressions.
I can explain this stuff to most people in about one hour, and with just this basic information they will already be most of the way there to having a solid grasp of the building blocks of great rock and pop music.
I feel like Stereolab should have a ton of these, but I’m having trouble finding ones that are truly two chords. There may be several minutes of a two chord vamp, but there does tend to be a change somewhere. Neu!, on the other hand, has a number of one-chord jams that I really enjoy, but that’s one fewer chord than the OP wants for this thread.
I think that brave non-musicians like Thudlow Boink point out a key point I was trying highlight in the OP: most folks don’t even process that a song is “simple” vs. “complex.” I suspect that unless the song has some jarringly-obvious complexity - a Prog song slamming through time changes; a song with an obvious change in key or structure (Paul’s middle bit in Day in the Life), most non-musos don’t have a “way in” to understand relative simplicity.
Navigating theory doesn’t help that, near as I can tell. I do think our working groupings of “Intentionally Simple” vs. “Deceptively Simple” sheds some insight on just how wide a net can be cast over the category of Two Chord/Simple songs.
I heard Steve Miller’s Wild Mountain Honey on the Sirius channel ‘Yacht Rock’ earlier today, and it occurred to me that it only has one chord, or two depending on how you look at it: a C7 and and a C7sus4. That’s it. It’s a very slow song too, even slower than Lime In The Coconut. If you’re going to have a long, drawn-out groove with a lot of noodling and background instruments or synths - and I think Steve Miller and Harry Nilsson would both qualify as ‘stoner rock’ in their own way - you don’t necessarily need to have chord changes.
You can’t really lay it all on being a stoner, though, because there’s also a lot of stoner music that features extremely complicated chord changes, like prog and certain jam bands. Jazz also arguably started out as stoner music. And Paul was (I think) the biggest stoner out of the Beatles, and a lot of his work is quite intricate. The idea that “stoner” = “lazy or lackadaisical approach to songwriting” is certainly a false stereotype.
You’re right. It’s pretty much a two-chord song. The only deviation is an A is thrown in there after “woman you need” (guitar hits E-A) “love” before Robert Plant’s scream. So close enough, I say!
I mean, I know there’s a ton of songs that use it, but that’s the first one that came to mind, being a child of the 80s. And that’s exactly the kind of thing where I just lop it all into “one chord.”