Progressions: “Pedal Tones”

Not long ago I received an email from someone who, after viewing my analysis of ‘Lost in This Moment’, asked about something that’s been around in songwriting for a very long time when they asked, “What’s a ‘Pedal Tone’?”

Since answering that email I’ve discussed this in 2 consultations with up-and-coming songwriters, so… seems like a good subject to cover here.

What is it?

A pedal tone (or pedal point) is a note that remains unchanged while chords change over/around it. It’s easier for some people to think of it as an ‘anchor’ while the chords change ‘on top’. It’s common for the pedal tone to be either the root or 5th of the key.

Who Uses it?

Pedal tones are used in every style of music. Beethoven used them, as did other classical composers; it’s found regularly in dance music; and rock n’ roll & heavy metal make use of it as well.

You’ll often find a pedal tone used to create a dramatic effect and the bass frequently given the job of holding the root of the key as the pedal tone.

An Example

In ‘Lost in This Moment’ the pedal tone first makes an appearance in the first verse. Listen to the song closely and you’ll here the steady ‘B’ note held throughout the verse as well as the ‘B’ arpeggio of the electric guitar while a very lightly mixed acoustic makes the 5-4-1 chord changes.

If your ear can’t pick out the acoustic guitar, listen to the second verse. The electric guitar maintains the ‘B’ arpeggio while the bass moves from 5-4-1.

Note that the song is in the key of ‘B’, so this is a root pedal tone.

What Makes it Work?

The pedal tone in ‘Lost in This Moment’ helps create a tension and release. The verses begin with the 5 chord (F) of which the pedal tone (B) is a 4th and thereby creating added tension to the already dominant chord. The next chord in the verse progression is a 4 chord (E) of which the pedal tone is a 5th (the dominant of the chord), before the song moves to the 1 chord (B) which brings the pedal tone to function as the root. So the pedal tone in this case creates added tension to the ‘lead’ chord. It’s subsequent place as a fifth and root adds to the feeling of release felt at the end of each line.

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Til next time, keep writing!

Progressions: “Prosody” in Songwriting

In previous Progressions posts, we’ve looked at the current hit, “A Different World”, written by Jennifer Hanson, Mark Nesler, and Tony Martin when talking about Chord Substitution and Cutting Measures.

At the end of one of those posts I mentioned “the power in the way it [“A Different World”] was written with the minor chord falling at the end of ‘smoke and drank’, and ‘lead based paint’.” And as I said then, “That’s nice prosody to begin the song”.

Prosody is the marriage of melody/chord with lyric and good prosody is when the music of a song accurately reflects the lyric. It's concerned with things such as the choice of chords, deciding what single note should accompany a certain word of the lyric, the rhythm of lines and certain words, etc.

In “A Different World”, the minor chords falling at the end of ‘smoke and drank’, and ‘lead based paint’ reflect the negative connotation of the words.

Let’s look at prosody in 2 lines of another well-known song, Alan Jackson’s “Here in the Real World”. I also look at this song when discussing melodic phrasing in my book, “Top 10 Songwriting Mistakes… and Correcting Them” (see sidebar for a FREE copy or visit http://www.Top10SongwritingMistakes.com).

If you can’t hear the melody in your head listen to it now and notice how the melody of the 3rd and 4th lines of the verse differ. The 3rd line’s melody contains the highest notes of the verse as we hear in the first verse that, “love is a sweet dream that always comes true”. Just as the tone of voice rises when there’s excitement when we talk, the melody accurately reflects what we’re hearing. And just as the tone of our voice naturally falls with disappointment, the 4th line’s melody steadily descends as we hear, “if life were like the movies I’d never be blue”.

The second verse continues the good prosody with the 3rd line's higher melody paired with, “and tonight on that silver screen it’ll end like it should”. And once again, the 4th line's lyric is a nice match to the downward sloping melody with, “two lovers will make it through like I hoped we would”.

Play songs you’ve written with attention to prosody and see if there’re places you can better match the emotion of your lyric with the melody and chord choice. For ideas on chord choices read the Progressions post, “Substitution in Songwriting”.

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Progressions: “Secondary Dominants”

A hit on the charts right now which I personally am very fond
of is “Startin’ With Me”, a country hit for Jake Owen and
written by Kendall Marvel, Jimmy Ritchey, and Jake Owen.

Let’s look at the writer’s use of the secondary dominant in
the chorus.

read the rest of this article:
"Secondary Dominants"

Progressions: “Cutting Measures”

Let’s look again at the recent hit "A Different World" written
by Jennifer Hanson, Mark Nesler, and Tony Martin.

Let’s focus on the verse. While the song is in 4/4 time, notice
the cut measures which gives it a rhythmic distinction from the
chorus.

read the rest of this article:
"Cutting Measures"

Progressions: “Substitution” in Songwriting

A current hit useful in showing the use of chord substitution
is ”A Different World” written by Jennifer Hanson, Mark Nesler,
and Tony Martin.

Let’s focus on the chorus of the song. Notice it begins with an
ascending progression, 4-5-6m. It then holds the 6m chord before
we hear the 4-5 again, but this time we’re given a 1 chord rather
than the 6m.

This provides variation while maintaining the basic sound of the
previous progression.

read the rest of this article:
"Substitution" in songwriting