[Rhodes22-list] Harmony

Sun Jan 30 09:25:45 EST 2005

Anyone know about the "new" Brian Wilson album?  I think it is called Smile.

Supposedly the "lost" masterpiece he couldn't make in the 1960's has finally
been completed.

Jim Connolly 

-----Original Message-----
From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of Hank
Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2005 10:29 PM
To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Harmony

>Even the Beach Boys themselves could barely pull  that one off live.  

Now I understand why I was so disappointed when I saw them live so many
years ago.

Hank

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 16:40:54 -0600, Steve Alm <salm at mn.rr.com> wrote:
> Bill,
> 
> How does harmony work?  Sometimes the simplest questions are the 
> hardest to answer.  Volumes have been written on Western harmony, 
> Eastern harmony, traditional functional harmony, modern, jazz and so 
> on, but here are the
> basics:
> 
> Think of a graph where the horizontal axis is time and the vertical 
> axis is frequency (pitch).  If you plot a melody on the graph, it goes 
> up and down to different notes as it moves through time.  Harmony 
> happens when you put two or more contrasting melody lines together on 
> the same graph.  When two or more notes sound at the same time, that 
> creates or implies a "chord."  A chord is a simultaneous or "vertical" 
> juxtaposition of pitches.  The most common chords are called triads 
> and made of three notes, usually every other white key on the piano.  
> You probably know the white keys are named A, B, C, D, E, F and G.  A 
> typical triad would be A, C and E; or B, D and F.  (You could make a 
> chord using consecutive notes such as A, B and C together, but it 
> bangs in the ear and sounds like "discord" unless you're listening to 
> modern jazz or maybe Stravinsky's Rite of Spring--where discord is the 
> intent of the composer)  As the melodies move through time and the 
> notes change, the chords change too.  We call this the "chord progression"
or as the jazzers say, "the changes."
> 
> The chord progression in any given song is very specific and the note 
> combinations have to fit into that scheme as they move along.  When 
> Simon and Garfunkle are singing together, you're hearing two distinct 
> melodies that work together.  You see Paul strumming the guitar and 
> changing chords as they go.  The notes that Paul and Art are singing 
> must match the notes in the guitar chords.  I'm oversimplifying here 
> because melodies can certainly go "outside" the chords, but let's stick to
the basics.
> 
> Simon and Gar are only two voices.  Now add a third, fourth and fifth 
> voice to the equation--five separate melodies plotted on the graph 
> that all fit together both horizontally and vertically.  When it fits 
> just right, our ears are happy.
> 
> There's a very strong anthropological element at play here.  What 
> makes my ear happy might not for my neighbor.  And there have been 
> studies of aesthetics that reveal the demographics of all that, but 
> for now, let's just think of that as various flavors of ice cream.
> 
> Still with me?  Let's get back to the Beach Boys.  Brian Wilson 
> created his songs in much the same way as J.S. Bach created his 
> chorales.  The Bach chorales were typically four voices, soprano, 
> alto, tenor and bass.  Each had their own individual horizontal melody 
> to sing, but when sung simultaneously it created vertical chords along 
> the way.  The melodies have to be crafted so they do indeed make pleasant
sounding chords.  "Plotting"
> the melodies on the "graph" so they work both vertically and 
> horizontally IS the art of harmony.
> 
> In order for the graph to make the ear happy, the composer needs to 
> follow many "rules" regarding the placement of notes, exactly which 
> chords to use, timing and on and on.  One of the things that makes 
> Brian Wilson so exceptional is that he knew and followed those same 
> rules as Bach so meticulously.  Not many other 'popular' artist did 
> that.  Or did it to the extent and complexity as Wilson.  Bach would 
> have loved Surfer Girl.  8-)
> 
> Good Vibrations was a studio cut all the way and the live version was 
> a mere shadow of its former self.  Even the Beach Boys themselves 
> could barely pull that one off live.  It's because those lines and 
> that harmony - the whole graph if you will - is so complex and 
> detailed that it's impossible to replicate live.  Five guys in a 
> studio can overdub the vocals and sound like ten or twenty.  That 
> means the chords are much more complex than the simple triads I 
> mentioned before.  Instead of two or three notes together, it's four 
> or five and then overdubbed to the point of sounding almost like a whole
choir.  That's the effect you get with Good Vibrations.
> 
> Class dismissed.
> 
> Prof. Slim
> 
> On 1/28/05 7:10 AM, "Bill Effros" <bill at effros.com> wrote:
> 
> > Slim,
> >
> > Can you explain how harmony works?  I read what you wrote, and I 
> > sort of understand it.  But when I really think about it, I know I 
> > don't know what you are talking about.  And I would love to 
> > understand it, even if I can never sing it.
> >
> > Bill Effros
> >
> >
> >
> > Steve Alm wrote:
> >
> >> Rummy,
> >>
> >> The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean were practically the same band.  
> >> They all worked together on many projects.  Ex:  "Barbara Ann" is 
> >> thought of as a BB song but that's Jan Berry singing the original
opening:  "Ba, Ba, Ba,...Ba
> >> Ba-bar Ann..."   Can you listen to Surfer Girl, Little GTO or Good
> >> Vibrations and NOT feel like you're sixteen and just got your 
> >> license, cruising Main Street in your '65 Mustang with your 
> >> girlfriend?  Ain't that what's it's all about?  C'mon now, let's give
Surfer Girl another listen:
> >> http://home.mn.rr.com/almhome/Surfergirl.mp3
> >>
> >> Truthfully, I used to think of the BB as fluffy bubblegum stuff 
> >> until I was in this 5-pc. show band that did a lot of 4 and 5 part 
> >> harmony.  We worked up a big BB segment and I was stunned at how 
> >> hard it was to sing those parts.  Those boys were very 
> >> well-schooled in formal, classic harmony, and that was quite 
> >> evident when we dug in and tried to learn their material note for 
> >> note.  I found renewed respect!  The vocal lines are blended so 
> >> well that it's hard to tell them apart.  By comparison, we put 
> >> together the entire Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, and pulled it off
pretty well, but we couldn't touch Good Vibrations.
> >>
> >> By the time Brian Wilson became all messed up on drugs and various 
> >> psych problems, his cousin Dennis would come to him with a bag of 
> >> hamburgers and say, "Brian, do you want a hamburger?"  And Brian would
mumble, "Uh huh."
> >> Then Dennis would say, "Then write a song and you can have one."  
> >> After Brian wrote a song, Dennis would say, "Brian, do you want 
> >> another hamburger?" ...  8-)  True story, or so I'm told.  Brian 
> >> Wilson is certifiably nuts and also a certifiable genius and IMO a
national treasure.
> >>
> >> I have tons of stories about these guys because we did numerous 
> >> gigs with both BB and J & D back when I was on the "nostalgia 
> >> circuit." playing either before or after them at those big outdoor 
> >> fairs and festivals multi-band venues.  Never played with the Four 
> >> Tops (love 'em) but we played venues with Paul Revere and the 
> >> Raiders, The Turtles, Three Dog Night, Gary Puckett and the Union 
> >> Gap, The Association, Herman's Hermits, Freddy Cannon, Fats Domino, 
> >> The Buckinghams, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Mary Wilson, The 
> >> Imperials, The Dixie Cups, The Shirells, Mitch Rider, .......... 
> >> 8-)
> >>
> >> Slim Chance And The Gamblers  AKA  Cool Duty   8-)
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On 1/27/05 4:46 PM, "R22RumRunner at aol.com" <R22RumRunner at aol.com>
wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>> Beach boys. Sliimmy, they were bad when they were current and even 
> >>> worse now. Jan & Dean were the best. I also liked the four tops. 
> >>> :) Speaking of sunny weather. It looks like winter is going to 
> >>> deposit a ton of ice on us Saturday, so if I'm away from the list 
> >>> for a while, it ain't because I'm out sailing. But, I've never 
> >>> tried it in an ice storm. How much rum would it take to get me to 
> >>> go out sailing in an ice storm? Good question.
> >>> Hmmm,
> >>> gonna have to think on that one for a while. What could happen?
> >>>
> >>> Rummy
> >>> __________________________________________________
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> >>>
> >>>
> >>
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> >>
> >>
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