The Genius Of Lennon

[ernstinen]

I was fooling around on the guitar tonight, and decided to play "Sexie Sadie" by John Lennon.The song starts out with parallel chords that descend by a half step, and then it takes off from there. How he got back to the original key is amazing.I thought that it was just chance that he came up with this, but then I started playing the intro to "If I Fell," and about shat my pants. Wow! That has to be the most creative intro to any song I've ever heard. How Lennon gets from Eb minor to D major is a songwriting lesson that has been lost to the current generation, IMHO. Just incredible, akin to Bach and Mozart in the genius of invention.Ern

[edteja]

So that we don't have to reinvent the wheel, amigo, how about posting that fabulous Eb minor to D major progression?

[ernstinen]

Quote:So that we don't have to reinvent the wheel, amigo, how about posting that fabulous Eb minor to D major progression?Okey Dokey!Ebm - D - Db - Bbm9 - Ebm - D - Em7 - A --- D major!When that Em7 change comes --- Woo! I still get the chills! Ern

[og]

Carumba! That had to be a "Wow, that sounds amazing" moment, even for John!

[ernstinen]

Quote:Carumba! That had to be a "Wow, that sounds amazing" moment, even for John!Yup --- reports have it that John shat his pants when he thought of that chord change! Ern

[ernstinen]

Ya know, maybe we should move this to "Sgt. Pepper," but "If I Fell" musically was way before Sgt. Pepper, if not in years!But Lennon's genius remains.How the Beatles changed pop music was in part because they wrote songs with more than 3 to 5 chords, and the rock world freaked out at that challenge.I casually counted the chord changes in "If I Fell," and there are at least 13 different chords in that song. Wow! Quite a progression from "Love Me Do."Ern

[horacejesse]

I think of the Beatles as the first guys with guitars, bass and drums who used the complex chording of the era before rock & roll.I often wonder how much George Martin had to do with that. Was If I Fell before Martin even came into their lives? If so, that would answer a lot.I also wonder how much George Harrison did that he might not have gotten credit for because many of those things might have fallen under arrangement. Harmonically speaking Harrison was about as far ahead of the rest of the rock pack as the fab four were in songwriting.