Toward a Syntactical Definition of Harmonic Function in Rock
and Other Repertoires
Drew F. Nobile
University of Chicago
[email protected]
SMT Annual Meeting
Milwaukee, WI
NovemberSyntax
6, 2014
Harmonic
13
Example 1: The Eagles, “Lyin’ Eyes” (1975): a parallel period in which a half cadence on
V is answered by a IV–I authentic cadence.
Verse
#
V 44 œJ œ œJ œ œ
q = 132
G
Ci - ty
girls
just
# j j
V œ œ œ œ œœ œ
6
12
V
#
doors with just a
Ó
Œ
œ œ œ œ
G maj7
smile.
seem
to find
D
Ó
˙
j
‰ j œ œ.
œ
Am
she’ll dress up
œ
C
œœœ œ Ó
out
ear
-
!
ly
how
G
G maj7
A rich old man,
-
pen
in
lace
and go
C
and she won’t have to wor
j
œ
‰ j jœ
œ œ
œ œœ Œ
C
all
to o
j
Œ ‰ œj œ œ œ œ ‰ œj œ œ . œ œ œ œ œ . Ó
J J
J
Ó
œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ
Am
in
Ó
G
˙
style.
-
ry;
!
Example 1: The Eagles, “Lyin’ Eyes” (1975): a sixteen-bar parallel period in which V functions
2: the
Theantecedent
Beatles, “Nowhere
Man” (1965):
a minor-iv
chord
as the
as Example
dominant in
and IV functions
as dominant
in the
consequent.
syntactical dominant.
he’s a
real
nowhere sitting in
man
his
#### œ
œ
? # # ### ˙
#
œ
&
I a
he’s
real
œ
& ##
? ####
I
I
T˙
I
T
œ
œ
œ
V
œ
I
nowhere
land
his
œœ
œ
IV
I
œ
making
all his
œ
V
nowhere IV
sitting in
man
nowhere
land
œ
œ
making
all his
œ
˙
J
nowhere for
plans
œ
APT
˙
nowhere for
plans
œ
APT
ii
iv
˙PD ˙ D
J
ii
PD
iv
D
œ
œ
no - body
œ
no - body
œ
˙
I
T
˙
I
T
Nobile - p. 2
Example 3: “Take Me to the River”
a) Al Green’s original version (1974): the bridge ends in a typical way on V.
####
V ####
V
Bridge
C #m
Bridge
44 CŒ#m
44 Œ
‰ œJœ œJœ œœ .
‰ J J .
Hold me,
nœ
# # # # G/D
Œ
‰
n Jœ
V ####
Œ ‰ J
V
’till
G/D
5
5
œ œ
Jœ œ
J
Hold
I
’till I
me,
Œ
# # #Œ#
V
A7
A7
œ B˙7
Jœ ˙
5
Jcan’t
####
V
can’t
B7
C #m
‰ œJœ œJœ œœ . CŒ#m
Bridge
.
#m
C
‰
œ
J
J
44 Œlove ‰me, J œJ œ .Œ
love me,
n œHoldœ me,œ
œ
‰ œ nœ œ œ
G/D
‰ nœ œ œ œ
Œ ‰’tillJ I J can’t, J
’till I can’t,
’till I
can’t
A7
nœ œ œ.
AŒ7
‰ n Jœ Jœ œ
‰ œJœ œJœ œœ .
‰A 7 J J œ .œ œ . Œ C #m‰ J Jn œ . œ œ .
Πplease
‰ Jme,J
Πtease
‰ Jme J
please me,
tease me
love me,
œ
œ
n œ J J n œ œ œ œpleaseœ me,
Œ ‰ n œ œ œ n œ Jœ œ œ œ
B7
Jn œ œJ œ J
Œ˙ ‰
n œ œJ
œ
can’t
take
no
more
ah
ah!
‰
Œ ‰
can’t take
’till I
no
can’t,
more
ah ah!
can’t
A
œ
J
take
b) The Talking Heads’ version (1978): the bridge ends with an extended i7 chord functioning as the
syntactical dominant.
œ œ
œ œ
C #m
A7
#
œ œ œ
‰ Jœ œ œœ CŒ#m ‰ œJœ œœœ œœ œœœ AŒ7 ‰ Jœ œ œœ
V # 444 CŒ#m ‰ Jœ œ œ AŒ7 Bridge
C #‰m J
A
Œ# 4 C‰#m J œ œ œ Œ A 7‰ J J
Œ
J
œ
œ
V 4 Œ ‰ Hold
œ
œ
œ
me,
squeeze
me,
love
me,
tease
me,
‰ J
Œ ‰
Œ ‰ J
Œ
V 4 Πsqueeze
Hold
me,
me,
love
me,
tease
me,
Chorus
œme,
E m7
5
E mlove
Hold
me, œ œ œ
squeeze
me,
Chorus
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
#
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
.
.
E
m7
J
#
œ
5
E
m
œ œ œ œ œ. œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ J ‰ œ œ œ œ œ
V # Ó ‰ œ œ œ œ œ . 5 œ ‰E m7
œ
#
œ
Ó
‰
‰
‰
‰
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
#
œ œ. œ ‰
œ œ. œ
V
œ œ J‰
‰
’till I can’t
I can’t take
no more. Dip me‰ in the wa - ter
V ’tillÓ I can’t
Bridge
C #m
Bridge
’till I can’t
#
&#
&
?#
?#
A7
’till I can’t
’till I can’t
I can’t take
no more. Dip me in the wa - ter
’till I can’t
I can’t take
no more. Dip
Example 4: The i7–i cadence in the Talking Heads’ version of “Take Me to the River”
exhibits directed voice leading towards 1 in the upper voices—just like a traditional V–I
traditional V–I
“Take Me to the River”’s cadence.
voice leading
traditional
V–I
voice leading
# ww
# ww
w
w
voiceMe
leading
“Take
to the River”’s
voice leading
traditional V–I
voice leading
ww
w&
w #
# ww
w
w? # w
ww
w
“Take Me to the River”’s
voice leading
ww
w
ww
w
Nobile - p. 3
Example 5: The Talking Heads, “Take Me to the River”: verse–prechorus–chorus cycle.
#
q = 100
V
&
Verse
‰ j œ œ œ ‰ j œ œ œ œ œœÓ
¿
¿
I don't know why
#
I
œ̆
J
love you like I
‰œ œ œ œœŒ
‰
organ
? # bass
œœ œ œ œœœœ œ
6
V
Œ œ œ œ œŒ
Em
#
œœœœ œ Œ
# organ œ.
& n/# œœœ ‰ Œ
J
?#
œ œ œœ
my ci - ga - rettes
œœ
œ
œ
œ
‰ ¿ œ œ
ha - ven't
All the chan - ges
œ ‰ j
¿
seen
the
you put me through
# ‰œ œœ œ œ œ
V
A
&
#
?#
w
# ww
I
in love to stay?
œ œNœ œ œ œ œ œ
w
˙
E m7
ww
w
ww
w
Take my
Prechorus
‰ œ # œ œ œ œJ œ œ œ ˙
J
œ.
n/# œœœ ‰ Œ
J
œœ œ
worst of it yet and I wan - na
know,
œ œœœ
Chorus
Take me to the
ri - ver
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœœœ œ œ œ
œ #œ œ Ó
Em
you
œ œœ
ww
w
tell
jœ j
œ Œ œ œ œ Œ
Ó
j
œ
‰n # œœœ ‰
/>
guitar
G
can
Œ ˙˙˙ ...
œœ # œœ œ
œ œ
œœ œœœ
mo - ney,
œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ
J J
J
œœ
C
hypermeter:
11
Œ œ œ œ œ Œ
Ó
¿
œ̆
.
.
œœ. ‰ œœ.
Œ œ J Ó n # œœœœ ‰ Œ n # œœœœ ‰ Œ
Œ
œœ# œœ œ n/# œœJ n/# œœJ
/ J
/ J
œœ # œœœ œ
œœ
œœœ œ œ œœœ œ œ œœœ
œ œ œ œœœœ œœœ œ œ
do
œœ. ‰ œœ. ‰ Œ
Œ
n
#
œ
/ œJ n/# œœJ
# œœœ œ
œœ œ œ œ œ œœœœ
I
œ #œ œ
¿
1
¿
¿ œ
2
me,
jœ
œ
œ #œ œ Ó
wa - ter
œ
J
œ.
œ.
œ
œ
œ #œ œ
Ó
Ó
&
n/# œœœ ‰ Œ J # œ j
n/# œœœ ‰ Œ # œ œ
J
J
˙
œ ˙
œ ˙
œ
!
!
!
? # œœœœœ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œJ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œœ œ œ œJ ‰ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ
˙
V
#
#
3
Ó
œ #œ œ
¿
Take me to the
4
œ #œ œ Ó
ri - ver
Ó
¿ ¿ œœ
Dip me in the
j
œ
œœ. ‰ Œ œ # œ œ
œ #œ
Ó
Ó
j
n
#
œ
J
/ œJ
œ ˙
œ
!
!
œ œ œ œ œJ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œJ ‰ œ œ
Drop me in the
œ
17
am
œ #œœ œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ
wa - ter
wa - shing me down
wa - shing me
down
œ
J
Nobile - p. 4
Example 6: Voice-leading graph of the verse–prechorus–chorus cycle of “Take Me to the
River” showing a i7 chord functioning as syntactical dominant.
1ˆ
&
# ˙
?#
œ
verse
3ˆ
1ˆ
œ œ̇ œ
˙
prechorus
˙
J̇
œ œ
˙
6
Ii77
VI 5
Ii
T
PD
# ˙
˙
œ ˙
chorus
#˙ œ
# VI
Ii
T
PD
˙
1ˆ
bridge
˙
œ ˙
3ˆ
˙
chorus
D!
œ œ
1ˆ
˙
˙
I
I
D!
˙
T
œ˙
˙
Example 7: Fleetwood Mac, “Go Your Own Way” (1977), chorus. The formal and rhetorical
# œ œ pre-dominant function.
emphasis on the vi chord suggest that vi rather than IV represents
&
Dm
Bb
C
Dm
j
jœ
j
4
& b 4 Ó ‰ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœ œœ œœœ œœœ ˙ww .. œ œ̇˙ œ œ œ œj œ œj œ Œ
? #œ
œ ˙
œ go ˙ your
You can go
your own way,
own
way. ˙
˙
7
C
Dm
Bb
C
jœ
j
j
j
& b œœœ œœ œœœ œœ œœœ œœœ œœœ Œ Ó Ó ‰ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœ œœ œœœ œœœ ˙ww ..
œ
œ
œ
q = 136
-
Chorus
ther lone - ly day.
You can go
your own way,
j
‰ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœœ œ œœj œœ
œ œ œ œ œœœ œ œ
#˙
Bb
œ
You can call
˙
it a - no
j
œ œ̇˙ œ œ œ œj œ . œ
go
-
Verse
F
˙
your own way.
Example 8: Voice-leading graph of “Go Your Own Way” showing vi as pre-dominant.
3ˆ
#
&& b ˙!
verse
??#
b ˙!
#
!TI
&
?#
(3ˆ )
.. ˙
2ˆ
chorus
!œ ˙ .. !
œ
œœ ˙
.. ˙ œ ! ˙ ..
m–h
divorce
J
!
vi 5 — 6
VI
PD
1ˆ
V
D
!
!
verse
˙
! TI
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
&
j
œœ
#### ˙
œ œ œ
œ nœ
œ n œ œœ n œ
nœ œ
( )˙
œ œnNobile
p.
5
œ ˙˙
( )
Example 9: The Beatles, “Misery” (1963),œ verse: the IV chord in m. 4nisœ not yet the pre˙
œ itœ acquires syntactical
˙ function.
œ pre-dominant
# #in# # m.˙ 5 that
œ
œ
dominant; it is?
only
S
œ ‰ j
V 44
œ œ.
C
I’m
5
the kind
D
V
œ.
j
œ.
œ œ œ Œ Œ ‰ œJ
world
is
guy
who
j
œ œ.
trea - ting
me
bad;
j
œ
œ œœŒ Œ ‰ J
F
IVcry. [I]
ne - ver used
C
œœ ..
œ œ œˆ œ
G
J
j
œ œ.
C
I
E:of
j j
œ œ œ
F
R
F
mi
-
VThe
to
œœ œœ
C
˙
J
Œ
I
!
Am
se - ry!
Misery:
Example 10: Voice-leading graph of “Misery”
3ˆ
j
4ˆ
œœ
J
œ
œ
œ
r
œ
œ̇
˙
˙
c
I
IV
V
I
T
PD
D
T
& œ̇
?˙
s
œ
œœ
J
œ̇
œ
d
3ˆ
J
˙
Example 11: The Beatles, “I’ll Cry Instead” (1964), verse: the I chord in m. 13 is a “cadential I”
(Nobile 2011), functioning as an inverted cadential six-four (Rothstein 2006; Cutler 2009).
#
V 44 œJ œ
q = 192
Verse
œ œ œ œ œ œ
G
I got
e - very rea - son on Earth
#
V œ œ œJ œ œJ
6
-
#
V œ
12
up
ly girl I
˙
Ó
D
had.
to be
œ œ œ œ œ nœ
but
I
can’t,
˙
G
˙
Ó
Ó
Œ ‰ nœ
J
mad
C7
n
œ
œ œ œ bœ œ
œ
Œ
J
J
If I
j
bœ
to - day,
Ó
œ œ bœ œ œ
J J
could get my
‰ œ œ œ œJ œ .
D
so I’ll cry
œ œ œ œ œ
’cause
˙
way,
‰ œ œj
in - stead.
I
just lost the on -
Œ ‰bœ œ bœ œ
J
œ
I’d get my - self locked
G
˙
Ó
Ó
‰
˙
J
IV
Nobile - p. 6
Example 12: Voice-leading graph of “I’ll Cry Instead.”
&
5ˆ
4ˆ
# ˙
˙
I’ve got every reason
on Earth to be mad...
?#
2ˆ
1ˆ
˙ ˙
˙
3ˆ
...but I can’t
so I’ll cry
˙
˙
I
J
œ
IV
[I]
V
T
PD
D
œ
˙
instead
˙
I
T
Example 13: Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 3, III, mm. 5–8. William Rothstein (2006) and
Timothy Cutler (2009) interpret the i6–VI–iiø65 –V progression as a composed-out V6–5
4–3.
5
Literal Roman numerals:
Cutler/Rothstein:
iv 6
iv
Syntactical functions: PD
5
3
i6 VI
V64
D
ii
6
5
V
i
5
3
i
T
Nobile - p. 7
Example 14: Bobby Darin, “Dream Lover” (1959). As in the Beethoven above, the I–vi–IV–V7
progression in mm. 13–14 prolongs the dominant function. This is an “expanded dominant progression.”
S
j
œ œ
V 44 ‰ œ œJ œ ‰ œ œJ œ J œ œ Œ
q = 136 C
E - very night
I
‰ œ œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œj œ œj œ Œ
Am
hope and pray
a dream lo - ver will come my
D
way.
‰œ œ œ œ Œ
C
A girl to hold
Œ œœ œœ Œ œœ
Œ œœ œœ Œ œœ
(yeah yeah
R
yeah)
j j
œ œ œœ
œ
œ
V œJ J œ Œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ Œ ‰ œ Œ Œ ‰ J
J
in my arms,
Œ
F
own.
and know the ma - gic
œ œ Œ
œ œ
œœœ
V
12
C
Am
6
œ
œ
C
of her charms, ’cause I want
œ œ œ œ ‰ b œ œJ œ œ ‰ œj œ œ
I want a
C
Am
dream
lo - ver
so
a girl
œœ
œ œ ‰ œ
F
G7
I don’t have to
G7
dream
to
œ Œ Ó
C
œœŒ œ
œœœ œ œ
Œ
C
œ Œ ‰ œJ
call
my
G7
a - lone.
Example 15: Voice-leading graph of “Dream Lover” showing I–vi–IV “resolving” to V.
˚
3ˆ
4ˆ
œ ˙
&œ
s/r
?˙
I
T
3ˆ
2ˆ
1ˆ
œ œ œ ˙ A˙
œ ˙
˙
d
œ œ
J
œ
œ ˙
J
IV
PD
c
œ œ ˙
œ
[I VI
vi IV]
D
V
˙
I
T
!
Nobile - p. 8
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