Harmonically open
As illustrated in the analysis, we will notice that the music is harmonically open most of the time. We almost never hear a perfect cadence. The tonic is almost never used at the end of each harmonic phrase. The closest we get is a tonic substitute. The composer seems to deliberately avoid using a perfect cadence. The only time we hear the tonic at the end of a harmonic phrase, is right at the end. Even then, we do not get a perfect cadence but a plagal cadence. Furthermore, the wavering of the 9-8 in the last bar does tickle the listeners’ heart as it reminds us of the harmonically-open nature of the music.
Tonal fluidity
As mentioned earlier in the chord analysis, the music sounds tonally fluid in the introduction and bridge sections. Personally, this piece fills me with uncertainty and anticipation as I never will be sure where the music is heading to. The composer establishes this fluidity right at the beginning, setting the sombre mood of the music which describes the melancholy of a broken heart.
The harmony at the opening of a piece usually establishes the tonic of a key but we do not see that in the introduction of this piece. It starts with a predominant in C major and just as we are expecting the dominant, it modulates to A-flat major and cadences in the new tonic. However, this new tonic does not get established but immediately modulates back to C major instead. We still do not hear a tonic in C major but we do have a strong imperfect cadence (with the dominant 7th) in C major, which leads us to the tonic at the start of the next section.
We see a similar situation in the bridge section. The dominant in A-flat major can be heard as an accented incomplete neighbour due to unstable nature of the
4
2 chord. We expect a tonic (I6) after that but instead, we get a substitute, which modulates back to C major.
Plagal nature
Another reason for the tonal uncertainty in the music is due to the prominent use of the subdominant chord (of C major):
1. The piece starts off with the subdominant – an uncommon trait.
2. The verse starts with a plagal expansion and ends with the subdominant.
3. The final chord of the chorus is usually the subdominant.
4. The piece ends off with a plagal cadence.
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Plagal harmonies in pop music is very common. For an interesting example, see Grace's piece (http://gracesek.blogspot.com/)
ReplyDeleteDoes the verse end with a subdominant? Likewise the chorus?
Oops, I was not careful myself: the verse does end with a subdominant.
ReplyDeleteI notated that the chorus ends with the minor subdominant as I forgot about the fact that the last bar of the chorus isn’t in fact the end of the chorus as it always overlaps with the following bar (depending on which reprise of the chorus).
ReplyDeleteAs such, the first chorus should end on a plagal cadence to a tonic substitute, but a flattened-6th instead. The second chorus should end on a perfect cadence but in D-flat major.