I wrote this for a pop ballad but never came up with lyrics for it.

Play mp3
http://texas-trax.com/music/pia/someday-hi.m3u

Download mp3
http://texas-trax.com/music/pia/someday-hi.mp3

Score
http://texas-trax.com/scores/Some-Day.doc

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Pretty, kind of wistful. You should work on getting your lyrics in there!

Thanks for sharing it.

The melody is beautiful..and your chord progressions are very interesting! Nicely done.

Thanks for the comments Saerra, and termir.

I appreciate your taking the time to listen and reply.

Wow, I really enjoyed listening to this piece! Thanks for sharing. And thanks for sharing the score as well. I really like your technique in playing the various chords. I'm a beginner so I look forward to studying what you've done a little more closely. I hear arpeggio chords in there, but they seem to extend longer than mine ever do and they don't sound like 1st 3rd 5th 8th, so I can't wait to get a "closer look".

Also, I agree that you should write some lyrics for this. You've definitely got something here. Another route could be to add some additional instruments; I think it could be turned into quite an instrumental (even though it sounds really nice on just the piano).

Thanks again, and nice work!
dave

Thanks Dave, glad you liked it.

Good luck studying the score, and let me know if I can be of any help.

Hey Joe,

Thanks for the offer of help. I've printed out the score and gotten through the first two grand staff lines, i.e. the first 7 measures. From the key signature and chords, this looks to be F Major (at least in the beginning). I'm trying to follow the chord progressions and I'm having some difficulty... they are really well integrated into the melody. Some stand out like C Major (V) in the 3rd measure and Bb Major (IV) in the 4th measure. Regarding chord progression, would the FF in the 2nd measure be considered a "chord" of sorts? Namely, would this count as the I chord? Then the progression would start I-V-IV.

I know the progression gets even trickier as it goes on, but I just wanted to see if I was on the right page so far.

Thanks again for the help!
dave

Yes, the piece is in the key of F major, except for the bridge section on page two in Ab major.

The second measure is F with an added 9th temporarily in the LH and should be played with pedal down for the whole measure.

The 3rd measure looks like C at first glance because of the C triad in the RH but notice the bass note is A. So this chord is Am7 (iii7).

4th measure is Gm7 (ii7).

The 5th measure (1st measure of 2nd line) has 3 chords. F maj7/Gm sus4/C7

The 6th measure is same as measure 2 and the 7th measure is A7

The A7 resolves to Dm at the 1st measure in line 3 and then Bb in measure 2 of that line.

I will go through more of it later as needed.

Hope this helps.

Hey Joe,

Thanks for the response. OK, I see I wasn't including the bass when figuring out the chords. So measure 3 is iii7, measure 4 is ii7, and measure 7 is III7. OK, I can see those now. Since measure 1 is a leading note and measure 6 is the same as measure 2, that just leaves me with measures 2 and 5. "Just".

Regarding measure 2, I see the 9th in there, but I would have said there was a 10th in there as well. Is that "A" note in the bass serving as the 3rd in that chord even though it's an octave higher?

As for measure 5, there's a lot going on in there! First of all, I got a couple of notes wrong, so that made it a little more difficult. Now that I've got those right, I see the F major 7 (I7). I can also see the Gm sus4. It looks like it could also be called C sus2. But I assume you stick with Gm sus4 because G is in the bass? As for the final chord, I could make C7 if the "E" note in that bass line E-Bb was a "G". Is there a possible mistake there? Or am I just reading it wrong?

Whew, barring a couple of minor issues, I think I've got it. Up to measure 7, that is. I think once I've got these down, I should be able to move forward much more easily.

I do have one question, though, that runs through all of the measures. It has to do with the notion of "chord progression" and rhythm. In measures like 3, 4, and 7, you play a chord at the beginning of the measure and then follow with a melody that takes from that chord. In that sense, the melody is formed from arpeggio chords. In the other measures, there is no initial chord, but there are always at least two notes played in the beginning of these measures as well. Is it these multiple notes at the beginning of a measure--whether they form a chord or not--that make up the rhythm? Also, when considering the "chord progression", would we just consider the rhythm, or would we sometimes consider the arpeggio chords that make up the melody?

I hope this last question makes sense. I'm really struggling to tie rhythm and melody together in my own work, and you've done it so well that I can't help but think that you understand what's going on.

Thanks again for your help! This piece, and your help, have been great!

dave

Hi Dave,
Maybe this will help. The top notes in the RH are the melody. These are the notes a singer would sing if there were lyrics. everything else is accompaniment. The arpeggiated chords in the LH along with melody notes and occasional chords in RH create the chord progression. The timing is such that the melody notes occuring right after the LH arpeggio seem to continue the pattern, but are really a part of the melody. The melody is the most important part and should be heard as a melody.

You're right. Measure 2 LH arpeggio is 1, 5, 8, 9, 10. I think of that A as a 10th. but you could hear it as a 3rd.

Gm sus4? Yes because of the D and Bb flat following in that arpeggio I call it a Gm with the melody note providing the sus4.

The last chord of measure 5: Notice the C note of the melody is tied into the chord. And in context it functions as a dominant to be resolved in the next measure to the tonic (F). So it is a C7 first inversion. I didn't put a 5th (G) in that chord because I like the more open sound like it is but I still hear it as a C7.

In measures that begin with only 2 notes, the LH note is the base note for arpeggiated chord that follows and the RH note is a melody note.

It's beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for listening Pianogal. And I appreciate the comment.

Hello again Joe!

Sorry about the LONG delay there... I hate to have done that right in the middle of an analysis like that. Ugh, I haven't even been able to play for the past few weeks now. I'm going to play a little now, but I just wanted to say thanks again for your help. I've still got the printout sitting here on my desk.

I do notice that tie... oh, OK, I see what you're getting at now. The main function of that whole little bit there is to serve as the dominant, so that's why it's a C7 (slight variation of V) and not something else. OK, I think I get it. Wow, that's pretty cool.

So I guess if you had a simple I-IV-V-I thing going, you could add all kinds of variations in and around those four chords, but the basic structure would remain the same.

Thanks again! And really, sorry for the long absence. It wasn't intended, but there it is. As I get more time, I'll be exploring this piece some more. It's already sparked a lot of new ideas!

Take care!
dave

Hi Dave, Just now noticed your last reply. Glad you're getting back to playing.

Back to meas. 5, The C melody note first functions as a sus 4 with the Gm arp. in the LH, and is held through 'til the LH resolves the chord to C7. Kinda tricky huh?

Hope you have fun with it.
Joe

Thanks! Ah, it feels good, too!

OK, back to measure 5. That is kinda tricky, and cool too. But I just noticed... although the C sticks around for the C7, the G from the Gm arpeggio is done by the time of the C7, so you just have E-Bb-C (with no G). Is that still a C7 because the G just ended and it was "close enough" to contribute? Or is it a C7 because the third is somewhat optional?

Very cool... you definitely know what you're doing here. Thanks for the explanations, too. It's really great to be able to correlate the "by the book" rules with what's actually happening in a piece that I like. The variations... you gotta love it!

Thanks again,
dave

Dave, I think I left the G out of that C7 because it makes fingering easier and smoother, but it's ok to put one in if you like. Or hold the bass G for two more beats. But to do that would require a pretty good stretch with LH or use RH to play the Bb.

I remember experimenting with a G between the E & Bb and thinking it sounds better (more open)without it.

I am very happy that you are enjoying it.
Joe

I think there's something quite charming about this piece.

I do think there is too much focus on chord 1. Try to throw in a chord 6 instead or even chord 2.

This could give you a more refined modulation entry, replace chord 1 with chord 2 giving you [Gm7], this can instantly make way for [Eb Maj7, 9] and then straight into your Db key change thereafter. Give it a try and see what you think.

Thanks James for your evaluation. I assume you're talking about the tansition to the key change. I tried your suggestion and it does work. You must be a jazz musician lol.

In pop music, a sudden change from tonic to 6b is quite common, and in this case, since the melody note F is common to both F and Db chords, it works and creates the effect I wanted. (a sudden mood change).

Thanks again for your comments, much appreciated.
Joe