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 Song Review 
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Post Re: Song Review
My cats breath smells like cat food....

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Tue Aug 01, 2017 4:47 pm
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Location: Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Post Re: Song Review
sagehalo wrote:
My homework assignment from Steve A: Review the particular song of his like a musicologist to test my understanding of applied music theory. I didn't think I would end up writing an entire page, but I did. I also offer this to anyone writing challenging music in exchange for giving me the chord structure.

Today, we study the song "Like Jeff" by Steve Adelson, a premier Chapman Stick player of the first generation post inventor, Emmett Chapman. Before listening, the audience must consider the title. Is this a command statement (You, like Jeff), a commentary (I like Jeff), or an adjective phrase (similar to Jeff). Truly, they are not mutually exclusive, but the best answer is the latter, in the style of Jeff. Now that the first word is understood, the second is due its analysis. Which Jeff? It is reasonable to assume it must be a musician, not a politician, as Steve would not play in the style of Jeff Sessions. So which musician? Here we are mandated to listen to the song. Jeff Berlin is out, as the bass line follows the standard 80s system of driving eighth notes on the root. This bass system has the disadvantage of being boring on its own, but advantages of setting a rhythm, tempo, and defining the root. In doing so, the composition is more open to exploring melody and harmony without muddling the clarity of what the chords are. The root is defined and there is plenty of space for other instruments to layer without clashing. Due to the style of the piece, recognizing Steve's background as a guitar player, and that he told me so, the musician in question must be Jeff Beck. So there we have it, this song is an exploration of playing Chapman Stick with accompaniment in the style of Jeff Beck. Circling back, we can recognize this same type of bass system used on "The Pump" by Jeff Beck.

If we refer to the previous paragraph, this author stated that the simple bass lines allows for understanding the chords easier. This is a bit necessary since many of the chords are stacked, or polychords. In using these polychords, it is important to recognize there is also a melody hidden within. The song starts slowly with backup on percussion and piano. The mixture of piano and percussion give elements of harp sounds, which blend well against the sustained Cm11 resolving to an Ab maj 7 9. The phrase continues with Gm7 resolving to Eb maj 7 9. I call this resolution in that the melody features a call and return motif where a major three note ascending pattern (note, half step, whole step) pauses to be answered. This major sounding melody occurs over a minor chord in both cases, which causes a bit of tension without significant dissonance. This feature is used against the percussion and piano or against the bass pump as well to cause a push-pull effect, where the melody is pulling the listener to stop, but the accompaniment is pushing the song forwards.

The use of slide and alteration of melody rhythm give repeated patterns a fresh feel. The use of distortion on the soloed melody gives an extra-sonic layer, such that the melody does not sound like the same instrument as the bass side of the Stick nor does it sound like the chordal introduction. The choppy half speed piano gives another rhythmic reference point opposite the bass side of the Stick. The use of half step transitions in the bass side allows for a tasteful motion between Gm ad F in the B section of the song. Chordal extensions are stolen during the solo by Rachel Z for enhanced flavoring in a piece that is not driven by explosive power, but by slow, controlled strength.

Since Steve is a master of music theory (MMT), there is no expectation that the connection between melody and chords will yield a simple result of knowing which song the key is in, if the key changes, and if any "rules are broken for a reason" - credit Tony Levin for this phrase. Based on listening to the melody, it appears the Bb major scale is employed, but then we strike upon the Ab maj 7 9. Ab is not in the key of Bb major, but is a flatted seventh. Cm is normal against a Bb as are Gm and Eb. Interestingly enough, Bb also never appears as a chord, but the melody frequently pauses on the Bb, initially hidden by chords. The melody in the [A] section alternately begins on D and on C which are the ii and iii of Bb. In the parallel minor, using a natural minor scale, Ab maj 7 9 would be quite reasonable. We can interpret the song to mean that the parallel minor is employed for expressing the Ab maj 7 9.

Moving to the [B] section, the melody begins with G first over Gm, then F, Eb and the Cm F. This appears to be a key change to Gm, but could also be considered to be a key change to Cm. [Editor's Note: This isn't technically a key change at all.] This open progression allows for the soloist to make more choices about what to do with the chords in regards to scales and extensions. Steve and Rachel both take these opportunities. The layered piano solo leading into the [A] section is a nice touch. The piece ends on a whimsical melodic upturn with piano in opposing motion, giving the listener a feel of day dreaming, much in tune with the album title "Sonic Imagination".



Ladies and gentlemen, introducing North Carolinas very own, modern day Ernest Hemingway......

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Tue Aug 01, 2017 5:07 pm
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Post Re: Song Review
kevin-c wrote:
My cats breath smells like cat food....


Those cats are crazy, they'll pretty much eat anything...

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Tue Aug 08, 2017 7:07 am
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