Friday, January 24, 2020

"Maxwell's Silver Hammer"

An-other thing I realized last month is that in the chorus of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," the title phrase descends (D C B A F# E the first time; E D C# B A G the second), so there's a sense of coming "down" (although "came down upon her head" actually ascends).

Thursday, January 23, 2020

"So How Come (No One Loves Me)"

Last month, I was thinking about "So How Come (No One Loves Me)" and discovered a small feature that's present in each verse.  In each line with "someone" ("Wants someone," "Needs someone," "Loves someone"), "someone" is sung with a melisma and with each syllable sung to a different pitch (B A G).  Musically, this gives a sense of the breadth of possibility of "someone."

I referenced the Everly Brothers' version and discovered that it too has this feature.  (The Beatles transposed their version down a whole-step though.  The "someone"s in the Everlys' version are sung to the pitches C# B A.)

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

"Tell Me What You See"

I made a video on how to play the Hohner Pianet part in "Tell Me What You See":