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12-19-2015, 10:25 AM #26destinytot Guest
I bought the album from which this track is taken as a US Import - for GBP4.99, at F.L. Moore's on Dunstable Road (Luton, UK) back in the early '70s. Love Buzz Feiten and Neil Larsen, and love this sound. I was horrified when someone I admired called it 'LA Daydream Music' many years ago - but I think I've finally moved on:
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12-19-2015 10:25 AM
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12-19-2015, 10:29 AM #27destinytot Guest
Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
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Stevie Wonder is the jedi master grand master sensei of juicy modern harmony. I love Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Bartok, Ravel, Debussy, Ellington, Kenton...
but Stevie...
Stevie's on a whole nother list of greatness. Those harmonies are ridiculously tasty.
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12-20-2015, 10:43 AM #29destinytot Guest
Originally Posted by jster
Just my speculation, but I'm starting to think the key change is great (pleasing but unexpected?) because the melody is simple - but effective. (A simple punchline that sends you the wrong weigh.)
Originally Posted by jster
I've studied a lot of Tom Jobim, and I doubt anyone appreciates or admires his music more than I. But - when it comes to beautiful changes - I think the Brazilian 'moderns' rule. There seems to be a lot of - er - 'cross-fertilisation'...
Eumir Deodato and Moacir Santos will always be huge for me - and the so too are songs by Caetano Veloso, Milton Nascimento, Toninho Horta, Djavan, Ivan Lins. Here's are some faves:
Superlative (but short) George Benson solo:
Those vocals get a hallelujah from me:
Genius and vision:
Simple but effective melody and subs;
Last edited by Dirk; 12-09-2019 at 08:55 AM.
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Originally Posted by Irez87
And a little closer to Classical is " All in Love is Fair ."
What is NOT fair is Stevie gets to be a Genius and I don't .Grrrr.
I noticed that a lot of Jazz Guys like Herbie Hancock have serious respect for Stevie's Jazz Chops .
I was trying to remember that instrumental Fusion tune called " Contusion" featuring Michael Sembello on Guitar..( who also did the song "Maniac " I think ( versatility or what?).
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12-20-2015, 04:07 PM #31destinytot Guest
Originally Posted by destinytot
Last edited by destinytot; 12-20-2015 at 04:13 PM. Reason: add mp3 (soundcloud link not working)
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I like the places the bridge goes in Visions. I don't know that it modulates exactly, more like it wanders then comes home like the prodigal son. Reminds me of some of Benny Golson's tunes like Along Came Betty or Whisper Not with the half-diminished pivot chords. When I have some energy I'll post the changes. Took it off the other day.
Then there is this wonderful surprise at the end of You and I: The tune is in F. When he sings 'You and IIIIII...' that last time he flips very cleverly to the key of Ab.
Off the top of my head, away from the guitar: First measure Db Maj7 (3 beats), Db Maj7 C Min7 Bb Min7 (8th note triplets on last beat) 2nd measure: Ab Maj7 (3 beats), Ab Maj7 G Min7 F min7 (8th note triplets, last beat) 3rd measure: Bb/C (2 beats w/ritard starting) C7 (b9? 2 beats w/fermata) // F maj7 Fine
Beautiful stuff, and his voice still gives me chills...Last edited by fasstrack; 09-11-2016 at 04:46 PM.
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Now that I think about it, another nice little deviation---though not a modulation---is in the bridge of If It's Magic: after it goes to Amin for a bit it resolves to E Maj 7 rather than the expected and common E7.
Little touches like that make him the songwriter he is...
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Stevie Wonder is a composer, and a songwriter, and combines them magically. They work as well as Gershwin tunes done instrumentally, they're fun and challenging to play, and they are, for the most part, sublime. Even a pop trifle like "I Just Called..." has a beautifully composed ending that we await somewhat impatiently while he's murdering a 2-5-1. He is a sly, funny, inspired dude.
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Do you guys know Seems so Long, from Music of my Mind (with the great Buzz Feiten)?
No big modulation, but do you remember Seems So Long, from Music of my Mind? In the B section (where he sings 'and it seems---so long), he does like a Maj7th to a 4 dominant, repeats it, then does it in a remote key and smoothly returns to the home key with Min 7 Min7 up a step Maj7 up a half-step, then a pivot with Min7 on the same root to make a II to a 5 dominant. Pure Stevie, and the song is a gem no one plays. One of his better lyrics, too...Last edited by fasstrack; 09-13-2016 at 11:22 AM.
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been exploring this song for a while -
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Originally Posted by WillMbCdn5
That was my 'money tune' when I was a street player...
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Hi, I'm new to this forum and stumbled upon in Googling for information on the chords in Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed". I play both piano and guitar but on a very recreational level (the sports equivalent of someone who "throws the 'ol football around" on weekends). But my ear has a thirst and radar for unique and amazing chord theory and I too have been mesmerized by what happens chord wise in "Overjoyed" so I really appreciate the discussions at the start of this thread. Thank you for that. I also could care less for pop music but every now and then I'll hear some clever chord work in one fleeting instance within a pop song and wonder if it was the work of a bored and repressed session musician during the recording of that record.
Anyway, back to "Overjoyed," my confusion is what is happening during the intro when he goes from a Dbmaj9-C9-Bmaj9-C9-Dbmaj9-Bmaj9 to end on a Bb and then go into the song. On the one hand it seems perfectly normal on paper, as these are all chords in the key of Eb major, and he's basically ending the intro on the dominant, but in the recording it sounds far more complex and haunting than that. I'm curious what all your thoughts are on this intro, from the perspective of professional musicians.
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I’m not a pro, but what I hear (translated to the guitar) is this:
x433xx Db6
x323xx C7
x213xx Bmaj7
x323xx C7
second time it goes on down to
x103xx Bb
So essentially a chromatic descent in the bass and middle voice while preserving the top Bb note unchanged.
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He's playing with function. F/A can be seen/heard as a V6/V in Eb (indeed this is how I heard the F when it first appeared), but F is also the IV of C major. Really, the F is functioning as a IV going to V in C major. This is confirmed immediately when the G/B is heard.
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11-10-2019, 08:40 AM #41joelf Guest
Originally Posted by jster
Let's start with the deceptively simple You and I (Talking Book): the way, through simple one-note voice-leading he modulates in bar 5 from F to D---then back (Arguably it could be said he's 'borrowing' and not modulating but making the VI chord major). Either way it's brilliant. And the ending! He sneaks in IV III II I in Ab which becomes a pivot (over 'you and I') bIII II i II V I. Just stupid good.
In the interlude to Living For the City he not only goes out of key but changes meter from 4/4 to 3/4. From F# (I wouldn't call it minor, it's more like a #9 or a few chords over an F# pedal----a blues sensibility going on) pedal out of the blue (hey, another Wonder-Wright title!) F#/E Eb Min7 b5 D triad C triad C/Bb A triad G triad down a half-step to the mother key----WHOA!!
Creepin': A Minor to E major on bridge
Too shy to Say: From Cmaj----a DMin7 takes us right to Bb Major 7 and a favorite Stevie device: chromatic chords going down.
If It's Magic: bridge starts on A Min and plops down on E Maj 7---NOT the cliched E 7---to get back to the mother key---is THAT some slick shnizzle or WHAT?
Superwoman/Where Were You When I Needed You?---another topic for another day.
To quote an old Steve Landesberg bit about how the French consider Jerry Lewis a genius ('Did you see zat film when he said "Dean, arrrrgh"? The man's a gen-i-use')
The man's a gen-i-use...
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It's not a key change but there's a chord change that always does it for me, that Bbm...
Dm - Bbm - F - Bo
Gm7 - A7sus /A7 - Dm/Gm7-A7 - Dm
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11-10-2019, 06:09 PM #43joelf Guest
Originally Posted by ragman1
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11-10-2019, 06:14 PM #44joelf Guest
Originally Posted by joelf
notating 7/4 and 4/7 chords
Yesterday, 08:17 PM in Ear Training, Transcribing & Reading