Harmony of Rush's YYZ!

[BioBiro]

My teacher introduced me to this tune a while ago, and i've finally got around to looking at how it's written...

Intro:
Guitar/Bass in unison playing the tritone between C (which is the root here) and F#. The synth part plays a melody in C Locrian (Gb, Ab, Eb, Db, C).

Section A (starts at 0:43):
Guitar/Bass in unison again, alternating between F#min9 and Amin9 chords (info stolen from Wikipedia) - the bass part hits that major 2nd/9th interval up an octave.

What I don't understand is how this bit of harmony works. I can't really spot a place in diatonic harmony where you can alternate between identical-sounding minor chords which are a minor 3rd apart? Is there a key change between each chord - can anyone let me know what is going on here...

Section B (starts at 1:10 and continues through Alex's infamous solo):
This section is, AFAIK, in E Harmonic Minor (thanks to this great site).

The bass root notes alternate between B and C, which, if we harmonize E Harmonic Minor gives us the following chords:

i - Eminmaj7
ii - F#min7b5 (has a b2/b9)
III - Gmaj7#5
iv - Amin7 (has a raised 4th/#11)
V - B7 (has a b2/b9 and a b6/b13)
VI - Cmaj7 (has a #2/#9 and a #4/#11)
vii - D#dim7 (for my own lazy reference, this consists of a min3, a b5, and a double dodgy bb7 - it also has a b2/b9, b4/b11, and a b6/b13).

So the chords that it alternates between here are B7 and Cmaj7. Alex Lifeson's solo is apparently in the 5th Harmonic Minor mode - B 'Phrygian Dominant/Phrygian Major 3rd', although I assume you can play in any of the Harmonic Minor modes provided you pay attention to what's going on.

[GianGian]

I see the main riff as having a key change...from F#m to Am.

[Marco A. Mayer]

I've just found out I know nothing 'bout theory.

[Billnc]

The rythm is also based on Morse code YYZ dah dit dah dah, dah dit dah dah, dah dah dit dit.

But Beethoven was pure genius based his fifth synphony on Morse for V before it was invented.

[Jaydin Nathan]

The only question I got from your post was this:

Originally Posted by BioBiro

What I don't understand is how this bit of harmony works. I can't really spot a place in diatonic harmony where you can alternate between identical-sounding minor chords which are a minor 3rd apart? Is there a key change between each chord - can anyone let me know what is going on here...

In order to understand harmony that doesn't move in fourths (excluding substitutions), you've really just got to see chords as a textural device, in order to create a sound, rather than moving to one specific chord, ie. the tonic. If you really wanted to analyze YYZ in the terms that universities would use, then:

F#-7 to A-7 would be construed as 'constant structures.' This means reharmonising a chord progression so that all the chords are of the same quality. It's mainly attributed to Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock (they explored this in the 1960's).

Constant structures play a very big part in non-functional harmony, and a great example is Teen Town.

C13 |A13 |F13 |D13 :|

While these are dominant chords moving in alternating thirds, F#-7 to A-7 could have had a chord quality substitution applied (from dominant chords). Dominant chords moving in minor thirds can be quite common, as they would be derived from the Dominant Diminished (Half-Whole) octatonic scale. So, F#7=A7 (also =C7, Eb7).

In order to see this relationship, its easier to use a mathematical type proof.

So, let F#7=F#7b9. F#7b9=Gdim7. Gdim7=Bb, Db, E Dim7. G, Bb, Db, E Dim7= F#7=A7=C7=Eb7.

I hope I helped you understand why F#-7 goes to A-7, but it really is just easier to think of these chords as different textural backdrops for a melody/solo.

[BioBiro]

Thanks Jaydin!

A lot of what you said went straight over my head, but the idea of sequences which utilise chords all of identical qualities/voicings is really interesting - (I remember a Level 42 song called 'Love Meeting Love', which has a huge long cycle of 4ths/5ths progression made up entirely of minor 7th chords).

I will have a go analysing 'Teen Town' tommorow, and see if I can understand what you've said. I'm a real beginner at this stuff...can't wait for the day when I can throw around terms like 'Dominant Diminished (Half-Whole) octatonic scale' .

[Jaydin Nathan]

Haha that was a bit of theory to throw at you, sorry. It's a lot easier for now to just think of them as same quality chords moving in whatever pattern they are moving in at the time.

Non-functional harmony does take a bit more work than cycle of 4ths, but once you get into it, there's some really cool stuff that you can do when composing/reharmonising.

Edit: Thanks for posting this up BioBiro, I hadn't really looked at Rush's compositional techniques before, but it was a real insight into a band I didn't know that much about, especially the morse code idea, I thought that was really interesting.

[tascam]

Hello everyone. My first post here.

I am a drummer first, but a bassist/guitarist second.

Since the intro to the song YYZ is played on a C# Low Octave Zildjian crotale, by Neil Peart, what is the musical term that introduces the first note of a song (C#) that is one half of a step ABOVE the root of the song (C)?

Thanks and happy new year to all!

[BioBiro]

Originally Posted by tascam

Hello everyone. My first post here.

I am a drummer first, but a bassist/guitarist second.

Since the intro to the song YYZ is played on a C# Low Octave Zildjian crotale, by Neil Peart, what is the musical term that introduces the first note of a song (C#) that is one half of a step ABOVE the root of the song (C)?

Thanks and happy new year to all!

Merry first post. I don't know if there's a term for what you've described that is specific to the start of a song, but I imagine you'd call that C# note a 'minor/flat 2nd'. In this case, since the intro in C Locrian contains a Db (enharmonic to C#), your C# is diatonic to the intro melody.

Hope I understood your question!

[tascam]

It answers the question...but not quite exactly. I know there is a musical term "appogiatura" that refers to the grace note prior to the main note...but I'm not certain if this term also applies to a series of notes prior to the first note of a song.

I was told that Neil chose the C# crotale instead of a C crotale because he wanted to create tension/apprehension that something big was going to happen after his crotale intro.

My question would be, is there a musical term to define that tension/apprehension that something big was going to happen by the means of playing a series of half step higher notes with respect to the first note of the song. Make sense???

[Ric5]

The opening Riff of YYZ is based on a diminished scale. C and F#. F# is the 5th note flat one half step. Similar to Mancini's Pink Panther theme which has a dininshed (flat) 5th note in the riff. Although Mancini is a little more melodic than Rush.