Can someone explain why I can't wrap my head around this?

[beaglesandbass]

It's borderline embarrassing, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around the progression of an incredibly easy song.

I'm in a early/mid 2000s pop-punk/emo cover band. One of the songs we're adding that I'm singing is Blink 182's "What's My Age Again". At face value it's a simple four chord song, root notes on bass with a couple 5ths in the bridge. Progression for the verse and chorus both are B, Gb, Db, Eb. 8th notes, downstrokes with the pick. The guitar opens with its riff twice and then the bass comes in. The whole progression is played twice more before the vocals come in.

Logically I understand everything I just wrote, however when I'm playing it, it feels off. The 4 downstrokes of the B feels like it's ending the progression, not starting it. I don't know if the vocals not coming in right away is screwing me up (there appears to be a quarter note rest once playing B before the vocals come in), or if I can't get Green Day's "When I Come Around" out of my head. That song uses the same chords but it goes Gb, Db, Eb, B. So that does what I'm thinking What's My Age Again is doing. Interestingly enough, I'm only getting thrown off going into the first verse, not the second.

Here's what the bass is doing, for reference. Again, the song is no problem to play, I'm just having a mental roadblock with the structure.



And just because I mentioned it, here's When I Come Around, for comparison's sake.

 

[12BitSlab]

Here is my GUESS.

The first three chords of your four chord progression appear to be I, vi, ii. Based on your listening to many other songs over the years (without regard to genre) your ear expects to hear the next chord as a V7. But, the fourth chord appears as though it is a iii. It sounds unresolved because you don’t hear that familiar V7 -> I cadence and under the right conditions the iii can substitute for either the I or the V chord.

Keep in mind that I have no background whatsoever in the type of music you are playing. I made my guess solely based on the bass part from the YouTube video.

 

[albertus]

one thing you got wrong, the verse is Cb, Gb, Db, Ebm but the chorus is not. it is Gb, Db, Ebm, Cb
so the song is in Gb, the chorus makes perfect sense, but the verse is backwards regarding the tonal function of the chords. you have IV-I-V-vi which in tonal functions is SD, T, D, T and that the brain has a hard time to make to grasp. what makes it worst is, as you said, that the melody is in a way that makes sense if the chords where in the right position. as they are short played, your brain doesn't have the time to adjust.
I will put you an example of the same progression IV-I-V-vi and I gess you won't have any trouble feeling the right place to start:

my advice, try to play it on the piano or guitar without hearing the original song and a very slow tempo. that can help you feel and understand the song as it is, not as your brain wants to hear it

 

[Whousedtoplay]

The 4 downstrokes of the B feels like it's ending the progression, not starting it.

It's because it IS the ending of PLAGAL cadence.
The first chord (and its our TONIC chord) in Verse is F#!

In Albertus' provided example the first chord in Verse is SUBDOMINANT.
It's an inaccurate example.

 

[DirtDog]

Aside from the chord progression, to me there’s a possible timing issue to contend with. Lead vox seem to come in slightly before the 1, particularly on the verses. Might be throwing the groove off for you?

 

[Whousedtoplay]

The first three chords of your four chord progression appear to be I, vi, ii

The first four chords (samo-samo) in Verse are:
F# (I) - C#(V) - d#(vi) - B (IV)

 

[Whousedtoplay]

Here's what the bass is doing, for reference.

NO! It's not what the BASS is doing.
It's what "some" youtubist has transcribed!
VERSE starts with F#.

"In music theory, when a melody starts before Beat 1, it is commonly referred to as an anacrusis or pickup. An anacrusis is a musical term that describes a melodic phrase that begins before the main beat of a measure, creating a sense of anticipation or tension before the main rhythm kicks in."

 

[SLO Surfer]

This song always threw my ears off listening to it, so I get it. Just play along with the original recording over and over until you can’t mess it up. Maybe stay away from the YouTube bass versions as they could be leading you astray. Use the original recording and your ears. Play it 20 times in a row. Then do it again.

 

[HardNHeavy]

i'd just count off the guitar intro, like shown you come in on the 5th bar?, maybe have your drummer count those off the hihat if at rehearsal if its ya timing.

 

[Topkat13]

Have tried practicing more?

 

[mambo4]

A lot of music starts on NOT the 1 , and/or NOT the I chord, and/or NOT on a down beat.

When a song starts off tricky, I skip to the second verse to "get" the feel of the progression. Once I understand the song structure in the middle verse/chorus, I go back and figure out how the intro actually fits.

5 years in a Salsa band also helped me grok the NOTs

 

[Dust2Dust]

Have tried practicing more?

 

[Eminor3rd]

One other note for this song, the last time through the progression leading into the chorus, you sit on the Db for an extra bar before going down to the B, essentially skipping the Eb.

But it sounds like the post above about the chorus progression starting on the Gb might be the primary issue

 

[Neil Folkard]

I listen to so much weird prog and avant jazz music, that I'm less prone to being thrown off, but yeah, sometimes there are things that seem off, and it's difficult to figure out the reason why they are doing it that way, lol.

 

[Wasnex]

Progression for the verse and chorus both are B, Gb, Db, Eb.

The first thing that comes to mind is I don't expect these notes to go together. I believe they should be B, F#, C#, D#, which are all in the key of F# Major.


This seems to go against all the transcriptions I can find, but IMHO the bass line feels like it starts on beats 3,4 with the B. At the downbeat of the next measure the pattern starts: F#,C#, D#, B. Then later you get a 6/4 bar that turns the beat around.

This is how I hear it:

Red is the new bar lines with the downbeat put on 1. Blue is the front end of the 6/4 bar. This turns the beat around for the next section. Orange is where the bar lines match the transcriptions.

 

[mambo4]

here is a great example of NOT starting on the 1
when the bass kicks in at 0:12 It completely subverts what you thought was the 1.
I argued with a guitar payer pretty exhaustively about it.
Once it gets tithe "B" part 0:22 the down beat is much clearer
(at least for Cuban music)

 

[grimjim]

Try walking away from it for a bit.
I was having issues with a 2/4 part at the beginning of the verses in I Got You/Split Enz.
It was a combination of being too tired (1:30 A.M.) and overthinking. Stupid simple part but it was messing with me. Walked away and got a good nights sleep and the next day, bang, stupid simple.

 

[Geogio]

If you have to put down your bass to do chores or something just listen to it and sing along with the bass part using a short syllable like doo doo doo doo doo doo doo as you go through the song and repeat as necessary. That helps instill it in your mind. Tapping out while vicalizin3g the bass line also helps.

It's important to note that Blink-182 is a band that possesses good timing. If you're picking it, practice the up/down picking. Sometimes people do all down Strokes or a lot of down strokes and a few up Strokes.. this song is alternate up down up down... and if you can't do that which is it more difficult. Realize - not practicing up down up down up down continuously for the duration.... Is the only way you're going to develop that Cadence at that speed.

 

[BismarckHerring]

NO! It's not what the BASS is doing.
It's what "some" youtubist has transcribed!
VERSE starts with F#.
View attachment 5484131

The transcription in the video feels right to me (i.e., it starts on the IV chord, the B). I tried to count like you describe, and it just doesn’t work for me. If I count it like in the tab, it’s easy.

Not saying your interpretation is wrong, but it is not the only valid one. I guess this one of those songs where some people hear it one way, and some people hear it the other way.

 

[the_Ryan]

The first thing that comes to mind is I don't expect these notes to go together. I believe they should be B, F#, C#, D#, which are all in the key of F# Major.


This seems to go against all the transcriptions I can find, but IMHO the bass line feels like it starts on beats 3,4 with the B. At the downbeat of the next measure the pattern starts: F#,C#, D#, B. Then later you get a 6/4 bar that turns the beat around.

This is how I hear it:View attachment 5484442

Red is the new bar lines with the downbeat put on 1. Blue is the front end of the 6/4 bar. This turns the beat around for the next section. Orange is where the bar lines match the transcriptions.

To me it sounds like every time a new instrument comes in (except the vocals) that's a downbeat, which is definitely an odd spot in the chord progression given that this is a 4-chord song (I V vi IV, or the minor version i VI III VII), but I think it creates kind of a rhythmic and harmonic tension, where the chords are displaced by two beats and makes the chord progression line up in a spot where our ears don't expect to hear it. The full bars of C# and D# reorient the progression to where it "should" be, and then resolves to I (F#) for the chorus. The vocal phrases not landing on 1 in the verses don't bother me too much since while it is unusual, it isn't unheard of in pop music, and to me the bass/cymbal and the drum entrances reinforce where 1 is much more than the vocals.

Directly to the OP: while F# and Gb are enharmonic (meaning they sound the same), they are not the same note, and generally you don't mix sharps with flats in chord progressions.