Brian Wilson's Brilliant 1-3-5 Modulation

Tim Smolens breaks down the amazing yet simple 1-3-5 modulation path that Brian Wilson employs in more than one early Beach Boys ballad.

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#chordprogression #chords #chordstutorial #beachboys #brianwilson #musictheory #songwriting #songwritingprocess #chordchart #musician

[TimSmolens]

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[grinpick]

The Beach Boys appeared just as I was entering my teens. (I'll turn 77 next month.) Brian Wilson's compositions and vocal treatments have haunted my pop music consciousness for all these intervening decades. Thanks for shedding some light on just what he was up to.

[garygimmestad]

It’s a spin-off of Blue Moon which is also chock full of I VI II V and it’s own brief and yummy modulation to bIII (which is skipped in several pop versions of the tune). BW took a standard tune (giving the nod to the original with his title) and, instead of a single brief moment of surprising harmonic shift, he expanded the third-related chords into the harmonic scheme for his own tune.

[modalmixture]

Love these Brian Wilson deep dives, that modulation is a great find! Also, you have a fantastic singing voice for this music. One of my favorite BW tricks is sticking a bVII in between the predominant and the V7, where the root of the bVII lifts up chromatically to the 3rd of the V. Usually he does this while holding on a single syllable at the end of a phrase -- "I'm making real good bre--ead", "Wendy, don't believe a word he sa--aid", "In my roo-oo--om". It's such a quintessential Beach Boys sound.

[andrewpiro]

I met Tim once, over 15 years ago, when he and the rest of Estradasphere were living in the 608 in Seattle. I was a young metalhead and he wound up talking my ear off about a creative tritone substitution Brian Wilson made in Pet Sounds, and it captivated me. It’s so, so good to see him doing this. As a musician, I’ve been missing talking about the nuts and bolts of songwriting with my peers a lot lately.

Tim, keep it up! This video was good for my brain and my heart.

[Bipedlocomotion]

The standard Beyond the Sea has this 1 - 3 - 5 key change scheme as well

[kaistrandskov]

The 7 is a diminished chord, so rarely the quality the composer wants. It's common to go to the b7 instead. Not only do you avoid a diminished chord, but it has a magical quality because it's a borrowed chord from the parallel minor key. Borrowed chords are awesome. The Beatles were doing it too, and later Nirvana and Radiohead. Thanks for sharing this video, so insightful.

[TheRWE]

Just found you and loved this video breakdown. You sing falsetto wonderfully. Cheers

[jayt-mac]

Cool video. I also dig "Surfer Girl".

[careyhuang]

More than 20 years ago, my band played a few shows with Estradasphere. We sat down and had arguments about who lived The Beach Boys more. I LOVED them… but you proved quickly that I knew nothing compared to you. Then you gave me a copy of your edited version of Smile, before Brian Wilson released it. Always had HUGE respect for you, and I’m damned happy to see you’re still loving it!

[robertstapleton]

Excellent. Your incredible voice stole the show! Got more videos of that?

[lastritt]

The "4" chord aka IV in the key of Gb is Cb - B is a #3 chord. The key signature for the key of Gb major is (Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb & Cb)

[TheAdultInTheRoom]

This is good stuff! I’m gonna be that guy and point out a few things, probably in a few lengthy, hopefully not disrespectful comments. So, when the Gb then goes to Gb7, making it the dominant 7 moving to B, you kinda said what that was but it wasn’t really definitive. It’s a secondary dominant, also known as an applied dominant. When you turn a I chord into a dominant 7 and move to IV, that chord becomes V7/IV (read V7 of IV for anyone not familiar with them), this tonicizes IV, which means it makes IV temporarily sound like I, and makes moving there very satisfying. This is not to be confused with modulation. The most common secondary dominant is probably good ol V/V or V7/V, but V/vi is another common one too. You can also use secondary leading tone chords.

[TheAdultInTheRoom]

Next up is the minor iv chord. This is known as modal interchange. What you’re doing when you do that, is borrowing the iv chord from the parallel minor to the key you’re in (ex., key of C, borrowing iv from Cm which would be Fm). This is by no means the only type of modal interchange, but it is the most popular. On a personal note, I don’t tire of the borrowed minor iv, I still love a well placed one.
Next, the two types of modulation you refer to are actually called a chromatic modulation and a phrase modulation. Yes, a chromatic modulation does use a preparation chord or chords, either a dominant or leading tone chord of wherever it’s headed. It’s called a chromatic modulation, because in either case you’re using a leading tone to resolve up to your landing spot in the new key, which is a chromatic movement. A phrase modulation is a modulation without preparation. One phrase ends and the next just magically starts in a new key. I believe there is a third type which is unique, which is the “A Day In the Life” modulation, using the cacophonous orchestra to get us from G to E. It’s not really either of those other two. I’m still watching, so there may be more, but I love it!!

[herdeka]

Astounding! I subscribed immediately. Wilson seemed to rely on the previous generation’s methods but simplified the orchestration. Much like McCartney. This is when modern pop music was born. I want to add one thing- The song ”Beach Boys” by Weezer is, in my opinion, the first melody anyone else has crafted that really captures the Brian Wilson vibe. They don’t go for the obvious BB sound, but the way the melody moves would get Wilson’s approval, I believe.

[BessieBopOrBach]

Wow. Nice breakdown but also, you sing beautifully!

[SpaceRevolver]

I like the decision to analyze in Gb instead of F#; the song definitely has that silky, downy sound that just feels like a flat key.

However, that means the IV chord is Cb, rather than B! It did throw me for a loop when the B came around and you said it was the IV chord; I thought, isn't that III in G? But no, it is (enharmonically equivalent to) IV.

Ah well. It works. Good video.

[Stepneydragon]

Many thanks for these Brian Wilson files. I hazard to comment: The cool change from the I chord through VII7 as a M3rd key change modualation before the I vi ii V7 sequence, has been seen, famously, on the Louis Armstrong cover of "When it's Sleepytime Down South."
Brian's modulations occur twice(!) as he anchors the changes through the 1st, third and fifth of the I chord. Simple. but simply gorgeous.
There's this from... Songfacts®regarding When It's Sleepytime Down South
This song was written for a 1930 stage production called Under A Virginia Moon, which was written by Georgia Haswell Fawcett. Billed as "A character comedy of southern life, " one title that was rejected for the play was "When It's Sleepy Time Down South." Clarence Muse, who had a part in the play, asked if he could write a song for a scene after the director asked him to sing something as an underscore. Muse liked the title they had rejected (which was a line of dialogue in the play), and decided to use that as the title of his song.

When Muse went home, he got together with the songwriting brothers Leon and Otis René, and they composed "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" that night. The play had just a short run, but the song got a great response. In 1931, it was used in two films: Safe in Hell (sung by the film's star Nina Mae McKinney), and Heaven on Earth (sung by Muse).

The song was recorded by Mildred Bailey backed by Paul Whiteman's Orchestra and released on the Victor label, but the best-known version is the one that Louis Armstrong would later record. After playing a gig at the Cotton Club in Culver City, California, Armstrong was invited to the René house for dinner, where Leon and Otis played him the song. Armstrong loved it, and made the song his opening number. The song was soon widely recorded and has since become a Jazz standard. Some of the many artists to cover it include Al Hirt, Louis Prima, Harry Connick, Jr., Lou Rawls, Dizzy Gillespie and Billie Holiday.chord.

Cheers.

[taweller]

Good job! It’s amazing how much information you can glean when it’s presented in a clear and concise way. At first I thought it was Brian singing!

[yeemosenpdad]

Can’t wait to binge watch all of tour videos
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