[Rhodes22-list] Harmony

Sun Jan 30 16:54:24 EST 2005

Jim,

Yes, it's called Smile and no, don't buy it.  With the exception of a bad,
live version of Good Vibrations, there aren't any actual songs.  It's more
like a collection of unfinished and unrelated, raw vocal sketches that don't
really go anywhere.  Or maybe you could say it's one long 'suite' of cobwebs
swept from Brian Wilson's poor old brain.  There are a few good moments, but
on a whole I found it to be insufferably boring.  You'd have to be crazy to
release something like this.  Oh yeah, that's right, Wilson IS crazy.

Slim

On 1/30/05 8:25 AM, "Jim Connolly" <jbconnolly at comcast.net> wrote:

> Anyone know about the "new" Brian Wilson album?  I think it is called Smile.
> 
> 
> Supposedly the "lost" masterpiece he couldn't make in the 1960's has finally
> been completed.
> 
> Jim Connolly 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
> [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of Hank
> Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2005 10:29 PM
> To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Harmony
> 
>> Even the Beach Boys themselves could barely pull  that one off live.
> 
> Now I understand why I was so disappointed when I saw them live so many
> years ago.
> 
> Hank
> 
> 
> On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 16:40:54 -0600, Steve Alm <salm at mn.rr.com> wrote:
>> Bill,
>> 
>> How does harmony work?  Sometimes the simplest questions are the
>> hardest to answer.  Volumes have been written on Western harmony,
>> Eastern harmony, traditional functional harmony, modern, jazz and so
>> on, but here are the
>> basics:
>> 
>> Think of a graph where the horizontal axis is time and the vertical
>> axis is frequency (pitch).  If you plot a melody on the graph, it goes
>> up and down to different notes as it moves through time.  Harmony
>> happens when you put two or more contrasting melody lines together on
>> the same graph.  When two or more notes sound at the same time, that
>> creates or implies a "chord."  A chord is a simultaneous or "vertical"
>> juxtaposition of pitches.  The most common chords are called triads
>> and made of three notes, usually every other white key on the piano.
>> You probably know the white keys are named A, B, C, D, E, F and G.  A
>> typical triad would be A, C and E; or B, D and F.  (You could make a
>> chord using consecutive notes such as A, B and C together, but it
>> bangs in the ear and sounds like "discord" unless you're listening to
>> modern jazz or maybe Stravinsky's Rite of Spring--where discord is the
>> intent of the composer)  As the melodies move through time and the
>> notes change, the chords change too.  We call this the "chord progression"
> or as the jazzers say, "the changes."
>> 
>> The chord progression in any given song is very specific and the note
>> combinations have to fit into that scheme as they move along.  When
>> Simon and Garfunkle are singing together, you're hearing two distinct
>> melodies that work together.  You see Paul strumming the guitar and
>> changing chords as they go.  The notes that Paul and Art are singing
>> must match the notes in the guitar chords.  I'm oversimplifying here
>> because melodies can certainly go "outside" the chords, but let's stick to
> the basics.
>> 
>> Simon and Gar are only two voices.  Now add a third, fourth and fifth
>> voice to the equation--five separate melodies plotted on the graph
>> that all fit together both horizontally and vertically.  When it fits
>> just right, our ears are happy.
>> 
>> There's a very strong anthropological element at play here.  What
>> makes my ear happy might not for my neighbor.  And there have been
>> studies of aesthetics that reveal the demographics of all that, but
>> for now, let's just think of that as various flavors of ice cream.
>> 
>> Still with me?  Let's get back to the Beach Boys.  Brian Wilson
>> created his songs in much the same way as J.S. Bach created his
>> chorales.  The Bach chorales were typically four voices, soprano,
>> alto, tenor and bass.  Each had their own individual horizontal melody
>> to sing, but when sung simultaneously it created vertical chords along
>> the way.  The melodies have to be crafted so they do indeed make pleasant
> sounding chords.  "Plotting"
>> the melodies on the "graph" so they work both vertically and
>> horizontally IS the art of harmony.
>> 
>> In order for the graph to make the ear happy, the composer needs to
>> follow many "rules" regarding the placement of notes, exactly which
>> chords to use, timing and on and on.  One of the things that makes
>> Brian Wilson so exceptional is that he knew and followed those same
>> rules as Bach so meticulously.  Not many other 'popular' artist did
>> that.  Or did it to the extent and complexity as Wilson.  Bach would
>> have loved Surfer Girl.  8-)
>> 
>> Good Vibrations was a studio cut all the way and the live version was
>> a mere shadow of its former self.  Even the Beach Boys themselves
>> could barely pull that one off live.  It's because those lines and
>> that harmony - the whole graph if you will - is so complex and
>> detailed that it's impossible to replicate live.  Five guys in a
>> studio can overdub the vocals and sound like ten or twenty.  That
>> means the chords are much more complex than the simple triads I
>> mentioned before.  Instead of two or three notes together, it's four
>> or five and then overdubbed to the point of sounding almost like a whole
> choir.  That's the effect you get with Good Vibrations.
>> 
>> Class dismissed.
>> 
>> Prof. Slim
>> 
>> On 1/28/05 7:10 AM, "Bill Effros" <bill at effros.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> Slim,
>>> 
>>> Can you explain how harmony works?  I read what you wrote, and I
>>> sort of understand it.  But when I really think about it, I know I
>>> don't know what you are talking about.  And I would love to
>>> understand it, even if I can never sing it.
>>> 
>>> Bill Effros
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Steve Alm wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Rummy,
>>>> 
>>>> The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean were practically the same band.
>>>> They all worked together on many projects.  Ex:  "Barbara Ann" is
>>>> thought of as a BB song but that's Jan Berry singing the original
> opening:  "Ba, Ba, Ba,...Ba
>>>> Ba-bar Ann..."   Can you listen to Surfer Girl, Little GTO or Good
>>>> Vibrations and NOT feel like you're sixteen and just got your
>>>> license, cruising Main Street in your '65 Mustang with your
>>>> girlfriend?  Ain't that what's it's all about?  C'mon now, let's give
> Surfer Girl another listen:
>>>> http://home.mn.rr.com/almhome/Surfergirl.mp3
>>>> 
>>>> Truthfully, I used to think of the BB as fluffy bubblegum stuff
>>>> until I was in this 5-pc. show band that did a lot of 4 and 5 part
>>>> harmony.  We worked up a big BB segment and I was stunned at how
>>>> hard it was to sing those parts.  Those boys were very
>>>> well-schooled in formal, classic harmony, and that was quite
>>>> evident when we dug in and tried to learn their material note for
>>>> note.  I found renewed respect!  The vocal lines are blended so
>>>> well that it's hard to tell them apart.  By comparison, we put
>>>> together the entire Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, and pulled it off
> pretty well, but we couldn't touch Good Vibrations.
>>>> 
>>>> By the time Brian Wilson became all messed up on drugs and various
>>>> psych problems, his cousin Dennis would come to him with a bag of
>>>> hamburgers and say, "Brian, do you want a hamburger?"  And Brian would
> mumble, "Uh huh."
>>>> Then Dennis would say, "Then write a song and you can have one."
>>>> After Brian wrote a song, Dennis would say, "Brian, do you want
>>>> another hamburger?" ...  8-)  True story, or so I'm told.  Brian
>>>> Wilson is certifiably nuts and also a certifiable genius and IMO a
> national treasure.
>>>> 
>>>> I have tons of stories about these guys because we did numerous
>>>> gigs with both BB and J & D back when I was on the "nostalgia
>>>> circuit." playing either before or after them at those big outdoor
>>>> fairs and festivals multi-band venues.  Never played with the Four
>>>> Tops (love 'em) but we played venues with Paul Revere and the
>>>> Raiders, The Turtles, Three Dog Night, Gary Puckett and the Union
>>>> Gap, The Association, Herman's Hermits, Freddy Cannon, Fats Domino,
>>>> The Buckinghams, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Mary Wilson, The
>>>> Imperials, The Dixie Cups, The Shirells, Mitch Rider, ..........
>>>> 8-)
>>>> 
>>>> Slim Chance And The Gamblers  AKA  Cool Duty   8-)
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On 1/27/05 4:46 PM, "R22RumRunner at aol.com" <R22RumRunner at aol.com>
> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> Beach boys. Sliimmy, they were bad when they were current and even
>>>>> worse now. Jan & Dean were the best. I also liked the four tops.
>>>>> :) Speaking of sunny weather. It looks like winter is going to
>>>>> deposit a ton of ice on us Saturday, so if I'm away from the list
>>>>> for a while, it ain't because I'm out sailing. But, I've never
>>>>> tried it in an ice storm. How much rum would it take to get me to
>>>>> go out sailing in an ice storm? Good question.
>>>>> Hmmm,
>>>>> gonna have to think on that one for a while. What could happen?
>>>>> 
>>>>> Rummy
>>>>> __________________________________________________
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>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>> 
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