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Newbie here and just stared analysing songs

I came across this tune that has the following chord progression

Dmaj7 Dmaj7 | Fmaj7 Fmaj7 | F#m F | D D

The song seems to resolve on an A but doesnt have an A played in it.

But my question is from a composition standpoint. How and why would the composer come up with a 4-b6-6-b6-4 progression

Thanks a lot

Here's the link of the song

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    Hi and welcome to the music stack exchange. Can you reference the song that you are examining? From the progression alone, it would seem that the song is still in D major... And if not, it would likely be in A natural minor otherwise so, "4-6-sharp 6-6-4"
    – Tim Burnett - Bassist
    Dec 5, 2019 at 8:50
  • Hey Tim. Have added the youtube link of the song. Thanks :)
    – Dougdams
    Dec 5, 2019 at 9:06
  • That's coming over to me as in key Bb! Help!
    – Tim
    Dec 5, 2019 at 9:15
  • well yeah its A# actually. i transposed that to an A. But if you were to listen to the verse, it seems to resolve to an A# but right after the F##m, theres an F# followed by a D#. And not an A#
    – Dougdams
    Dec 5, 2019 at 9:31
  • The key of A# is a very rare key to play in. Bb is the far more commonly used name. It also obviates the need for double sharps (## or x).
    – Tim
    Dec 5, 2019 at 10:53

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Judging from the roots, this is in B flat major... The intro goes like this:

Bb - Gm - Gb

He starts singing on the turn around - like this (bass enters on the second time through):

Eb - Gb - Gm - Gb - Bb

Then the verse is:

Eb - Gb - Eb - Gb

Then back to the turn around:

Eb - Gb - Gm - Gb - Bb - Gm - Gb - Eb

Those are the chords as analysized up to about 1:30 of the track...

EDIT

So as a follow-up on the numbering for what I am calling the 'turn-around' - 4, flat 6, 6, flat 6, 1

Then he adds 6, flat 6, 4 to the end later on... It's "resolving" on the IV7 chord in those instances in order to create that big tension in the feeling of the tune...

Beautiful song overall as well... :)

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  • Thanks a lot :) . I think thats a Gm and not a G. Also for some reason, i think it ends back on an Eb and not a Bb. But my question was from a composition standpoint. How would we explain using the flat 6. I mean of course the composer is free to use whatever chord he/she pleases. But what effect does using flat 6s and 6s bring in. Would there be any known progressions that are similar.
    – Dougdams
    Dec 5, 2019 at 11:09
  • You are prob right about the Gm since the 3rd would be Bb... I was going by the roots alone (as is the habit of a bassist doing a quick study ;) - I'll edit that bit. As far as the how and why a composer chooses a progression... it's usually in order to create a mood or a feeling and/or because the progression is "sexy" in some way... difficult to speculate (and may be off topic as too subjective?) - perhaps the composer talks about the reasoning in an interview somewhere... But, I'll let you and our friend Google talk that one out haha
    – Tim Burnett - Bassist
    Dec 5, 2019 at 11:16

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