Questions tagged [analysis]
For questions about studying the intricacies of a piece of music. Questions should also be tagged with a more specific form of analysis if applicable.
451
questions
1
vote
2
answers
94
views
Interpretation of Accented and Unaccented Passing Notes
I'm analysing a passage in 4/4 time where an F major chord is played on beat four. The melodic line consists of four semiquavers: F, E, D, C.
F (first semiquaver) is a chord tone and part of the ...
- 117
6
votes
2
answers
515
views
Tritone substitution in Haydn string quartet?
In Haydn's Horseman quartet, second movement, measure 8, we get a chord that is entirely surprising. A G7 when the piece is in E major. Admittedly, he writes the seventh as an augmented sixth (E# ...
- 335
0
votes
2
answers
53
views
Why does "Fall Again" by Michael Jackson/Robin Thicke/Walter Afanasieff sound kind of sad?
It's a romantic ballad, with lyrics like "I need you around for every day to start", but, to me at least, there is a sad undertone to it.
Is it just because he sings a lot of the song in a ...
3
votes
1
answer
78
views
Exposition in Bach's fugue repeats?
Analyzing Bachs first fugue in C major
I can't understand something.
I have colored all the subjects and answers in the picture and wrote their structure in the picture below but it seems that the ...
- 459
7
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Do sus24 chords exist?
I am analyzing the song "There's a World" from Next to Normal and the first chord is confusing me. Here is an image from this source:
The first chord is labeled as a Gsus24 chord which I ...
- 509
7
votes
2
answers
328
views
Is that a period or sentence?
I'm trying to write my first minuet, so I'm analyzing Mozart's early ones.
Here from measure 1 to 4 it seems like it's a sentence because the continuation part is not strictly imitated as a period (...
- 459
2
votes
1
answer
81
views
Is this a V7sus2/V7 chord in bach?
When i was playing this prelude from bach i came across a new chord that i don't usually see in 18th century pieces
Also another question - in writing counterpoint in bach style it looks like two ...
- 459
0
votes
6
answers
351
views
Representing notes of the musical scale with color
I know this might sound a bit like the bikeshedding problem, or what's the best pizza topping in the world...
But if you have to choose a way to use color to represent notes of the musical scale (e.g. ...
- 209
0
votes
1
answer
40
views
Analyzing harmony
I'm trying to analyze this simple exercise from schubert but i can't really find the harmonic function here beside the satisfying voice leading that i hear when i play it
I wanna write such a piece ...
- 459
2
votes
1
answer
108
views
Help with "Copacabana" chord progression analysis pls!
I'm trying to learn by ear the chord progression of "Copacabana" by Barry Manilow. I'm having some trouble with making sense of the chorus because it feels like so much is changing so fast. ...
- 21
3
votes
4
answers
603
views
The relation between voices in piano pieces
I've been trying to understand how to identify the voices within the harmonic progression they form, after learning counterpoint and SATB harmony.
But when I'm investigating the relation between ...
- 459
0
votes
1
answer
83
views
Waltz in e minor by Ferdinando Carulli [closed]
I started learning a bit of classical guitar 2 years back. I only learnt and retained this piece, so forgive me for having no music knowledge, and I apologize if my question is ill phrased but are ...
- 3
5
votes
4
answers
828
views
what is G7-Bᵒ7/C doing in the chord progression
I was trying to do RN analysis and encountered G7-Bᵒ7/C progression.
G7 can be considered as V7/VI so I assume Bᵒ7/C is C something chord to resolve G7.
Why does upper structure have to be Bᵒ7 (what ...
- 1,591
3
votes
2
answers
89
views
In quartal voicings, what makes a voicing minor, vague and dissonant?
As I was reading through a book, there was this line that went
"some vertical voicings are clearly minor, some are vague, and others pungently dissonant."
I was wondering, which notes make ...
- 1,591
-1
votes
3
answers
80
views
Is secondary dominant in fact resolving V chord of major scale with I chord of different mode?
I just saw the chord scale of five of four.
It used C mixolydian chord scale.
So 'IV' of five of four is the F Major scale, and the target chord is F Lydian chord scale.
Does that mean I chord from F ...
- 1,591
1
vote
4
answers
83
views
Can secondary dominant come after target chords?
Above are pictures of two consequtive measures.
It shows vi/1 - vi - V/vi - V7/iii chord progression.
Doesn't it say that secondary dominant of vi, which is V/vi comes after vi, the target chord?
Is ...
- 1,591
4
votes
4
answers
162
views
What Is This Chord? Is It A Ab5?
This is Tchaikovsky's The Doll's Funeral, which is in C minor. The chord I am confused about is the second chord in measure 30. I should mention this is my first time analyzing. I thought this was ...
- 177
3
votes
4
answers
116
views
In C minor, is Am7b5 a borrowed chord from Dorian?
Above is actually a thread from reddit, OP asks what Am7b5 is doing in the piece.
(I am actually not sure posting it here is OK in the first place)
https://www.reddit.com/r/musictheory/comments/...
- 1,591
0
votes
5
answers
155
views
Is Ab/Bb chord in C Major?
above picture has "C major: " in the measure 5.
It seems to say bVII9no5sus4 is one of C major chords, and I can't really see how it is one of C major chords and not one of C minor chords.
...
- 1,591
3
votes
2
answers
101
views
What makes vi chord tonic or subdominant?
vi chord has both tonic and subdominant functionalities, and iii chord has both tonic and dominant functionalities.
What decides vi(or iii) chord tonic or subdominant(or dominant)?
For example, in the ...
- 1,591
0
votes
2
answers
64
views
melody analysis according to chord or structural tones?
I have come across two ways of studying melody.
First way is with structural tones(melodic outline) and second way is with chords(chord/none-chord tones).
I assume considering melodic outline is only ...
- 1,591
2
votes
2
answers
263
views
Question about dissonance handling and counterpoint
I'm self-learning 18th-century music theory because I like the music from that era. I'm obscure about the concepts of counterpoint and harmony. I'm aware that rules are not absolute within the 18th-...
- 33
1
vote
1
answer
142
views
Why does it sound so weird? (Beethoven quartet)
Why does the first A# of the tetrachord of fugal development in op. 131, no. 7, m. 114 cello sound so weird? Is it because of the false relation with B?
- 33
2
votes
2
answers
144
views
What Sort Of Movement Is This?
I apologize since I have a rather basic understanding of music theory.
But I refer to the what's going in the treble clef with the descending notes. One line is the same while another is descending. I ...
- 177
1
vote
2
answers
115
views
What chords am I using here?
I am composing a marimba solo in A minor (it uses a decent amount of chromatic notes but otherwise stays diatonic) and I wanted to analyse the chords. In this measure, I got stuck on the third chord ...
- 509
3
votes
2
answers
270
views
How does the sharp 4 chord function, aside from the diminished?
I was trying out some lydian chord progressions and found that a #iv (sharp 4 minor) chord sounded really nice. How does this chord, or even a major #IV chord (although that may be equivalent to the ...
0
votes
1
answer
129
views
Questions on Chords in This Piece of Music
Could I ask for some help with this piece of music. Please confirm if my understanding of the chords are correct:
The Gb in Measure 1 is a Neapolitan chord of F Major (Gb Bb D);
The composer than ...
- 27
5
votes
1
answer
156
views
How to analyze introduction of Rachmaninoff's Paganini variation?
I'm trying to analyze the introduction of Rachmaninoff's Paganini variations (picture below). I'm thinking the whole thing is a sequence and I only have to analyze the first two measures. The F# makes ...
- 51
3
votes
2
answers
198
views
F#m7 chord in “Misty” in C major
I'm analyzing the accompaniment for 'Misty' in C major. In measure 16 (“how hopelessly I am lost”) there's an F#m7 chord accompanying the B in the melody. Although F#m7 seems unusual in C major, it ...
- 65
4
votes
2
answers
157
views
Voice Leading in Göncz’s completion of Contrapunctus 14
My question relates to the attached extract from Zoltan Göncz’s completion of Bach’s Contrapunctus 14 from The Art of Fugue, and specifically the chord marked with the arrow.
To my mind, it appears to ...
- 41
1
vote
0
answers
103
views
Was Bernstein's interpretation of Mahler's 9th Symphony correct?
During his fifth Norton lecture at Harvard University, Leonard Bernstein famously speculated that Mahler's ninth symphony was symbolically prophesying his own death, the death of tonality (the advent ...
- 335
4
votes
2
answers
356
views
Bach St. Matthew Passion section 33 key shift
In Bach's St. Matthew's Passion section 33, at measure 104, both the first and second chorus pause together all at once, and there is a key shift. But I don't know to what key the music is shifting to....
- 41
2
votes
3
answers
144
views
How do I analyse these chords in this chorale?
I’m playing some chorales and I can’t figure out how to analyse these highlighted chords. I think these chords share the characteristics of having adjacent notes and I’m having trouble with that. The ...
- 121
1
vote
0
answers
84
views
Anyone know what key this cadence from the SimCity 3000 theme is in? [closed]
I'm currently analyzing the SimCity 3000 theme (
). I've noticed that the chords for the intro (by figuring out the notes for each chord and then looking the note ...
1
vote
3
answers
193
views
Harmonic Analysis of Polka, Op. 39, No. 14 by Tchaikovsky
I'm having some trouble identifying what's going on harmonically in this chromatic sections here.
i. Bar 2: What function does the chord spelled [C#EGBb] have? All I can say about it is that it's a ...
- 187
2
votes
1
answer
60
views
Oblique motion in more than 2 parts
I've always been taught to ask questions even if I'm quite sure about being correct. It never hurts to ask, as I'm always learning!
I've seen and heard contrapuntal pieces, mostly in the works of Bach,...
user88029
5
votes
2
answers
621
views
How to analyze/spell this chord progression
I generally feel that I have a good intuition for chord naming, but know very few formal rules that apply to chromatic progressions like this one I wrote:
It seems obvious that one should avoid ...
- 2,000
5
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How to analyze this chord in Moonlight Sonata 3rd movement?
In Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 3rd movement, I'd like to understand the Fx (double sharp) in measure 8.
Measure 8 has a bass of A and an arpeggio with the notes C# E Fx C# which sounds like an A7, ...
- 151
4
votes
3
answers
897
views
How to use a spectrum analyzer to help practice an instrument
I recently started playing the trumpet my first brass instrument and I got a tuner to help with practice. I got istrobesoft by Peterson on android, it got a display of its real time spectrum analysis ...
- 41
1
vote
1
answer
312
views
Music Score annotations
What should music score annotations look like? Should I show every chord or only the important ones? What other music techniques do I annotate?
I am annotating it as part of a musical analysis. The ...
- 11
2
votes
2
answers
196
views
Analysis of a few bars in Bach's BWV 895
The overall key of this piece in A minor (it is Bach's prelude from Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV 895). Here is what I understood :
At the end of bar 6, there seems to be a change of key: this ...
- 119
2
votes
2
answers
143
views
What’s the correct key analysis for this excerpt?
From the ABRSM G5 workbook.
To my mind the excerpt could be in F minor or B flat minor, both contain flat BED (and A). The answer given is B flat minor; why is it not F minor?
(Saw this after posting: ...
- 639
-1
votes
1
answer
58
views
Liszt Transcendental Étude No.1 (Prelude): tension-ful chord progression in bar 9, 10, 11
I am trying to digest the Liszt Transcendental Étude No.1 (Prelude) chord progression in bar 9, 10, 11 with the full of tensions.
Three related sub-questions.
In both the Zoltán Gárdonyi (1906–1986) ...
- 921
1
vote
1
answer
124
views
Liszt Transcendental Étude No.1 (Prelude): Top voices on ascending fifth, descending second, descending second
I wanted to follow up to analyze the top voice on the right hand of the Liszt Transcendental Étude No.1 (Prelude).
Here are my (related) questions:
Is the red box note a B-flat or B? (It looks that ...
- 921
1
vote
1
answer
71
views
Liszt Transcendental Étude No.1 (Prelude) -- chord progression along the Arpeggio (in the first 4 bars)
Liszt Transcendental Étude No.1 (Prelude)
I am curious to know whether there is a logical reason for the "chord progression" of the Arpeggio for Liszt Transcendental Étude No.1 (Prelude).
...
- 921
4
votes
1
answer
118
views
Similarity between “Caro nome che il mio cor” and “Celeste Aida”
While listening to Caro nome che il mio cor from Rigoletto a couple days ago, I found a couple measures that reminded me vaguely of Celeste Aida from Aida.
What do these two passages have in common, ...
- 93
2
votes
3
answers
373
views
How should this passage be analyzed?
From a previous exam. Possible answers were D maj, G maj, d min or a min.
I think it’s a minor: if D or G then the F needs to be sharp and if it’s d the B would need to be flat. I think the c# is ...
- 639
4
votes
2
answers
239
views
Did anybody try to analyze Strange Meadow Lark by Dave Brubeck by functional analysis?
I was trying to understand the chord progression in Strange Meadow Lark, but it comes to a point where the changes are a little bit blurry of what is going on. Did anybody try to? Maybe we can discuss ...
- 41
3
votes
2
answers
480
views
Are all chords that follow a cadence to an expected chord a deceptive cadence?
Is there a rule for deceptive cadence that can explain all 3 examples below? One of them I am almost positive is a deceptive cadence, but I don't know about the other two.
In the first two examples I ...
- 370
3
votes
0
answers
89
views
Roman numeral analysis: how to notate tonic root anticipation / triple suspension V7 I742 I?
Sometimes in a cadence between V7 and I there's a moment when an anticipated tonic root in the bass given on top of suspended 7^2^4^ from the V7 (triple suspension?). Two examples:
Beethoven op 10 no ...
