RE: Correction

[Dick Rosenberg <drosenberg...>]

I think we're talking about two different things here:

1 - Whether a chord progression can have connotations in and of itself

2 - Once a chord progression has connotations of whatever kind, because
of lyrics associated with it in a particular song, how tightly bound
those connotations are to the set of lyrics, or whether it can have
other connotations

This may get a little bit too musical theory for some, but it's the only
way I know to explain it.

Let's take a chord progression

C       C        C  F   G7      C  G7 C  G7  C F    G7 C
/ / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | /
/ / /

and another chord progression

Am     Am     G       G       Am     Am     G       G Am
/ / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | /
/ / /

If one plays the two progressions the first one, which is in major,
could be the chords to a song in many styles and connotations.
Could be a children's song (sounds something like Old McDonald), a folk
song (Kumbaya), a Beatles song (OoBladee, OoBlada). Sounds to me kind of
light and airy, probably good or neutral, certainly not an evil
connotation. Those are the connotations I get from progression #1

Progression #2, which is minor, has a different set of connotations. At
first I only got a Jewish connotation from #2. Of course a Jewish
connotation to me would be good, positive, reverent, etc. Then I started
staring at the chords and realized that they could easily be very
different. The chords are almost identical to those of What do you do
with a Drunken Sailor? Obviously a very different set of connotations.

In fact the two progressions are different settings of the same song,
David Melech Yisrael, the first the "traditional" one (although I'm sure
the hand movements are not so traditional :-), the second Shlomo
Carlebach's version.

So that would seem to support argument #2, that our perception and
connotation of a chord progression is based on the songs we associate
with that progression and the feelings and connotations that we have
toward that song or those songs.

On the other hand a chord progression that is composed of all D and Cm
chords (to me) just HAS to be Klezmer. I cannot fathom any other kind of
music that has that progression. Similarly a chord progression of E F G
is Spanish Flamenco. Again I cannot think of it being anything else. And
Klezmer and Spanish Flamenco have connotations to me (why do I want to
put a rose between my teeth?).

On the other other hand it could be argued that Klezmer and Spanish
Flamenco by and large is intrumental music only, and if there were more
songs with words assoiated with these styles, then they would fall into
argument #1.

There you go, I'm disagreeing with myself in the same message. Now that
can only be Jewish.

Dick Rosenberg

>-----Original Message-----
>From:  Eliezer Kaplan [SMTP:zelwel (at) earthlink(dot)net]
>Sent:  Tuesday, January 05, 1999 8:24 AM
>To:    World music from a Jewish slant.
>Subject:       Re: Correction
>
>>Music is not simply melody - it also tempo and rhythm and orchestration
>>and accent.  When I hear the chords from "Sunshine of Your Love" at a
>>chaseneh, they are always delivered identically in all ways to the way
>>they appear in the original recording.  And as many people will agree -
>>the essence of rock *is* tempo and rhythm, not melody.  
>>The melody itself of "Light My Fire" may nor may not be suitable for
>>other uses, but to play it in a similar fashion to the way the Doors did
>>it is to play rock, pure and simple, with all the associations that that
>>sort of rock number has.
>>
>>Rochel Sara Heckert
>>
>
>Aw, come on. I'm sure that if you'd heard some silly anglicized lyris to
>"Sunshine of Your Love' with lots of Hashem's and ai-ai-ai's in it first
>and repeatedly you'd associate those particular words with the melody
>rather than the ones that you know. A chird progression can be neither good
>nor bad- except in the musical sense, and even then it's a matter of opinion.
>                       Ellie Kaplan