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0 pointscynicalkane13y ago0 comments

You're close but not quite there. The build up is VI-natural VII-I-VI-natural VII-V7b9. So you have the chords right but the root note wrong.

The major I for the third chord is the really key piece of that chord progression. Shifting up and down chords by step is pretty common in pop music, but shifting into major I the first time then the flat 9 dominant the second time (especially with the natural 7 right before it!) is a powerful harmonic one-two punch.

I don't want to be 'that guy', but the other guy responding to you has it totally wrong. Try to plunk out chords on the piano with the music and see for yourself.

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5 comments · 2 top-level

stianan13y ago· 2 in thread

Your build up progression is exactly the same as mine, only I interpret it as based on the major key III. I agree we're not talking about modulation in the usual sense, but I think it makes sense to think of it as a key change. It reminds my ears of the common IV-V-vi progression, only with a suprising major VI.

cynicalkaneOP13y ago

I have to disagree again... I don't think a III chord is anywhere in the entire song. The build up is in the parallel major.

stianan13y ago

Right, the key III is the parallel major. I'm shifting the base of the notation for this passage. When I say III ends the build up, I mean III in the parallel major key, i.e. V(7) in the original key.

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amplitwist13y ago· 1 in thread

Thanks for the reply; I was wondering what key that it shifted to, since everything sounded weird when I tried it. I just do this stuff by ear and guess the key, but I've never had any music theory training. How do you recognize the key once you have the chords?

cynicalkaneOP13y ago

Pop songs rarely modulate, and if they do, usually modulate by step, so just find the root note and you have the key. Gangnam Style doesn't have any modulations unless you count the major I as a modulation. It definitely jumps out to the ear as something unusual.

For classical music the working key is constantly changing and often two theorists would disagree on the "harmonic meaning" of a passage. One telltale sign of a key change is an x-V-I progression (in the new key) where x is any secondary chord that leads naturally into the V. Bonus points if the x or the V don't work in the old key; if you're in C major and you hear a D7, you know something's up.

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