Anthemic chorus theory

[Brom]

Miss Brom asked me a question last nite which I was not able to answer in any detail thanks to my ineptitude when it comes to musical theory. So I thought, I know a few someone's who must know the answer to this.

Since just before Southampton gig and then hearing it live she has been bowled over by DT's new track, "Rite of Passage". In particular the chorus. The way it lifts the song starting with "Turn the Key" culminating with the line "A Rite of Passage"  I mumbled that it seems to be a key change coupled with the vocal harmony, to which came the reply "Yes, but how do you do it?" This is where my twelve bar blues brain failed to do a turnaround and came to an abrupt end. For example, if you had your main verse trundling along in say C is there a set/easy/established trick that exists to produce that rousing almost anthemic feeling to the chorus that can be explained in relatively simple terms. Any help will be more than welcome from both of us.

[Jem]

put a f**king 12 string on it! :lol:

[D S]

That works!  8-)

[Mouse]

Ah, the 12 string. What a wonderful thing that is. The way the sound glistens like early morning dew on glass in a Spring mist... The way the notes fall gently like rain...

Whoops! Where am I? Anyways yeah, I suspect it's a simple case of harmonised vocals doing the anthemic factor, with two melody lines interacting with each other before adding a third voice for the "A rite of passage" line. That's what I thinks, anyways.

You'd have thought after passing a Grade 5 Music Theory exam I would have more to contribute. But no, I is thick.  

[catherine]

It's just a simple modulation up by a tone, innit?

[flamadiddle]

The rule of thumb with modern metal is to start the chorus down a major third from the tonic.  That is, the VI chord.  This is pretty much the go-to modulation for pre-choruses and the like in a lot of stuff, including Frost*, though they mercifully underplay it.

[SerFox]

Just having a listen to the track right now and just finished the first chorus. It seems they go from the verse in D to a prechorus in E ; theres your tone raise. Then yes, the chorus proceeds to go through several intervals going up in fouths, starting on A, going to D then to F then to C, then follows the A minor scale to B, and finally back to A. On the second time around it goes from A to C to D, then it returns back to the E of the pre-chorus before the a-typical Dream Theater after-chorus widdly-widdly before we return to the verse in D.

So from what I can see this 'lift' in mood with the chorus is due to the change from D to E in the pre-chorus and then the movement from E to A, a full four tones yet a chord which relates to both D and E (A both containing the fifth of D (Verse) and the root of E (Prechorus) hence it all seems to link very well as you are hearing a change which remains familiar in certain aspects agter the foreign change from D to E after the verse, and the movement of the chorus is based around chord changes 1, 4, 6, 3, in the key of A minor. Unconventional, but it follows that pattern and is within a very simple boundary of the key signature, no off sounding changes to the flattened sixth of the root key or alien minor twelth inversions. Good friendly key changes.

Now I thank you for letting me know they're bringing their new album out on tuesday. I suspect we British folk will be getting a nice delay on that so I'll keep an eye out in HMV for that  

[MikeEvs]

Now I thank you for letting me know they're bringing their new album out on tuesday. I suspect we British folk will be getting a nice delay on that so I'll keep an eye out in HMV for that  

Actually released today in the UK

[Brom]

Now I thank you for letting me know they're bringing their new album out on tuesday. I suspect we British folk will be getting a nice delay on that so I'll keep an eye out in HMV for that  

Actually released today in the UK

Yes, I'm off to HMV this very lunchtime  

[Brom]

All,

Thank you very much for all the advice, help on this, especially famadiddle and Serfox   . How the hell you work out what all the chords are remains a mystery to me. When jamming the blues against a backing track I just move the scale up and down the fretboard until it magically fits!  :roll:  

I'll pass all this on to Miss Brom later, and when she asks the obvious, the answer will be... "No, you can't have a twelve string!" I'll let you know how we get on.

Cheers    

[SerFox]

All,

Thank you very much for all the advice, help on this, especially famadiddle and Serfox   . How the hell you work out what all the chords are remains a mystery to me. When jamming the blues against a backing track I just move the scale up and down the fretboard until it magically fits!  :roll:  

I'll pass all this on to Miss Brom later, and when she asks the obvious, the answer will be... "No, you can't have a twelve string!" I'll let you know how we get on.

Cheers    

A long time understanding of music theory and a grade 8 qualification in it to prove it    Also a fun fact for aural reference I quietly played the ukulele to work out the chord inversions, didn't want to load up my Fantom at 1 in the morning  :lol:

[gr8gonzo]

Hmpfff!  Not only do you get our lottery numbers ahead of time and not tell us, you get music, too?  What gives?  Are you lot still holding a grudge about the tea we dumped in the harbor?

[Brom]

Hmpfff!  Not only do you get our lottery numbers ahead of time and not tell us, you get music, too?  What gives?  Are you lot still holding a grudge about the tea we dumped in the harbor?

Hehe, and good beer, cheese, roundabouts oh and chocolate too!  

Nice pristine copy of Black Clouds and Silver Linings looking back at me this very moment  

[Mouse]

Hmpfff!  Not only do you get our lottery numbers ahead of time and not tell us, you get music, too?  What gives?  Are you lot still holding a grudge about the tea we dumped in the harbor?

Actually, it's spelt "harbour".  

...NO! Bad Mouse, bad! If it's any consolation, I'm not getting Black Clouds until my birthday in August. And it's the big Deluxe box too, which makes the wait more annoying.

And my best mate's probably getting his box this week.

And I've run out of money. And I have no girlfriend.

Life punishes me a lot, it seems.    But never mind that, did you know that you can drown an alligator by holding it underwater? Did you know that on land, they can outrun a horse? Also, an Alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. The name alligator is an anglicized form of the Spanish el lagarto (the lizard), the name by which early Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida called the alligator. There are two living alligator species: the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and the Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis).

There are many adaptations for the American alligator. Baby alligators have an egg tooth that helps them get out of their egg during hatching time. They also have a muscular flat tail that propels them forward while they swim.

Large male alligators are solitary, territorial animals. Smaller alligators can often be found in large numbers in close proximity to each other. The largest of the species (both males and females), will defend prime territory; smaller alligators have a higher tolerance of other alligators within a similar size class. Although alligators have heavy bodies and slow metabolisms, they are capable of short bursts of speed, especially in very short lunges. Alligators' main prey are smaller animals that they can kill and eat with a single bite. Alligators may kill larger prey by grabbing it and dragging it in the water to drown. Alligators consume food that cannot be eaten in one bite by allowing it to rot or by biting and then spinning or convulsing wildly until bite-size chunks are torn off. This is referred to as the "death roll." A hard-wired response developed over millions of years of evolution, even juvenile alligators execute death rolls when presented with chunks of meat. Critical to the alligator's ability to initiate a death roll, the tail must flex to a significant angle relative to its body. Immobilizing an alligator's tail incapacitates its ability to begin a death roll.

Most of the muscle in an alligator's jaw is intended for biting and gripping prey. The muscles that close the jaws are exceptionally powerful, however the muscles for opening their jaws are relatively weak in comparison. As a result, an adult man can hold an alligator's jaw shut with his bare hands. In general, a strip of duct tape is enough to prevent an adult alligator from opening its jaws and is one of the most common methods used when alligators are to be captured and/or transported. Alligators are generally timid towards humans and tend to walk or swim away if one approaches. Unfortunately, this has led some people to the practice of approaching alligators and their nests in a way that may provoke the animals into attacking. In the state of Florida, it is illegal to feed wild alligators at any time. If fed, the alligators will eventually lose their fear of humans and will learn to associate humans with food, thereby becoming a greater danger to people.

[Brom]

Groan....

Quick get me a crocodile sandwich...

and make it snappy