Cliffk Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 That thread about Coldplay and Joe Satriani got me thinking about the limitations of musical composition. As we've discussed before, it's inevitable in songwriting that certain phrases are repeated and it struck me that several popular songs over the years have used, with some variation, prominent descending basslines. A few that spring to mind are: Penny Lane (Beatles) My Baby Just Cares For Me (Nina Simone) Tell Me Something Good (Stevie Wonder) A Whiter Shade Of Pale (Procol Harum by way of J.S. Bach ) Any other songs in the rock era with similarly defining descending basslines? YouTube music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkKeysStuff Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Piano Man That's The Way God Planned It Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonksDream Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Flashlight (Parliament/Funkadelic) BTW - Tell Me Something Good was Rufus featuring Chaka Khan Instrumentation is meaningless - a song either stands on its own merit, or it requires bells and whistles to cover its lack of adequacy, much less quality. - kanker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMcD Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Tales of Brave Ulysses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffLearman Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 The Weight - The Band Also, in a bridge: Let it Be - Beatles Wild World - Cat Stevens But of course we'll find such a simple pattern in lots of places, just as we'd find ascending bass lines. A slightly less simple one is Pachalbel Canon, which we find (not just the bass line but much of the chord sequence) in innumerable hit songs. There's an amusing YouTube video of someone having some fun with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threadslayer Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Mr Bojangles Willin' I'm so Lonesome I could Cry Friend of the Devil Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. -Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanker. Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Flashlight (Parliament/Funkadelic) BTW - Tell Me Something Good was Rufus featuring Chaka Khan Stevie wrote it Chorus of The Weight My One and Only Love It's common because it fits scalar motion and because it fits regular turnaround motion, basically the whole form becomes a turnaround ala Through the Fire, or There Will Never Be Another You A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffk Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 Thanks guys - got some listening to do (In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a bit of a geek this way: love looking for interesting patterns in music). Flashlight (Parliament/Funkadelic) BTW - Tell Me Something Good was Rufus featuring Chaka Khan Stevie wrote it Good catch, Kevin - I did mean the writers. YouTube music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I'm a bit of a geek this way: love looking for interesting patterns in music. Interesting thread... thanks for the "brain stimulus". When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Stanfield Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 An amusing rant on this phenomenon (probably posted before, but still entertaining): [video:youtube] Jason Stanfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonksDream Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Flashlight (Parliament/Funkadelic) BTW - Tell Me Something Good was Rufus featuring Chaka Khan Stevie wrote it Ahh! Thanks! I stand better informed! Instrumentation is meaningless - a song either stands on its own merit, or it requires bells and whistles to cover its lack of adequacy, much less quality. - kanker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raddtunes Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 BTW - Tell Me Something Good was Rufus featuring Chaka Khan Ah so that song came out during phase 2 right? You remember those 4 phases - 1. Rufus 2. Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. 3. Chaka Khan with Rufus. 4. Chaka Khan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonksDream Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 BTW - Tell Me Something Good was Rufus featuring Chaka Khan Ah so that song came out during phase 2 right? You remember those 4 phases - 1. Rufus 2. Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. 3. Chaka Khan with Rufus. 4. Chaka Khan. Yep! I remember it well. I had a bad Chaka jones in those days. Instrumentation is meaningless - a song either stands on its own merit, or it requires bells and whistles to cover its lack of adequacy, much less quality. - kanker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 1. Rufus 2. Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. 3. Chaka Khan with Rufus. 4. Chaka Khan. Thank you for reminding me! I thought someone else besides below had done that. 1. Miami Sound Machine 2. Miami Sound Machine featuring Gloria Estefan 3. Gloria Estefan with Miami Sound Machine 4. Gloria Estefan "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridog6996 Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Multiple people "invented" the light bulb before Edison came around. Chances are anything you come up with has been thought up before. The key is to find a way to get credit for it. My YouTube Channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gismo Recording Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 1. Rufus 2. Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. 3. Chaka Khan with Rufus. 4. Chaka Khan. Thank you for reminding me! I thought someone else besides below had done that. 1. Miami Sound Machine 2. Miami Sound Machine featuring Gloria Estefan 3. Gloria Estefan with Miami Sound Machine 4. Gloria Estefan 1. The Amboy Dukes 2. The Amboy Dukes featuring Ted Nugent 3. Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes 4. Ted Nugent Ken Denny Gismo Recording So Cliché Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksoper Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Back to the descending bass lines: All The Young Dudes- Mott The Hoople (David Bowie) Changes (also David Bowie) 9 Moog things, 3 Roland things, 2 Hammond things and a computer with stuff on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legatoboy Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Where the line is implied (and maybe played on bass) but there are different chord changes in the tunes. I hear the same descending line in my head over these tunes. I Can't Quit Her - Al Kooper Theme from and Imaginary Western - Mountain CP-50, YC 73, FP-80, PX5-S, NE-5d61, Kurzweil SP6, XK-3, CX-3, Hammond XK-3, Yamaha YUX Upright, '66 B3/Leslie 145/122 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moj Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Hit the Road Jack - Ray Charles Going Down - Jeff Beck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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