What is going on in this Michael Jackson song?

bingefeller

In his song You Are Not Alone (written by R Kelly) there is an ear catching progression when the chords move from F#7sus4 to Amaj13 / G#7#5 / E.  

I'm wondering what is happening with this modulation?  How does it move so smooth from the F#7sus4 to the Amaj13?


It happens at around 42 seconds:

viz

Ok, so the song’s in B, right, so the V chord is F#. At that point, at 0:41, you’re hearing the V-chord (F#), ready to resolve to the B. That would be a V-I resolution. 

But then what happens is quite excellent.

He wends his way towards the I via a slow ii-V-I. 

The ii is c#m.

the V is F#

the I is B.

The interesting bit is how he gets to the ii. To do it, the tonic temporarily shifts up a tone and he plays a bVI-V-i IN C# MINOR. It’s like a teeny mini-modulation. The bVI-V-i is like a 251 but for a minor key. In a minor 251 it’s normally ii(dim)-V-i. The ii is diminished because minor keys have a flattened 6th. And here, instead of using ii(dim) he’s actually playing a bVI chord itself. So the bVI is an A; the V is a G# and the i is c# minor. (See the first 3 chords in Rachmaninov’s prelude in c#m, or in Toto’s Africa for that matter, though in Africa the v is a minor v).

Edit - having actually listened to it properly, he doesn’t end on the c#m, not yet anyway, he lands on the relative major, so it’s a bVI-V-III, which is A-G#-E.

THEN, at the beginning of the next line he plays the c#m. At this point, the tonic has moved back down to the original B, and he’s doing a proper ii-V-I to land on the B, which is c#m-F#-B. 

The initial move from F# to A is so smooth because as well as the A6 being part of the bVI-V-i (or bVI-V-III in this case), A6 is also the 1st inversion of F# minor, so it gives the illusion of the F# major just slipping into F# minor with the bass accentuating the important minor 3rd, until you realise it’s actually part of a VI-V-i. If you want to consider it as an F#minor (1st inversion) that’s also fine - then it would be a iv-V-i (or iv-V-III in this case). 

bingefeller

@viz amazing!  Thanks for the info.  It was such an ear catching progression when I heard it that I thought I'd ask about it.  Do you know of any other popsongs, apart from Africa, that use that move?  

viz

Well Africa doesn’t do the actual interesting bit, it just has the VI-V-i (or VI-v-i actually) in the tonic key. Loads of minor songs have a VI-V-i, for example the first 4 chords in smooth are i-VI-V-i. But in this MJ song, it’s the fact that it takes place within a temporary modulation that makes it so special; the tonic temporarily moves up a tone to where the ii was, so the VI-V-i takes place on the supertonic of the original key. That’s why the move from the F# to the A is so nice. I can’t think of anything that has those specific chords, let me come back to you on that!

Branshen

@Viz, what a wiz, you are a true asset to this forum. 

I have got a question. When you treat the V chord as a I (the F# in this case), do you just ignore the dominant quality (the b7) of the V and treat is as a regular major, or does the dominant quality dictate the tonality of the other chords during that time?

viz

Branshen said:

@Viz, what a wiz, you are a true asset to this forum. 

I have got a question. When you treat the V chord as a I (the F# in this case), do you just ignore the dominant quality (the b7) of the V and treat is as a regular major, or does the dominant quality dictate the tonality of the other chords during that time?

Thank you! I love it. 

The V chord is never treated as a tonic; it’s the ii that becomes a tonic (fleetingly). The F# doesn’t come into play again until the tonic is reestablished in B and the F# can perform its normal V (dominant) role. 

Brad

I'm gonna look at this from another angle - as a reharmonised minor ii - V - i in C# then a major ii V I in B. 

Play these chords and sing the melody.

         ii                 V                 i                  ii                        V                 
|D#m7b5  /  G#7#5  /  |C#m7  /  /  /  |C#m7  /  /  /  |F#7sus  /  /  /  |

Still works right? I think that was probably what was originally written. So how did he create the changes in the tune?

The melody note over D#m7b5 is it's b3 (F#) which is the 13th of.... you guessed it... Amaj13! A really cool re-harm technique is to take a melody note and change the underlying chord for a different one that shares that note, although that could take a while to get a chord that fits. So I reckon the likely answer is this, how far away are D# to A? It's a nice tritone sub... 

As for the C#m7, a very common re-harm is to replace it with its relative major (and vice versa). The relative major to C#m7 is E. They are interchangeable because E is 3/4 of a C#m7 chord. This E then gives more of a sense of movement when it does change to C#m (acting as the ii) for the final two bars. 

It’s subtle but effective. 

bingefeller

Definitely one of the most interesting pop progressions I've heard in a while, although it's probably happening all over the place in jazz.  

Branshen said:

@Viz, what a wiz, you are a true asset to this forum. 

I have got a question. When you treat the V chord as a I (the F# in this case), do you just ignore the dominant quality (the b7) of the V and treat is as a regular major, or does the dominant quality dictate the tonality of the other chords during that time?

When I posted this thread I had a fair idea that @Viz would know the answer! 

viz

Brad said:

I'm gonna look at this from another angle - as a reharmonised minor ii - V - i in C# then a major ii V I in B. 

Play these chords and sing the melody.

       ii                 V                 i                  ii                         V                 
|D#m7b5  /  G#7#5  /  |C#m7  /  /  /  |C#m7  /  /  /  |F#7sus  /  /  /  |

Still works right? I think that was probably what was originally written. So how did he create the changes in the tune?

The melody note over D#m7b5 is it's b3 (F#) which is the 13th of.... you guessed it... Amaj13! A really cool re-harm technique is to take a melody note and change the underlying chord for a different one that shares that note, although that could take a while to get a chord that fits. So I reckon the likely answer is this, how far away are D# to A? It's a nice tritone sub... 

As for the C#m7, a very common re-harm is to replace it with its relative major (and vice versa). The relative major to C#m7 is E. They are interchangeable because E is 3/4 of a C#m7 chord. This E then gives more of a sense of movement when it does change to C#m (acting as the ii) for the final two bars. 

It’s subtle but effective. 

You said it better than me   I started with two 251s but then rewrote it all and over-complicated it all with the bVI and the III issue in the first 251. 

(It’s not a proper tritone sub btw, it’s just an inversion really, the iidim and the VI add 13)

Funkfingers

bingefeller said:

I'm wondering what is happening with this modulation?  How does it move so smooth from the F#7sus4 to the Amaj13?

I'm wondering whether R Kelly composed the song with those exact chord inversions or whether it was the choice of an arranger or the session pianist. e.g. Greg Phillinganes. 

DrCornelius

Just wanted to say I love these threads, some of the comments are absolute gold dust to someone like me who struggles to work out theory.  Thanks to you all !

bingefeller

Funkfingers said:

bingefeller said:

I'm wondering what is happening with this modulation?  How does it move so smooth from the F#7sus4 to the Amaj13?

I'm wondering whether R Kelly composed the song with those exact chord inversions or whether it was the choice of an arranger or the session pianist. e.g. Greg Phillinganes. 

Good thought.  It's hard to say, I'm guessing the session musicians would have a bit of a say over inversions and the like?  I was reading through the album personnel for HIStory on Wikipedia and it seems all the top session players and producers in the music industry at that time were involved in making the album!

viz

viz said:

Well Africa doesn’t do the actual interesting bit, it just has the VI-V-i (or VI-v-i actually) in the tonic key. Loads of minor songs have a VI-V-i, for example the first 4 chords in smooth are i-VI-V-i. But in this MJ song, it’s the fact that it takes place within a temporary modulation that makes it so special; the tonic temporarily moves up a tone to where the ii was, so the VI-V-i takes place on the supertonic of the original key. That’s why the move from the F# to the A is so nice. I can’t think of anything that has those specific chords, let me come back to you on that!

A fragment of a tune’s been going round and round my head for 2 days and I just couldn’t place it; suddenly it came to me. 0:15:

https://youtu.be/7KtAgAMzaeg

Brad

viz said: 

(It’s not a proper tritone sub btw, it’s just an inversion really, the iidim and the VI add 13)

Granted, not in a conventional sense (dominant to dominant), more just root movement a la Tadd Dameron. I guess substituting the iim7b5 for a Maj6 chord a tritone away would be a better explanation.

I'm a little unsure as to what you mean here. Is it that A6 is just an inversion of D#dim?

Keefy

Also listen to the key change. He sets you up for a move from B to C, then comes in on C#!

Brad

bingefeller said:

Funkfingers said:

bingefeller said:

I'm wondering what is happening with this modulation?  How does it move so smooth from the F#7sus4 to the Amaj13?

I'm wondering whether R Kelly composed the song with those exact chord inversions or whether it was the choice of an arranger or the session pianist. e.g. Greg Phillinganes. 

Good thought.  It's hard to say, I'm guessing the session musicians would have a bit of a say over inversions and the like?  I was reading through the album personnel for HIStory on Wikipedia and it seems all the top session players and producers in the music industry at that time were involved in making the album!

Can F#sus and A6 (or Amaj13) be seen as being related in anyway?

viz

Brad said:

viz said: 

(It’s not a proper tritone sub btw, it’s just an inversion really, the iidim and the VI add 13)

Granted, not in a conventional sense (dominant to dominant), more just root movement a la Tadd Dameron. I guess substituting the iim7b5 for a Maj6 chord a tritone away would be a better explanation.

I'm a little unsure as to what you mean here. Is it that A6 is just an inversion of D#dim?

Yes basically; well, to qualify, I do mean the “D#m7b5” that you refer to, which is a D#dim triad with a proper 7th (rather than the D#dim7). So:

D#m7b5: D# F# A C#

A6: A C# F#

They are basically the same chord as one’s an inversion of the other and are therefore interchangeable in that context, which is why I agree with you; the iidim-V-i is virtually identical to the VI6-V-i. 

viz

Brad said:

bingefeller said:

Funkfingers said:

bingefeller said:

I'm wondering what is happening with this modulation?  How does it move so smooth from the F#7sus4 to the Amaj13?

I'm wondering whether R Kelly composed the song with those exact chord inversions or whether it was the choice of an arranger or the session pianist. e.g. Greg Phillinganes. 

Good thought.  It's hard to say, I'm guessing the session musicians would have a bit of a say over inversions and the like?  I was reading through the album personnel for HIStory on Wikipedia and it seems all the top session players and producers in the music industry at that time were involved in making the album!

Can F#sus and A6 (or Amaj13) be seen as being related in anyway?

Yes, in a cool way:

The F#sus4 is the dominant chord, so would otherwise have a major 3rd; the sus is just an embellishment. So let’s say it’s just F# for the time being: 

F# A# C# F#

Now imagine if instead of A6, the next chord had been f# minor, all that would have happened would be that the A# would have slipped down a semitone:

F# A C# F#

Instead he plays A6 as part of the VI-V-i in c# minor. But the A6 happens to be the 1st inversion of f# minor:

A C# F# A

That’s why the move is so cool and smooth; it gives the illusion that you could be slipping from F# major to f# minor, until you suddenly find yourself in the middle of a progression in c#m.

Though of course once you hear the c#m itself, you’re in the middle of a 251 in the original key of B.

This is how music joins up smoothly in harmony - sharing notes between chords to create links between the progressions and using the melody to accentuate certain notes, like a thread woven through the chords. 

bingefeller

Brad said:

bingefeller said:

Funkfingers said:

bingefeller said:

I'm wondering what is happening with this modulation?  How does it move so smooth from the F#7sus4 to the Amaj13?

I'm wondering whether R Kelly composed the song with those exact chord inversions or whether it was the choice of an arranger or the session pianist. e.g. Greg Phillinganes. 

Good thought.  It's hard to say, I'm guessing the session musicians would have a bit of a say over inversions and the like?  I was reading through the album personnel for HIStory on Wikipedia and it seems all the top session players and producers in the music industry at that time were involved in making the album!

Can F#sus and A6 (or Amaj13) be seen as being related in anyway?

Sorry, I'm a bit slow this morning, but where are you getting the A6 from?

viz

bingefeller said:

Brad said:

bingefeller said:

Funkfingers said:

bingefeller said:

I'm wondering what is happening with this modulation?  How does it move so smooth from the F#7sus4 to the Amaj13?

I'm wondering whether R Kelly composed the song with those exact chord inversions or whether it was the choice of an arranger or the session pianist. e.g. Greg Phillinganes. 

Good thought.  It's hard to say, I'm guessing the session musicians would have a bit of a say over inversions and the like?  I was reading through the album personnel for HIStory on Wikipedia and it seems all the top session players and producers in the music industry at that time were involved in making the album!

Can F#sus and A6 (or Amaj13) be seen as being related in anyway?

Sorry, I'm a bit slow this morning, but where are you getting the A6 from?

A13 and A6 are the same chord (A with an F#) - just different voicings. 

bingefeller

viz said:

bingefeller said:

Brad said:

bingefeller said:

Funkfingers said:

bingefeller said:

I'm wondering what is happening with this modulation?  How does it move so smooth from the F#7sus4 to the Amaj13?

I'm wondering whether R Kelly composed the song with those exact chord inversions or whether it was the choice of an arranger or the session pianist. e.g. Greg Phillinganes. 

Good thought.  It's hard to say, I'm guessing the session musicians would have a bit of a say over inversions and the like?  I was reading through the album personnel for HIStory on Wikipedia and it seems all the top session players and producers in the music industry at that time were involved in making the album!

Can F#sus and A6 (or Amaj13) be seen as being related in anyway?

Sorry, I'm a bit slow this morning, but where are you getting the A6 from?

A13 and A6 are the same chord (A with an F#) - just different voicings. 

Ah yes, of course. 

I thought the chord in that MJ tune was Amaj13 - is it an actual A13?