Comments on: The Supertonic in Nirvana’s Nevermind

By: Moses Ramirez

Moses Ramirez — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:15:08 +0000

I’ve always loved Nirvana’s use of chords. Nice job on the mash-up. That I-bVI-IV progression is a pretty powerful one. I recently noticed it in the Würm section of Yes’s “Starship Trooper”.

By: Olle Carlsson

Olle Carlsson — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:54:31 +0000

Theory this or that, I say he was just messing around with the “minor third” all over the place and putting in some major notes… mashing heart an terr is really nothing to compare, then you could mix in 50 other songs of him too that would flow within it…. the most brilliant thing ever would be the lithium, starting of major, and once hitting the “C” on the guitar, it just blows you away… a godlike example of mixing minor/major…

By: trevordeclercq

trevordeclercq — Wed, 02 May 2007 12:58:34 +0000

Thanks for the response, Sylvain. I hope to do more posts on Nirvana in the future. Feel free to make suggestions on any topics you think would be interesting. Sorry I haven’t posted in awhile….just been a little bogged down with schoolwork this semester.

By: sylvain

sylvain — Wed, 02 May 2007 06:12:48 +0000

oh hell yeah, great post. Nirvana is one of my favorites and it’s a shame that every “musical look” into the band simplay talks about influence and puts down the music. I love how Nirvana uses interesting chords, melodies, and solos and I can’t wait to hear more that you gleam from them.

thanks!
s

By: trevordeclercq

trevordeclercq — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 23:20:10 +0000

Gotta say that I agree with you, Mitch. I updated the post to reflect your observation. I had maybe listened a little too casually. The main vocal part is alternating between F# and G-natural, which are the ^5 and ^b6 of B, so I think I just assumed it was a minor chord based on the flat-6 neighbor note in the vocal line.

But the chords are really just power chords. In fact, if anything, I might go out on a limb to say that the B was a major chord instead of a minor chord based on the overtones that the power chord is creating. It’s probably more harmonically interesting, too, to have a B-major chord with the minor inflection in the vocal part. There is really a whole lot more to talk about with Nirvana and melody/harmony; hopefully I’ll get a chance to dig deeper later on.

By: Mitch

Mitch — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 15:24:01 +0000

Good post as always, Trevi.
My ears aren’t as finely-tuned as yours, but I don’t hear that minor 3rd on the B in “Drain You.” Sounds to me like they’re just playing the power chord from D to B. But maybe that’s just because the vocal harmonies are masking it (I can’t imagine Nirvana ever singing that 3rd in the vocals—it would sound too wimpy).

By: trevordeclercq

trevordeclercq — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 21:25:19 +0000

Glad you enjoyed the post, Xtian.

Mashing up those last two songs was pretty tricky, but now that I’ve done it once, future mash-ups should be easier. I really should buy some higher quality time-stretching/pitch-shifting software.

I think I maybe had a little too much technical gobbledygook in the last post. Did I spell gobbledygook correctly?

Ho-tally!

By: Christian

Christian — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 17:15:33 +0000

Hey Trev,

Great post. It’s great fun to see and hear you applying your fancy-schmancy music theory to all of this great pop music, and helping us more simple-minded folk to understand why we love this music.

The mash-up is a nice addition, and another effective way of illustrating these musical similarities and consistencies. Good show.

Tally-ho.

Christian