Via Chicago - Wilco

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:18:00 +0000

Ok, so here is my first song analysis/transcription on this blog. I actually figured this song out a while a go but have not written it out until now. the song is Via Chicago by Wilco and it comes off the album "Summerteeth."

This one is pretty easy, it is in the key of D major and the whole song is just a I V IV progression over and over again with either lyrics, or little instrumental riffs played over it.

For those that do not know what the roman numeral mean, heres the breakdown. In a major key you have seven chords that are made completely from notes of that key. You may choose the triad versions of these chords (which is the case in this song) or chords with the 7ths and other tensions. So for the key of D major...

I = Dmaj (maj7)

II = Emin (min7)

III = F#min (min7)

IV = Gmaj (maj7)

V = Amaj (7)

VI = Bmin (min7)

VII = C#dim (min7 b5)

These chords are created by stacking the notes of a D major scale in thirds.

For this song we will not need the things in parentheses those are what the chords would be if we used the 7ths.

Ok, now that we have the very brief theory lesson out of the way. The song starts with guitar playing the chords D, A, G the first two for one measure each the last one for two to make a four bar phrase like this.

||:D | A |G | :||

This chord progression is repeated throughout the song.

First comes the verse, then with an instrumental were a synth plays basically this melody with a little added chord harmony below:

Then the same cycle repeats a few time throughout the verses, then later the instrumental part changes to this guitar riff:

The same chord progression is used during the chorus then their is a little improvised piano interlude over the main changes followed by another verse.

And that's the song!

That is the basic structure of the song so just follow along with the recording and it'll take no time to learn it.

Note: there is a part where the drums go crazy under the guitar but the same feel is kept.

Hello, and greetings from the internets.

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 01:12:00 +0000

I decided to try this out very recently, about 2am last night to be exact. I've never done any sort of blogging before, except Xanga way back in the days before there was Facebook or Myspace. But that was only because friends were on it. But up until now I've never had anything I really considered worth writing about.

But I wast thinking, since I spend most of my time practicing (guitar) and amongst working on many other things for school, I often figure out songs I enjoy.

I figured I should start keeping track of stuff I learn so that I don't forget it, and thats where this here blog comes in. I decided that I would publish the songs I figure out on here with a quick analysis, in order to have something tangible to look back at and, most importantly...

Let others who love the same music I do share in learning about it along with me.

I'll be open for suggestions of songs. Suggestions may not happen until the summer when I have a little more free time, but I'll get there.

So, I'm not going to post any full albums or be a music blog that will most likely get shut down due to copyright infringement. But I will post the tonality, and chord progression, along with essential riffs and licks to songs I like and people suggest.

I decided to do this rather than just post the tab somewhere because I find it very valuable to know what is going on in a song rather than just how to play it.

So if you are interested in the idea, feel free to subscribe and see how you like it. It may be slow going for the next couple of months or so but hopefully soon it will go faster.

I'm hoping to have my first song up in the next day or two, so check back regularly.

Picture for Peter

Via Chicago - Wilco

Hello, and greetings from the internets.