Caroline No: The Chords, Song Form, and Composition Techniques (Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys)

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Caroline No: The Chords, Song Form, and Composition Techniques (Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys)

Рет қаралды 2,759

Күн бұрын

Tim Smolens breaks down the complex chord progression, song form and more of Brian Wilson's Caroline No, off the legendary Beach Boys Pet Sounds album. Tim goes over the unique chords with the odd bass notes and extensions that create an ambiguity of tonal center. This lesson also discusses the production, orchestration, and lyrical themes of this landmark tune.
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Пікірлер: 28

@TimSmolens 3 ай бұрын

Join Tim's online conservatory on Patreon (High Castle Conservatory). This is the best way to support Tim's efforts to create more music education content and get exclusive lessons. www.patreon.com/hccmusic Explore and buy albums from Tim's 50's/60's & Beach Boys-inspired group I.S.S. albums on Bandcamp timsmolens.bandcamp.com/ Explore and buy the albums of Tim's genre-defying sci-fi prog band with an all-star international roster, High Castle Teleorkestra. highcastleteleorkestra.bandcamp.com/ Explore Tim's KZfaq channel playlists and subscribe to his channel. kzfaq.info Check out Tim's website and sign up for the email list. timsmolens.com/

@RC_991 3 ай бұрын

There's a great live version of this on The Beach Boys In Concert (1973) with Carl Wilson on lead vocals and a sublime 70s jazz arrangement.

@jefforing Ай бұрын

Thanks for this fantastic video! Brian wrote this song when he was in his early 20’s. That blows my mind, along with God Only Knows, The Warmth of the Sun, & so many more!

@nathansalmon8192 3 күн бұрын

I feel exactly the same way. See my comment on this video.

@DukeIrritable 3 ай бұрын

Great work Tim. Another way of characterising the first two chords is Em7 (first inversion) to Dm7 (third inversion). An argument against V to ii7 is that there is no flat 7 (ie, f) in the G chord. If you add the b7 to convert the chord to G13, it doesn't quite sound correct. But if you simply play Em7 to Dm7 in first inversions, the chords fit the melody just fine. Two chromatic chord changes add to the beauty of the harmony: Em7 to Gm7, and Am to Fm7 (ie Ab6). There's a lot of delicious ambiguity in the music - amazing work from such a young, self-taught musician.

@zankaptah 3 ай бұрын

I would've thought the verse is in G if I analyzed it myself (G Mixolydian) but I remember from a previous video that you're not a big modes guy. Theoretically it's of course easier to think in C major. For my ear the end of the verse sounds like it briefly modulates into F. The chorus is definitely in C major / relative A minor. In terms of song form it's easily the most simple one on Pet Sounds. I'd say "That's Not Me" has a simpler arrangement (just organ, bass, guitars, drums and percussion) but the song form is much more complex than "Caroline No". Keep up the amazing work, this channel is a goldmine for Beach Boys fans and songwriters alike.

@nathansalmon8192 3 күн бұрын

I agree with your comment about keys. See my own comment.

@jamesdoctor8079 3 ай бұрын

Great work man! I’ve learned so much from your channel. This is my favorite Brian song

@danielfleming9630 3 ай бұрын

Great video, like the more digestible length!

@magnets7112 3 ай бұрын

Another great one! Thanks so much, TIM!

@markeliasof1830 3 ай бұрын

This is a nice video, and you do a good job of showing the sadness / ambivalence of the chords. Importantly the G bass goes to C over and over on the verse, with the Dm/C defeating the expectation of the I chord resolution. The point I think you could have added was that after the IIm V of IV, the Fmaj9 is really a C chord over F bass, leaving both the memory of the key and the unresolved nature of the tune. I think it’s an important point of the song and clearly a pause for reflection

@flaredrake8058 3 ай бұрын

Tim, thanks for sharing. Would love to see you analyze a Stevie Wonder tune someday!

@ronaldzilli2005 3 ай бұрын

Your doing great work, thanks

@gsnsiqueira 3 ай бұрын

Great! Congratulations from Brazil

@johnmcnichol8330 3 ай бұрын

Great job!

@breft3416 3 ай бұрын

Nice!

@nathansalmon8192 3 күн бұрын

Thanks very much for this. Why don’t you identify the third chord as an inversion of F6 rather than Dm/C? The verse feels to me like G6 (then adding a tone in passing) to F6 (then a short base riff) then repeat: G6 to F6. Later there's also that beautiful Ab6 leading back to G6-F6. I feel the song as something of a 6th-chord fest. Of course, both G and F are in the key of C. However, my own view is that this song doesn’t have just one key, and that it also doesn’t “change keys” in the usual sense of modulation of the same melody. It is a quilt work of significant sections, each in its own key--first G, then F, then C, maybe even briefly Am--with creative transitions joining one section to the next. The mixolydian pattern of I-to-bVII-then-repeat was often used in the 60s California surf genre (think "Endless Summer Theme") & occurs in other Brian Wilson compositions (e.g., the coda of "In My Room"). "Caroline No" isn't just a pretty, poignant ballad. It is a marvel of rule-breaking creativity and beauty. It is a song for the ages.

@waynegram8907 3 ай бұрын

TIM SMOLENS, try to listen to the albums pet sounds & Smile to make a lesson about how brian wilson uses Slash Chords because he uses Slash chords for certain reasons

@TimSmolens 3 ай бұрын

I'm assuming sarcasm here because a large amount of my videos are about that indeed?

@waynegram8907 3 ай бұрын

@@TimSmolens yes but I mean just focusing only on the slash chords and why he is using the slash chords. Mostly he uses the root note of the previous chord to be the same slash chords root note. Example if the previous chord is G and next slash chord would be G in the bass. Other types Brian Wilson will keep the same chord but will only change the bass note root to create slash chords also. What I'm saying is try to find when he uses slash chords in beach boys much to make a top 10 brian wilson HABITS of using slash chords because I'm interested in his Trademark HABITS on how he uses slash chords to learn the concepts of how he uses slash chords in a video lesson about help me out a lot.

@waynegram8907 3 ай бұрын

@@TimSmolens 2-5-1 is a normal harmonic progression but Brian Wilson often goes 5-2-1 which is reverse retroprogressions in classical theory this is to be avoided and a bad thing to do but if you look its V-ii which is a VAMP so its ok to do retro progressions for VAMPS section but for more than 2 chord changes to do harmonic progressions backwards in reverse is breaking the rules of classic theory but some composers did do this but there are theory rules to follow when retro progression sections happen. You should research about harmonic progressions breaking the rules like V-II or V-ii to see what the rules are to follow to make a lesson about them because Brian Wilson knew about the harmonic chord progression charts and how to follow the rules to going backwards in chord progressions for a harmonic structure rules it most classic theory books there is a harmonic progression FLOW CHARTS

@rome8180 3 ай бұрын

Yeah, I definitely think it's in C major. I tend not to work that stuff out theoretically. I just sing the note that sounds most resolved and then see what that note is in the piano. If you sing a C after listening to this, it sounds at rest.

@familysounds 3 ай бұрын

Tim, your job is superb. You talk with so much knoledge about details that are not easy to find ensewhere. Don't make your videos shorter to adapt tiktoc ethics... I sugest u divide into chapters. Ou make two versions. They saud to Mozart: Too many notes! And Mozart replied: Which ones would u take out??.. Abraço!

@smujiodome 3 ай бұрын

great album but the reverb sound puts me off for some reason,,

@Gusrikh1 3 ай бұрын

C9sus4 would be a C11.

@elrondhubbard9127 3 ай бұрын

Is it? Wouldn't "sus" imply the 3rd is replaced by the 4th?

@casparuskruger4807 2 ай бұрын

@@elrondhubbard9127 Yes it would. I have seen this chord notated both ways over the years. It seems the 11th symbol is used just for the sake of brevity, although it assumed that the 3rd is omitted and the 9th included when playing an 11th chord.