Snouter
Can You Smell Me
- Aug 3, 2013
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Folks, I have been studying Wichita Lineman the past week or so. I have not found Jimmy Webb documentation on it. I wish he would do a video about it in regards to music theory. There are many sheet music attempts and numerous folk guitarists and piano players with their versions. None that I have encountered have explained it properly.
Like with most music three harmonic things are happening, bass on the bottom, chords in the middle and melody on the top. Jimmy Webb points out in his book Tunesmith, bass is not always the root of the chord, chords can be inversions and slash chords. This creates certain tension, release and direction of the tonality, but the thing that gives the most information is the melody.
As I study it, there are two verses that cycle three times in Wichita Lineman. In the first verse, based on the melody the key is C Mixolydian and modulations to C Lydian at the end of the first verse. Notes of the scales: Bb goes to B and F goes to F#. That is just the first verse. The second verse has a variation of the descending D pattern found in many guitar rock songs, White Room, Tales of Brave Ulysses, Needle and the Damage Done, Can't Find My Way Home, Hymn #43, Over The Hills and Far Away and in many more.
Jimmy Webb mentions that the song was not 100% finished when he sent it to Glenn Campbell and The Wrecking Crew. And that seems to be evident when studying it. The Fmaj7 (F Ionian is same set of notes as C Mixolydian) of the intro never happens again. The first verse chord is BbMaj7 in 5th position the guitar. Every video of Glenn Campbell that is where he plays it. The allows for some cool chromatic descending notes.
More info to follow!
Like with most music three harmonic things are happening, bass on the bottom, chords in the middle and melody on the top. Jimmy Webb points out in his book Tunesmith, bass is not always the root of the chord, chords can be inversions and slash chords. This creates certain tension, release and direction of the tonality, but the thing that gives the most information is the melody.
As I study it, there are two verses that cycle three times in Wichita Lineman. In the first verse, based on the melody the key is C Mixolydian and modulations to C Lydian at the end of the first verse. Notes of the scales: Bb goes to B and F goes to F#. That is just the first verse. The second verse has a variation of the descending D pattern found in many guitar rock songs, White Room, Tales of Brave Ulysses, Needle and the Damage Done, Can't Find My Way Home, Hymn #43, Over The Hills and Far Away and in many more.
Jimmy Webb mentions that the song was not 100% finished when he sent it to Glenn Campbell and The Wrecking Crew. And that seems to be evident when studying it. The Fmaj7 (F Ionian is same set of notes as C Mixolydian) of the intro never happens again. The first verse chord is BbMaj7 in 5th position the guitar. Every video of Glenn Campbell that is where he plays it. The allows for some cool chromatic descending notes.
More info to follow!
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