Community Song Analysis 04 | Signed, Sealed, Delivered (Patreon)

Published:

2022-02-04 01:01:36

Imported:

2022-05

Content

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Hi Everyone,
Instead of a writing challenge this week, I'm opting for a song analysis. However, scroll to the bottom for a writing challenge related to this post!

The song I want you to figure out is Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Stevie Wonder, one of my all time favorite artists. This song was recorded at Hitsville U.S.A. Studio A in Detroit in 1969 and 1970, not far from where I live right now. I had the honor of being in the room where this was recorded! Gives me goosebumps when I think about it!

I'd recommend paying close attention to how the bass line and chords interact. There are some cool modal things going on and the bass line lets you in on it.

For song analysis, I don't require you to figure anything out by ear, but you're welcome to go about it that way if its fun for you. I think for some of you, that would be a really fun challenge. For those of you who don't want to, you can google chords and things and play along a bit and see how that feels.

Here are the things I'm looking for that you're welcome to post on the community forum:

1. What key is this song in?
2. What is the arrangement of the song? Intro-verse-chorus. etc
3. What are the chord progressions for each section?
- if you wanna get more specific, continue -
4. How is the bass line interacting with the chords (eg. R 5 6 7 or something)
5. Are the chords triads or 7th chords? How does that change the key or modality?

BONUS--------
WRITE A LITTLE MUSICAL *BLURB BASED ON SOMETHING YOU LEARNED FROM THIS SONG. IT COULD BE A CHORD PROGRESSION, A BASS LINE, A MELODY - SOMETHING SIMPLE - EXPLAIN WHAT YOU LEARNED FROM THIS SONG AND HOW YOU APPLIED THAT TO YOUR MUSICAL BLURB

*a wrote the word "blurb" to really make this a low-pressure situation. It could be a five second iphone recording. It could be a post about a brief melodic or bass line concept that you recorded an example of.

HAVE FUN!