So, I was reading this comment on our facebook page: "You're wrong! that Em in American Pie
is just a vi chord!!" uh..so, wait.. what? The ii/V doesn't exist?! Sure, in the key of G major
the vi chord is an Em chord. But... is an Em chord in G major always the vi chord?
Well today, I want to make a case for why this E minor could be - in the right context -
something else."If you're new to MDecks Music, we create music books and apps, piano arrangements,
and we discuss, improvisation, songwriting, and sometimes... we take music theory to strange and
uncharted places. So subscribe and hit the bell, and join us for exclusive access to our ever expanding
library of music resources." So, in our last video, we did talk about American Pie. We kind of zeroed-in
on the chorus, and illustrated how it was in the key of G [sings song] had all the
earmarks of a key of G song. The one, the IV and the V, but it was until the end of the
chorus that we get into this part.. uh that's that question today. "this will be the day that I die "
That E minor to A7.. "this will be the day that I die..." and then ultimately: E minor to
D7. But it's not this E minor that's the important clue here. It's the A7
after it. In a vacuum, yeah, if you're in the key of G, you would see this E minor and vi chord
all day long. Like it's used in the verse... "long long time ago..." that E minor is a vi chord
all day, but here in the context of what we're doing, at the end of the chorus... "this will be
the day that I die..." it's not a vi chord it's a ii/V. So yeah, I'm going to say that this
E minor in the key of G doesn't always have to be the vi chord. And this is important ,because
writing music is not only about using chords we like, or that feel right. Sure! that's a huge part
of it, but sometimes it's useful to draw ideas from harmonic techniques that we know to be effective.
You know... when you get stuck, and you can't find a chord you like, or you just want to make your
chord progression more interesting. You can always trust and use these techniques to move forward,
and break through any block that you've encountered. So as I said before, the key
to this problem lies in the A7 chord that follows the E minor..."this will be the day that I die..." This
A7 is a secondary dominant - the V/V. See how it precedes the D7 chord in the progression?
Remember, an A chord in the key of G is supposed to be a minor chord - the ii chord - but here, A
is a dominant chord, and is being used as a secondary dominant. And moving from the V/V
to the V, is what we call a half cadence. And here's a bonus for you: If you want to end a
phrase on the V chord effectively, you can always use this half cadence. Don't forget, the V7
to one is the most important cadence in music, because the V7 desperately wants to go
to the one. So it's very tricky to convincingly end a phrase on the V chord. Look, if i play G C D7
it's hard to come up with a melody that ends there because your ears want to go back to
G right away. But if you introduce the A7 before the D which is the V/V
then you're making the D a target, a temporary home.
And now, you can come up with plenty of melodic ideas that would end comfortably on the V chord.
It has a sort of automatic resolution to it, even though in this key
it's our V chord and wants to go back to G. When we listen to American Pie, that's exactly
what the A7 is doing there - creating a half cadence to the D7 chord. And the
phrase ends beautifully allowing the next phrase to start on the one chord with ease.
So what is the E minor that precedes the A7 even doing there? Even further, why is this E minor being
played twice? In total harmony the V7 to one - like we said so many times - it's the most
important chord progression in music, right?We're moving from the most tense region - the dominant
region - to the tonic region - our home. But how did we get to the dominant region in the first place?
Well, the smoothest way is to come from the subdominant region. This clockwise movement around
the tonal landscape is the best way to travel the map. That's why I was playing G C D7 G. To set
your ears to hear G as the tonic. This is a tonic - subdominant - dominant - tonic trip around the map. And
that's why we talk so much about the 4-5-1, or the 2-5-1. Preparing the dominant with the subdominant,
creates a complete picture of the map. It offers the perfect tour around our musical landscape.
The whole point is to see your progression from the perspective of this clockwise movement through
the different regions of the map. A subdominant dominant tonic perspective, that takes you on a
gradual and believable journey through the music. And in the key of D major, the E minor is the ii -
right here - in the subdominant region. So, if we want to make D our home, the best way is to go
around the map by playing E minor to A7 to D. But in the key of G, D is in the dominant region. So if
we want to make D a temporary home, we can use the subdominant to the dominant of D a 2 5 1 in D for
example, and again that's: Em A7 to D. So this Em in American Pie looks like a vi chord
but again, it's not! Sure, the first time we get to it, it feels and sounds like the vi, but as soon as
the A7 comes in, its real purpose is revealed to us. It's like a wormhole in the map. On the first
iteration of Em to A7, the E minor lives in both places at the same time. It functions
as a tonic chord - the vi - but it also functions as a secondary dominant chord - the ii/V
And that's why repeating this progression is crucial. By repeating E minor to A7, we cement
the role of the E minor as the ii/V. This E minor is no longer a tonic chord, it is no longer
aeolian. It's now a dorian sounding chord - a related ii. The ii/V. The only problem in American
Pie is that, the A7 is not used the second time. The progression goes straight from E minor to D7. So, is
this E minor back to being a vi chord? or has the precedingii/V to V movement completely
changed our perspective of this E minor chord. Can we still talk about a half cadence in this case?
Moving from the subdominant to the tonic is known as a plagal cadence.
So, is this a plagal half cadence? Let us know what you think in the comments down below. Hope this was
helpful and of course we will post related content for our exclusive members if you're not a member
yet you can become one by clicking on the join button or the link provided if you like content
like this we have plenty of awesome books and apps on our website mdex.com and by the way if you get
there and we're not on sale don't get anything right away instead make sure to subscribe to our
mailing list we do a sale every month and you can only find out about them through our email list
so go to index.com and subscribe thanks again for watching and we'll catch you next time