Form and Voice Leading in Early Beatles Songs

[0.1] While there are many theoretical studies that apply either voice-leading or formal analyses to popular music, there has as of yet not been a convincing attempt to relate form and voice leading in popular music, as Janet Schmalfeldt (1991) and others have done for 18th- and 19th-century tonal music.(1) In this study, I will make such an attempt, focusing on the early music of the Beatles from their first singles in 1962 through their 1965 album Rubber Soul.(2) I will take as a point of departure Walter Everett's Statement-Restatement-Departure-Conclusion (SRDC) phrase structure introduced in the first volume of The Beatles As Musicians (2001) and examine how this form is presented through the voice-leading structures of the Beatles' songs.(3) This form, which bears a striking resemblance to the classical "sentence" discussed by Schmalfeldt and codified in Caplin 1998, is virtually always "in sync" with the voice leading (as Smith 1996 suggests is necessary), such that the two are mutually reinforcing. I will begin by presenting a general voice-leading model for what I will call SRDC-B form-an AABA form where each A section contains an SRDC form and whose B section is the bridge-and I will discuss the dialogue between this model and various songs from the early Beatles catalog.1. SRDC-B form[1.1] By far the most common form throughout the early Beatles repertoire is AABA form, in which the A sections are "verses" and the B section is the "bridge" or "middle eight."(4) It is common for the final B and A sections to repeat, making the whole form AABABA or sometimes AABAABA. The verses (A sections) usually divide into SRDC phrase structures: a phrase or motive is stated (S) and restated (R), possibly with variations, followed by a third phrase that departs from the first two (D), and finally a concluding phrase (C), which often contains the title of the song in the lyrics.(5) The C phrase usually corresponds to what is commonly called the "refrain," though sometimes the refrain comprises both the D and C phrases. This overall song form, i.e. AABA (or AABABA, etc.) where the A sections divide into SRDC structures, will be called "SRDC-B" form.Example 1. SRDC-B form in "From Me To You"(click to enlarge and see the rest)Example 2. "From Me To You," first verseExample 3. "From Me To You," bridge (0:35)[1.2] For an example, consider the 1963 single "From Me To You," one of the Beatles' first hits. This song has an SRDC-B form-AABAABA in total-which is diagrammed in Example 1. Example 2 gives the first verse of "From Me To You" and shows its SRDC structure: the initial phrase (S) is restated (R) with slight modifications; these are followed by a contrasting phrase (D) and finally a concluding phrase that contains the title of the song (C). Notice that this form is also reflected in the lyrics: the first two lines express the same idea ("If there's anything that you want" and "If there's anything I can do"), the third continues this idea ("Just call on me, and I'll send it along"), and the fourth concludes it ("With love, from me to you.").[1.3] Bridge (B) sections provide both harmonic and melodic contrast to the verses. They virtually always begin away from the tonic, often on IV, and end with a "dominant retransition" on V, which is often tonicized. Example 3 shows the melody and chords of the bridge section of "From Me To You": this section begins with an auxiliary cadence in F major (IV), then proceeds to tonicize G major (V) through its dominant D7.(6) The overall progression in this bridge is therefore IV-V, with the arrival on V (G major) representing the dominant retransition. This motion is seen clearly in the melody, which divides into two parallel phrases, the second of which essentially transposes the first up a whole step. An overall IV-V progression is typical in the Beatles' bridge sections; this and other harmonic and melodic trends are detailed in the following section, which presents a general voice-leading model for SRDC-B form. …