{"title":"Billy Joel的Enharmonic Duplicity","authors":"A. Aziz","doi":"10.30535/mto.28.2.1","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This article investigates Billy Joel’s chromatic excursions in his contemplative songs, many of which infuse modal mixture chromaticism against a prevailing major key backdrop. In particular, I spotlight Joel’s exploration of “enharmonic duplicity,” in which chromaticism reflects the complexity of human nature through enharmonic transformations. Part 1 explores enharmonicism in “Honesty,” the first of several analyzed B♭ major songs that reinterpret mixture scale degrees (\".fn_flat('').fn_scaledegree(3).\" and \".fn_flat('').fn_scaledegree(6).\") along its route; I also consider how Joel introduces mixture in his opening descending bass lines. Part 2 explores the harmonic and functional ambiguity in the complex song, “Laura.” Part 3 considers the enharmonic complexities of “Vienna” through the lens of the opening bar’s augmented triad; I also consider comparative examples of augmented triads in “Zanzibar” and “Where’s the Orchestra?”. In response to Joel’s vast exposure to the common-practice canon, my approach fuses perspectives from nineteenth-century music with contemporary theories of pop/rock harmony.","PeriodicalId":44918,"journal":{"name":"Music Theory Online","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Billy Joel’s Enharmonic Duplicity\",\"authors\":\"A. Aziz\",\"doi\":\"10.30535/mto.28.2.1\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"This article investigates Billy Joel’s chromatic excursions in his contemplative songs, many of which infuse modal mixture chromaticism against a prevailing major key backdrop. In particular, I spotlight Joel’s exploration of “enharmonic duplicity,” in which chromaticism reflects the complexity of human nature through enharmonic transformations. Part 1 explores enharmonicism in “Honesty,” the first of several analyzed B♭ major songs that reinterpret mixture scale degrees (\\\".fn_flat('').fn_scaledegree(3).\\\" and \\\".fn_flat('').fn_scaledegree(6).\\\") along its route; I also consider how Joel introduces mixture in his opening descending bass lines. Part 2 explores the harmonic and functional ambiguity in the complex song, “Laura.” Part 3 considers the enharmonic complexities of “Vienna” through the lens of the opening bar’s augmented triad; I also consider comparative examples of augmented triads in “Zanzibar” and “Where’s the Orchestra?”. In response to Joel’s vast exposure to the common-practice canon, my approach fuses perspectives from nineteenth-century music with contemporary theories of pop/rock harmony.\",\"PeriodicalId\":44918,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Music Theory Online\",\"volume\":\" \",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.4000,\"publicationDate\":\"2022-06-01\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Music Theory Online\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.30535/mto.28.2.1\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"艺术学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"0\",\"JCRName\":\"MUSIC\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Music Theory Online","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.30535/mto.28.2.1","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"MUSIC","Score":null,"Total":0}
This article investigates Billy Joel’s chromatic excursions in his contemplative songs, many of which infuse modal mixture chromaticism against a prevailing major key backdrop. In particular, I spotlight Joel’s exploration of “enharmonic duplicity,” in which chromaticism reflects the complexity of human nature through enharmonic transformations. Part 1 explores enharmonicism in “Honesty,” the first of several analyzed B♭ major songs that reinterpret mixture scale degrees (".fn_flat('').fn_scaledegree(3)." and ".fn_flat('').fn_scaledegree(6).") along its route; I also consider how Joel introduces mixture in his opening descending bass lines. Part 2 explores the harmonic and functional ambiguity in the complex song, “Laura.” Part 3 considers the enharmonic complexities of “Vienna” through the lens of the opening bar’s augmented triad; I also consider comparative examples of augmented triads in “Zanzibar” and “Where’s the Orchestra?”. In response to Joel’s vast exposure to the common-practice canon, my approach fuses perspectives from nineteenth-century music with contemporary theories of pop/rock harmony.
期刊介绍:
Music Theory Online is a journal of criticism, commentary, research and scholarship in music theory, music analysis, and related disciplines. The refereed open-access electronic journal of the Society for Music Theory, MTO has been in continuous publication since 1993. New issues are published four times per year and include articles, reviews, commentaries, and analytical essays. In addition, MTO publishes a list of job opportunities and abstracts of recently completed dissertations.