paperback writer (1966)
The Beatles. Rock/Pop, United Kingdom.
key: G mixolydian
mode: G A B C D E F
melody: s t d r m f s’ l’ t’
form: verse-chorus
meter: duple
English function names: tonic subdominant
Tagg (modified): home counterpoise (away)
Riemann: T S
Scale degrees: I IV
Chords: G Cchorus:
C G C
|/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |
G
|/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |
verse:
G
|/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |
G
|/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |
C G
|/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |
outro: jam on GHow do we know that this song is in G mixolydian and not C major, seeing as the song starts on a C major chord and the two scales have the same pitch set? I went into more details on how to differentiate tonic-subdominant from tonic-dominant in this post. Here I'll just focus on how this particular song emphasizes G as the tonic.
Simply looking at time spent on the chords, G gets 15 measures out of 20 in just a single chorus and verse. Both sections end on G, the chorus ends with a whole phrase of it. The verse begins with two phrases of G. Just in terms of time allowance, G wins.
Another aspect to look at is when the change in chords happen. In the verse, the C happens in the beginning of the last phrase — it’s a good counterpoise position. It's similar to what I named "four, two, and two" in this post, except in this case it's four-four-two-two (perhaps a nod to 12-bar blues). There's a long time at home, then a little visit somewhere else and then straight back home.
The chorus happening at the beginning of the song is where the potential ambiguity lies, right in that first phrase, which is mostly C. The melody here helps establish G as the tonic: The first “paperback writer” is do-re-mi-mi-re, and re is part of the G chord; this is answered by another “paperback writer” on so-la-ti-ti-so, so and ti being part of the G chord. When this answer goes down to mi at the end, it is part of the C chord, but does not sound final. The guitar jam over G for the next four measures, however, does sound final, like this is the home place.
Time allowed to a certain chord, where in the structure chords change, and what notes are emphasized melodically are things to look and listen for when deciding what key a song is in and how the chords function.