Unchained Melody Tutorial
the 1-6-4-5 progression
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Unchained Melody tutorial
"Unchained Melody" was written in 1955 with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret.
North used the music as a theme for the little-known prison film Unchained, hence the name. It has since become one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, by some estimates having spawned over 500 versions in hundreds of different languages.
Les Baxter released an instrumental version which reached #1.
Then came song recordings by Al Hibbler reaching #3 on the Billboard charts; Jimmy Young which hit #1 in the United Kingdom; and Roy Hamilton , reaching #1 on the R&B Best Sellers list and #6 on the pop chart. Hundreds of other recordings followed.
However, it was the July 1965 version by The Righteous Brothers that became a jukebox standard for the late 20th century, achieving a second round of great popularity when it was featured in the 1990 blockbuster film Ghost.
In 1955, Alex North and lyricist Hy Zaret were contracted to write a song as a theme for the obscure prison film Unchained, and their song eventually became known as the "Unchained Melody".
The song does not actually include the word "unchained", and songwriter Zaret chose instead to focus his lyrics on someone who pines for a lover he has not seen in a "long, lonely time"
The 1955 film centers around a man who contemplates either escaping from prison to live life on the run, or completing his sentence and returning to his wife and family. One mans marriage is another mans prison sentence. please forgive my editorial attempt at humor...
One of the side effects of doing these popular song tutorials is that I get to learn all this interesting history on the songs I have been playing for years.
However the real reason I am sharing this is because of visitor requests for the song and because it is yet another example of the common chord progressions that make up much of popular music.
unchained melody tutorial - the chord progression
As you can see from the chord chart below the verse is a simple I-VI-IV-V (1-6-4-5) progression.
This is a close relative of the 1-6-2-5 progression and indeed, in this case the F major chord could be substituted by a Dm7 chord as both will give you that sub dominant sound. A Dm7 chord is just an Fmaj triad with a D note added to the bass.
Two other things to note is the iii minor (E minor) chord in measure 20 and the Eb chord which is played twice during the bridge.
If you are looking for the function of the Eb chord, I would call it the b7 chord in the key of F as we have shifted briefly to that key for the bridge.
The song has an unusual harmonic device in that the bridge ends on the tonic chord, rather than the more usual dominant.
In this Unchained Melody tutorial I have included a video below to help you out so you can see the chords played. The video I will also discuss the feel of the song and give you a great exercise to help you learn this progression easily in all your favorite keys.
Hope you got something from the video and will take the time to leave me a comment, question or suggestion for more songs or free lessons I can create to to help you along the way.
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4 Steps to Learning How to Play Any Song on the Piano 1. Determining the melody - Melodies determine what chords will be played. If you can use your ear to figure out what notes are being played in the melody, you are 1/4 on your way to learning a song! More resources on learning how to determine melodies 2.Harmonizing the melody - Once you have figured out the melody (using some of my techniques on the resource page), it is time to harmonize it. This is simply choosing various chords to accompany the melody. There are several techniques and tricks to doing this. More resources on learning how to harmonize melodies 3. Altering Chords - This is the best part! Now that you have strategically figured out the melody to a song and have harmonized it, altering your chords to produce certain sounds is the next step. If you were playing gospel music, you would alter your chords differently than if you were playing classical or country music. More resources on altering chords 4. Listening - After you have determined the melody, harmonized the melody, and altered some of your chords, there are various techniques you can use to make sure that your song sounds right. More resources on listening techniques I personally recommend "The Secrets to Playing Piano By Ear" 300-pg Course and through my relationship with Jermaine (the author of this course), I've been able to get him to throw in a few bonus items (3 additional piano software programs). He has taught literally thousands of musicians how to play the piano by ear. If you understood just half of what he discussed above, you'll definitely benefit from his 300-pg course. Click here to learn the secrets to playing absolutely any song on the piano in virtually minutes! I highly recommend it. |
Best Home Study for "Ear Players"
After checking out dozens of home study courses that teach you to play by ear and focus on chord progressions I am convinced that the folks at Hear and Play have the best, most well rounded program available for just about all styles of music from Gospel to Jazz. Read my review or visit Hear and Play for more information.
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