{"content": "Music Theory For Songwriters - 30 Minute Full Lesson"
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Most songwriters learn basic chord progressions by trial and error, but professional musicians use advanced harmonic tools that most hobby players never discover. Rick Beato, a well-known music educator, offers a masterclass in analyzing The Beatles' "I'm the Walrus" to reveal how John Lennon secretly used borrowed chords and secondary dominants—techniques that explain why certain chord progressions sound unexpectedly sophisticated.
The Major Key Formula
In any major key, seven chords exist. The pattern is remarkably consistent: chords built on the first, fourth, and fifth scale degrees are major. Chords on the second, third, and sixth degrees are minor. The seventh chord is diminished.
For example, in the key of A major:
- One chord (A major): Major
- Two chord (B minor): Minor
- Three chord (C# major): Minor
- Four chord (D major): Major
- Five chord (E major): Major
- Six chord (F# minor): Minor
- Seven chord (G# diminished): Diminished
This pattern holds true across all major keys. Once you know the notes of any major scale, you can derive its companion chords instantly.
Secondary Dominant Chords
Beyond these basic triads lies a more advanced category: secondary dominant chords. These are chords that don't belong to the primary key but relate to it through a specific harmonic function.
A secondary dominant works like this: if you're playing a minor chord on the second degree, you can borrow a major chord from its corresponding scale degree—a "five of two" chord that creates temporary tension before resolving downward. These borrowed chords appear constantly in pop, rock, jazz, and classical music.
The most common secondary dominants connect to the four chord (the "five of four"), the three chord ("five of three"), and the five chord ("five of five"). They add color and movement that simple major key progressions lack.
Borrowed From Parallel Minor
Beyond secondary dominants, songwriters frequently borrow chords from the parallel minor key—the relative minor that shares the same root note. In A major, that's A minor; in C major, that's C minor.
These borrowed chords create dramatic harmonic shifts. For instance, if you're writing in A major but use a C major chord (which belongs to A minor), you've borrowed it from the parallel minor. This technique is extremely common in rock music—listen to the end of "Stairway to Heaven" and you'll hear borrowed chords creating that unmistakable progression.
Case Study: "I'm the Walrus"
The Beatles' "I'm the Walrus" demonstrates all these techniques in action. The song begins on A major—the one chord—but immediately introduces a C major chord, which is the "flat three" major, not native to A major at all. This borrowed chord from the parallel minor creates an unexpected harmonic twist.
John Lennon then uses a five-of-four chord (A7), inverted with G in the bass—a technique that adds motion and interest. The progression moves through flat three major, four major, back to one, creating a cycle that feels both familiar and surprising.
The song continues using borrowed chords from A minor alongside secondary dominants. These aren't mistakes or lack of knowledge—they're deliberate choices by Lennon that make the composition richer.
"You're borrowing this chord and using it for your song."
Counterpoints
Some music theorists argue that analyzing pop songs through academic theory risks overreading—suggesting that Lennon may not have consciously applied these concepts. Others contend that calling certain progressions "borrowed" is unnecessarily technical when simply describing them as "interesting choices" serves listeners better.
Bottom Line
Beato's analysis offers a genuine framework for understanding why some chord progressions sound uniquely compelling. His strongest insight: professional songwriters use borrowed chords and secondary dominants constantly, creating harmonic interest that goes well beyond basic major key formulas. The vulnerability is that this level of theory remains largely invisible to casual listeners—until someone decodes it for them. Anyone writing songs would benefit from studying these patterns, then listening for them in the music they love.