The melody lands on the third of this chord on the downbeat (a D), which is probably the most euphonious and safe choice among all chord tones. It is a great chord to begin a verse or chorus. This chord hangs somewhere in between the tension of a dominant (V) and the resolution of a tonic (I). The verse starts on the very emotional subdominant (IV) - Bbmaj. But let’s stick to the music theory of this song here and start with the verse… Verse - „ever since I left the city you…“ Verse of “Hotline Bling” by Drake The beat, the production and the lyrics are other elements emphasizing this feel. Of course harmony is not the only device used to create this defined mood of the song. The constant alternating back and forth between the two chords helps to establish the „no progress“ feel of the song. Chorus and verse only consist of two chords - with the exception of two other chords used as a turnaround at the end of the verse.If you want the mood of your song to be like this, avoid strong tensions and stay clear of chord resolutions like the tonic. Likewise there is not much use of tensions and there is no dynamic arc. The tonic - the most stable chord on the first scale degree - is never stated. Neither real tension nor real resolution happen during the song.Even the bridge (see below) does not speed up or slow down this speed of changing chords. In „Hotline Bling“ the chords change only once per measure - with the half-time feel of the song, this is rather slow.
The harmonic rhythm is how quickly chords change. The harmonic rhythm is slow and does not change throughout the song.The lydian chord has a pretty melancholic feel to it. „Hotline Bling“ starts on and centers around the Bbmaj#11 lydian chord. The important note differentiating a lydian chord from a regular major tonic chord (ionian) is the #11 - the fourth note of its scale. However, many songs don’t emphasize the lydian quality of the subdominant, but „Hotline Bling“ does. By definition, the scale of the subdominant in a major key is lydian.If you want to create intense feelings, start or end your chorus on the subdominant. The subdominant is a very emotional chord in a major key. The song centers around the subdominant or IV in the key of F major.The harmony really helps to establish this mood by employing a few tricks: Drake has just been left by his girl and now bemoans the loss, without really coming to a conclusion or doing something. The whole tune has as a melancholic vibe and a rather static feeling. The key of Drake’s version is F major (or D minor). The sample comes from Timmy Thomas’s “Why Can’t We Live Together“ and was speeded up and pitched a whole step higher. So let’s get started… Overallįirst you should notice, that Drake sampled an old recording from 1974 in the typical hip hop fashion. If you’re lazy, watch my video on YouTube. The idea is to bring the dry topic of music theory to the real world and help you understand why songs like Hotline Bling work and sound like they do. Today I will analyze the song “Hotline Bling“ by Drake in terms of music theory and its harmonic content.
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