Dexter Theme Song (helping a noob break it down)

[Bigwon]

hiya folks!

before i forget to link it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZQrkLhSgpY

so i was just trying to break down the theme song to dexter, just really curious how it works...what i've been able to gather was:

1) chords (in order):
(1sthalf) emin,fmaj,gmaj,bmaj
(2nd half) emin,fmaj,f#maj,f#sus4,bmaj
now i'm pretty sure that's the just of it, excluding the intro,outro.

Now i'm just wondering what the procedure is called here, I've learned about the shuffle/circle of 5ths were the chords move up by every 5th (jazz,bebop,blues technique) but this seems to be something entirely different.

Like i can almost see it but it's just not quite clear to me.....i can see a connection between the bmaj, f#maj as well as the emin,bmaj......kk that clears up most of the song but what about the fmaj,gmaj chords, they don't seem to coincide with the circle of 5ths rule, at least from what i can make of it.

2)notes:

now another big thing to me....maybe this song is based off of a mode rather then a set of major/minor scales but i couldn't figure it out so far but anywho's.......

in the 1st part when i hit the
-emin chord, in the melody i hit the keys b, and bflat....
-gmaj chord, in the melody i hit the keys d, and dflat.....
now i'm just curious what to make of those flat keys, they sound wonderful as i play them but are they considered off notes to the chords that they are playing alongside?

So far i've mainly been making my music based off of modes rather then the major/minor scales (with rare exceptions) i've been pretty confident with my 'method' of learning, and it hasn't been a big problem as i've been mostly messing with more of a jazz,funk,hiphop,rnb sound and have been able to tackle that mainly by ear, and certain scales/modes (not even sure some of there names) as reference.

but this is just something completely different, and would love some input on this. Is there a particular section in music theory i should take a look at? i feel like this is something i could probably work out easily if i had an experienced player handy, and would probably be the next step in my learning....hehe...

I'll try to reword it if none of this makes sense (i'm not entirely sure what i'm talking about..LOL)

thank you so much!

 

[bandcoach]

Part 2 of your statement is easily answered. The Bb and Db are colour tones in the melody against the underlying chords. Nothing more nothing less. It is fairly common to use semitone decoration of a chord tone in melodic writing of this type (dark, sinister, yet alluringly comic and carnival like). The style owes much to brass band music of the late 1800's and circus music of all periods. Add in a touch of jazz orchestration to round it out and you hit the trifecta: modern, sassy yet ancient beyond knowing.

I'll come back in the am (my time) with a considered response to your analysis. Thanks for putting the link in between me initially looking at this, then downloading three versions to be safe, then coming back (I'd downloaded the one you indicated).

 

[Bigwon]

thank you so much for the responce! i get what your saying, i suppose that raises a quick question....do colour tones only really apply to your standard scales? (major,minor) or would you say they apply to modes as well?

from what i'm gathering modes are just the result of adding colour tones to your major/minor scales, is that correct?

 

[bandcoach]

thank you so much for the responce! i get what your saying, i suppose that raises a quick question....do colour tones only really apply to your standard scales? (major,minor) or would you say they apply to modes as well?

from what i'm gathering modes are just the result of adding colour tones to your major/minor scales, is that correct?

Modes are, by definition, based on scales; as in, you play the 3rd mode of D major to get the F# phrygian mode.

If you stick with authentic uses of modes, then there are no notes allowed from outside the mode.

Colour tones, however, are a compositional choice, and do not rely on any particular scale or mode to be available to you as a composer.

Having had a bit of a further go at transcribing this (amongst getting ready for this afternoons guitar lessons) I can say that it is using the Bb/A#, Db/C# and D as push tones preparing the upwards movement from the resolution notes of B, D and D#.

Back later with some notation and final analysis

---------- Post added 10-21-2011 at 11:16 AM ---------- Previous post was 10-20-2011 at 01:11 PM ----------

So here is the notation and the analysis

Overview
I have chosen 12/8 as the time signature as it was ultimately easier to write it out in 12-8ths than in 8-8ths with triplets everywhere.

In the opening bar we get a strong descending Harmonic minor figure E-D#-C-B marked in the salmon. This is repeated at the lower octave in the next bar.

Bars 3 and 4 bring in the marimba figure (upper part) and the bass line. Nothing special here - the marimba plays decorated EG diads setting the key of E minor more firmly. The bass plays B-E B-E-C-B, setting off a partial cadence before the melody proper starts.

Chromatic notes and non-chord tones
Non-chord tones that are also chromatic tones (from outside the key or key area) are marked in orange throughout. Note that I have marked the first as an A# rather than Bb, this is because it makes the non-chord tone colour function more obvious - A# is the leading tone of B.

In bar 9 the note is C#, which is the leading tone of D.

In bar 11, the note is D natural (could have been C##, but that didn't make much sense, even to me;^)), outside of the chord of B major which has B-D#-F#.

Bar 17 we see the F#7, so the notes are marked as C#-A#-E is the 7th of this chord F#-A#-C#-E marked in light blue.

Bar 19, sees a C# which is outside the chord of B, it could be a passing reference to F#7 again. Bar 20 has the diad of BD#, then AF# (A is the 7th of B)

Bar 21 has a descending chromatic passage from B to E, marked in light green. This is repeated several times over an E minor chord, E-G-B.


Melodic analysis
Language used

In describing intervals we refer to the quality of the interval as well as its notation size.

The quality of the interval can be thought of as, "how many semitones between the two notes do I need to get the sound I want?"

The size of the interval is simply, "how many lines and spaces do I use to show the notes I am using?"

The intervals used in describing this piece can be summarised as follows:

• perfect unison - play the same note
• minor 2nd - play a note one (1) semitone away in the direction indicated - go to the white key if it is a black key, go to the black key if it is a white key or move one fret up or down.
• major 2nd - play a note two (2) semitones away in the direction indicated - move 2 keys or 2 frets.
• minor 3rd - play a note three (3) semitones away in the direction indicated - move 3 keys or 3 frets.
• major 3rd - play a note four (4) semitones away in the direction indicated - move 4 keys or 4 frets.
• perfect 4th - play a note five (5) semitones away in the direction indicated - move 5 keys or 5 frets.
• diminished 5th - play a note six (6) semitones away in the direction indicated - move 6 keys or 6 frets.
• perfect 5th - play a note seven (7) semitones away in the direction indicated - move 7 keys or 7 frets.

I have used minor 2nd where it would be more correct to use augmented or diminished unison, so as to cause less confusion here - augmented means to go up 1 semitone, diminished means to go down one semitone, i.e. the direction and distance are included in the definition. As I am trying to show note direction directly in place without readers having to refer back to this language segment, I felt it better to use the minor 2nd in place of these more descriptive terms. I have inserted AU/DU in parentheses () where they should be used, however, for the sake of completeness.


Analysis
The opening theme in bars 5-8 is E-B-B-A#-B-B-C. This is up a perfect 5th - perfect unison - down a minor 2nd - up a minor 2nd - perfect unison - up a minor 2nd.

This is partially repeated in bars 9 and 10 then extended in bars 11 and 12 as G-D-D-C#-D-B-B-D#-D#-D-D#-B.

The section {C}-G-D-D-C#-D is an exact copy of the opening but now in G major rather than E minor - {down a perfect 4th} - up a perfect 5th - perfect unison - down a minor 2nd - up a minor 2nd.

The phrase then continues {D}-B-B-D#-D#-D-D#-B - {down a minor 3rd} - perfect unison - up a major 3rd - perfect unison - down a minor 2nd (DU) - up a minor 2nd (AU) - down a major 3rd. The range is changed from a 5th to a major 3rd but otherwise the structure of the melody is the same.

Bars 13-20 are an extension of the ideas previously introduced. Bars 13 and 14 only play the first three notes of the main idea and repeat it, continuing to the C in bars 15 and 16: {B}-E-B-B-E-B-B-C: {down a perfect 5th} - up a perfect 5th - perfect unison - down a perfect 5th - up a perfect 5th - perfect unison - up a minor 2nd.

Bar 17 introduces a new idea based on the original idea - {C}-C#-A#-A#-C#-A#-A#-E: {up a minor 2nd} - down a minor 3rd - perfect unison - up a minor 3rd - down a minor 3rd - perfect unison - up a diminished 5th. The phrase C#-A#-A# is an inversion of the idea B-D#-D#.

Bar 19 and 20 continue as {E}-D#-C#-D#-F#: {down a minor 2nd} - down a major 2nd - up a major 2nd - up a minor 3rd (the B and the A are added as harmonic tones from within the current chord of B(7))

Bars 25-34 are an exact repetition.

Bars 35 and 36 sees the melody embellished, by changing the previously held C note to something that is a mimic of bars 17 and 18: {B}-C-A-A-A#-B-C-A-A: {up a minor 2nd} - down a minor 3rd - perfect unison - up a minor 2nd (AU) - up a minor 2nd - up a minor 2nd - down a minor 3rd - perfect unison

Bar 37 to the end are an exact repetition of bars 19-24.

 

[Bigwon]

thank you so much for this! a meaty meal for the brain, going to keep this for reference for awhile i have a feeling i'll learn a good deal from this. good thing i learned how to play it!

 

[Water Land]

Thanks for this. I signed up cuz of this.