Monday
I listed to a Brighton based musician's band today, Too Many Kicks by Howe's 3 (Howe's 3).
This track just sounded perfect in my opinion, and it is using a grand piano sound instead of an electronic keyboard like the other tracks I listened to. This might change my mind regarding what piano sound I plan to use in the upcoming album.
Tuesday
I listend to The List by Moonchild (NPR Records) extensively and attempted to learn the chord progression of the track, and this is the result below:
One trait I immediately noticed from this track is the extensive use of sus chords and extensions, all but one chords in this track feature 9th, #11 or 13th features extensions, and the tune will not sound the same without them. As for sus chords, some people will look at them as slash chords, for example, G#13sus is essentially a F#major7th/G#, but I personally view them as sus chords. Last but not least, there are also many chord progressions moving down in semitones such as B to Bb and F# to F.
This research helped me understand the essence of Neo soul much better than before.
Thursday
I decided to view an transcription done by an Youtube educator (Gifted Hands Music) and compare it to my own:
Overall my transcription seemed to be fairly accurate. First of all, the last chord from the intro is a D-9 instead of FM7, I got them mixed up because D-9 is essentially a FM7 with a D in the bass. Secondly, the first chord of the verse is a B9sus instead of B-9. Lastly, the 4th chord of the verse is a C9 instead of C7#5, which is a big difference, I do not know why I mixed them up initially.
Bibliography
Howe's 3, 2020. Too Many Kicks. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G3fS1VRJ_0> [Accessed 12 March 2020].
NPR Records, 2020. Moonchild: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_ymY0xG0LI&t=39s> [Accessed 9 March 2020].
Gifted Hands Music, 2019. MOONCHILD THE LIST | NEO SOUL Piano Tutorial. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRy2MGvv3cI> [Accessed 12 March 2020].