The “Sentimental Chord Change” in The Beatles and McCartney

Posted On May 23, 2020

So what exactly is the “sentimental chord change”? It is the move from subdominant chord (IV) to the altered minor subdominant chord (IVm or iv) in a major key. I call it the “major-minor subdominant switch” in my books:

In the key of C major, it means switching from the chord of F major to the chord of F minor.

In the chord of G major, it means moving from the chord of C major to C minor.

The Sentimental Chord Change in The Beatles

The most obvious example of this chord change occurs in the song In My Life, which was largely penned by John Lennon.

At the end of each verse-refrain, we hear Lennon singing the word “life” on an expressive melisma:

Can you hear the sentimental effect of the D major to D minor chord change and then the more assertive and bright “some have changed”?

The poignancy of the moment is reinforced by two additional vocal harmony parts. The top harmony part drops from F# to F natural, reinforcing the major-minor subdominant shift.

Early 1970s Examples

This major-minor subdominant shift found a place in a number of hits in the early 1970s, and the emotional effect of the chord change is broadly the same – a tug at the heartstrings.

Listen here to its use in the song Save Your Kisses For Me, which Britain’s winning entry in the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest. It was written in 1974 by band member Lee Sheridan. Although in 2020, its simple charm may come across as somewhat quaint, there is no escaping the fact that it one of the UK’s best-selling singles, with over a million sales.

The sentimental chord change comes is heard for the first time at 0:16. We are in the key of G major and the subdominant chord of C major switches to C minor. The emotional effect is immediately reinforced by repetition – the female backing singers repeat the phrase at the octave.

In addition, the effect is bolstered by the use of an appoggiatura on the words “love you”, with a fall from D4 to C4 over the chord of C minor:

Also note the very last chord of the song – the tonic major seventh chord – the ultimate “dreamy” end to a song steeped in 70s nostalgia.

Example Two

Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree was a worldwide hit for Tony Orlando and Dawn in 1973. It again evokes a feeling of nostalgia that is based on the free switching of parallel major to minor chords. Many have noted harmonic similarities between this song and Save Your Kisses For Me.

Tie A Yellow Ribbon also makes use of the minor chord v (in this case, C minor in the key of F major) at 0:17. This chord change is used by McCartney in the song Teddy Boy on his debut album, McCartney.

Significantly, something similar to the major-minor subdominant chord shift is used at 0:23. Here, the song switches from G minor to Bb minor. G minor is the relative minor of Bb major, and the effect is very similar:

Red Rose Speedway

McCartney has always been an artist of his time, both emulating and influencing current musical trends. It is therefore hardly surprising that his 1973 album Red Rose Speedway incorporates this high profile harmonic gesture in popular music.

In addition, there is a predominant sentimental theme that runs through the album. Although originally conceived as a double album with a broader range of styles, when eventually pared down to a single album, the overriding style of Red Rose Speedway became that of the piano ballad.

Two songs in particular make use of the subdominant major-minor switch.

Lazy Dynamite

Lazy Dynamite is the second song on the medley at the end of the album. It is an E major and spends no time in employing the major-minor switch. In a similar manner to Save Your Kisses For Me, the vocal is based on an appoggiatura beginning on G#3, the dissonant major seventh of the chord, but it doesn’t resolve to a chord tone.

Power Cut

Power Cut is the final song on the Red Rose Speedway medley. It is in A major and McCartney employs the major-minor subdominant shift on D major – D minor. Again, the vocal melody falls on a major seventh above minor harmony:

Little Lamb Dragonfly

Although this song does not use the subdominant major-minor shift per se, it does contain an emotional major-minor shift. In this case, we are in C major and the chord of D7 appears at 1:26. We expect it to function as a secondary dominant and to move to chord V. However, it first moves to D minor, and we hear the sentimental effect very clearly at 1:28 . Again, the vocal begins as an appoggiatura on D minor; in this case the note of E4, which rises to the chord tone of F4, before falling to D4.

Warm and Beautiful

As a composer renowned for ballads, it’s hardly suprising that McCartney made use of this expressive chord switch at various other points in his career.

Can you hear the same chord change in this song from 1976? I won’t tell you where it occurs for the first time, but perhaps you can leave a comment below.

Conclusion

The major-minor subdominant chord switch is an expressive device most commonly associated with songs of a sentimental or nostalgic nature.

The move the the subdominant minor chord is often complemented by an expressive vocal appoggiatura to reinforce the expressive effect of the chord change.

A number very prominent of songs from the early 1970s made use of the device as a key harmonic hook.

McCartney’s use of the device is most apparent on the 1974 Red Rose Speedway album, which is characterised by a number of piano ballads of a sentimental nature.

And Finally:

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