California Girls Harmony

[Autotune]

Yes! Just to clarify, I have that part transcribed and what I can do short of importing some kind of notation software here is list the notes of those harmonies, and how they're stacked. The surprising thing to realize is that there is one lead and only three harmony voices, and it was such an economical way to arrange and sing those harmonies that at times the three notes can sound like more notes than are actually sung. This is where doubling was such a crucial part of Brian's arranging style.

here is the stacking:

"girls all get so tan..." is F#m/B, low to high: E A(natural) C#

Brian is using simple triads and inversions, and the only "jazzy" note is the b7 note E on the F#m7 chord.

There are no jazz chords. and flatted 7th's are no big deal in most western pop genres.  The idea of jazz chords came after bebop. What the jazz dudes did was to use chords that the modern classical composers were using (chords that used regular, flatted and augmented chordal extensions ie. 7th's, 9th's, 11th's, 13's ) to re-harmonize broadway and tin pan alley standards such as I've Got Rhythm, Cherokee, How High The Moon, etc.
Anyway, I always viewed the chord for the 'girls get so tanned' part as A/B bass or B11, because of the ostinato bass line. To my way of hearing,  it's not a F#mi type chord, despite the vocal melody ending on an f# note.

It's A/B, I'm with you on this. Plus Billy Hinsche teaches it like it in his tutorial piano video. I.e. he's played like it for decades. And that's the way it is to be understood, I think.

Bruce describes it as A with a B bass also. An F# sounds in the melody and bass ostinato, but the chord to be played is A/B a suspension that Brian was very much fond of.

[guitarfool2002]

The issue is whether you're playing it solo on guitar, on guitar with a group, on organ solo versus with a group, with full voices covering the harmony spreads, etc. It comes up on a regular basis trying to adapt various songs that have multiple parts spread out among other instruments for whatever setup you're working with. Guitars alone can be tricky, for example pick out a few Led Zeppelin guitar parts where there may be 3-4 different overdubs, and find something that works for one guitar, on a song like Ramble On. At least there are live versions available for those in some cases where Page himself had to combine multiple parts and arrange them for one guitar to play live.

Now factor in Brian Wilson's arrangements on something like California Girls, and there are often those chords like this one above that may have notes spread among organ/keys, guitars, and vocals where each gets a chord tone or individual two-note voicings, and you want to play it on one guitar, let's say.

In that case I'd do (and have done) the guitar chord voicing I layed out above, from the 2nd fret. It comes closest on guitar to capturing what was spread out over several instruments, and it works for one guitar. If I were playing within a larger group, as Al and Carl and Billy and the rest had done on stage, I would probably play a more basic triadic version of the progression as MikeDonn described seeing Al doing live. And Billy H is showing what he played live within a larger group - I'm sure the current band members in 2015 also have their ways of doing it that may or may not be the same as what was even on the original recording, depending on the context.

And that's the thing - context. If there is a F# heard in those two bars of music, it becomes an analysis where all of the parts combine to sound like an F#minor 7th chord, simple as that. The individual parts may be playing and calling what they're playing A/B or B11 or whatever the case, but as soon as that F# is heard in the blend, the character of the chord heard as a whole becomes F# minor 7th. If there were one guitar, I'd again do exactly that voicing B to B/A with an F# at the 2nd fret because it captures the full range of notes heard at that moment.

A great example of this, same key as well. Listen to Hendrix's version of "All Along The Watchtower" The chords are C#minor, B, A...and most cover band guitarists play just those chords to a tee. However, listen to the recording: At some points in the verses, while the guitars are on A major, the bass comes in with the note F#. That single note changes the character of that chord to sound like an F# minor 7th, which is exactly what an A major played over and F# bass is in theory terms. Yet many, many guitarists just play a normal A when doing the song solo, or the bass player misses that F# at those key moments, or whatever the case - many don't get that right and stick to C#m/B/A for the entire tune.

So when playing guitar on that one, I make sure to add that F# in when needed in those verses, or if there is a bassist playing too, make sure they hit it too. It's on the recording, it "sounds" as an F#minor7th in that bar even though it is really an A chord in the guitar. One note changes the whole texture and sound.

Brian used that often and to great effect in his arrangements, vocal and instrumental.

That chord above is also the "Brian Wilson Chord" as I described it - Same chord as the third chord in the Don't Worry Baby progression and the dramatic "aahhhh" in the finale of Good Vibrations - same effect, same musical purpose, it's the way Brian substituted for a V or V7 chord by having a more suspended sound with the root of the V chord in the bass.

Context is everything. It can also be named several different things based on who is playing it and in what context it's being played or analyzed. For Billy H and Bruce on keys, it's A/B. If you take every note in those bars from instruments and voices, it's an F#minor 7th over B (implied in the bass). Simple as that.

No more right or wrong than suggesting it's an F# and not a Gb...but even there, context determines what it is called.

[Autotune]

Do you hear guitars playing F#m7 there? I don't remember to do so. Did Carl play said chord live? I can't remember right now.

[barto]

Well said guitarfool, that looks perfect.  You're absolutely right about the double tracking too - it makes relatively simple 3/4 part harmony just sound huge.

In a promo for NPP Zoey Deschanel quotes Brian as saying triple track "sounds like angels singing"

[kwan_dk]

Just noticed this great thread. Count me in as someone who LOVES those gorgeous harmonies during the verses. As others have mentioned I don't think you can underestimate the importance of the double tracking the Guys did of the harmonies to get that full, almost chorus-like sound.

And speaking of which, - I've posted this video of my band singing the song at a church hall before but I don't think many have seen it. The acoustics in that church was mindblowing - we're only four guys doing the harmonies but it almost sounds like a choir. Imagine how Brian & the Guys would have sounded at a place like that!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXt89wgzBT4

[guitarfool2002]

This is a tricky one, although watching various videos makes it seem not so tricky.    I wanted to clarify a few things with the guitar versus analysis and all of that. Basically something like this is also so anyone reading can try it on guitar, keyboard/organ, try some stacked vocals, etc...in other words to try actually playing the music and then passing it on to others interested.  

First, I wanted to separate the analysis of those notes as a chord versus playing them according to any live versions or the studio version:

If you hear the notes A C# E F# played over a repeated bass accenting the note B...the first four are an F#minor 7th, in whatever inversion you'd suggest it is. Or A with an added 6th depending on context. It's similar to any number of (endless) exercises and assignments I had to do in the past where you'd take a two-part Bach counterpoint or even a 4-part SATB chorale and you'd get these odd chords where you could analyze it one way, then another person would disagree and make a case that it *could* be named something else. "Key of the moment", "V7 of IV", pivot chord...all of these rationales for what to call one chord out of dozens inside a work.

For the chord in question, if I'd look at the notes heard at that moment factoring in all voices and instruments, I'd say it was an F#minor 7th with a B pedal bass.

If I were naming it as a functional chord in the context of the song, the instruments playing the chord tones, and considering the composer...I'd seriously call it "The Brian Wilson Chord", or some form of A/B...that's a chord he used enough that some named it after him. No worries there, but the F# creeping in does add some other context too.


Now, the guitars:

No doubt at all, any number of live videos show Nicky Wonder, Jeff, Al, etc playing a normal A major bar chord at the 5th fret. That's easy to see. Although Al also does that backthumbed fingering of that A as well rather than the full bar.

If I got a gig to play in the BW band, I'd do *that* A bar chord too. Job security and all that...


If I were playing that song on acoustic around a campfire, I'd do my earlier version, combining parts of the organ voicings on the guitar, as follows:
B major:
x24442

To F#min7 / B:
x22222

I *like* that chord for that purpose when there is no one else doing chords to back a vocal. It works for me, it sounds right to me, I go with that in those scenarios. Campfires, drunken singalongs, etc.

BUT...and guitarists please give this one a try and share what you think after hearing it:

If I were in a group that had multiple guitars but no keyboard/organ, I could simulate or emulate the organ voicings on the '65 studio version by playing these triads on guitar, here is the full verse:

B major triad:
x x x 11 12 11

F#min triad
x x x 11 10 9

E major triad:
x x x 13 12 12

F# major triad:
x x x 15 14 14

Play these with the thumb, index, and middle fingers plucking all three strings in the staccato shuffle rhythm of the organ on the recording. If possible, hook up either a Leslie simulator pedal or the Electro Harmonix B9 Organ Machine pedal to capture the Hammond/Leslie sound.

Keep in mind that F#min triad...it's only one note away from an A major triad, F# A C# versus A 2nd inversion, E A C#.

Play it along with the track from '65, try both the triads using the F#m and the A, and see which one if either sounds closer to the blend heard on that track.

One note...that could be the difference. But either sound close enough to pretty much fool anyone, and it's only if you want to simulate the organ chords on guitar. If you're playing strictly rhythm guitar, follow Jeff-Al-Nicky et al and do a simple A for all its worth.  

[puni puni]

So the Brian Wilson chord is essentially a IV with its 9th on the bass or am I getting this wrong?

[guitarfool2002]

In theory terms, the "BW Chord" is the IV chord with the root of the V chord in the bass. It gives a more suspended sound than the usual tension and resolution of the V-I cadence.

Some actual uses of it, what I outlined earlier in the discussion but with actual notes:

Don't Worry Baby, the first three chords... E major, A major, then A major with B in the bass.
E G# B going to A C# E  going to B in the bass under that A major chord.

It's a substitution for simply going to a B major chord or the B7 chord as the usual V chord in that progression.

If it were in the key of C, it would be an F major chord with a G in the bass acting as the V rather than a normal G chord resolving back to C.

And I'm calling it the "Brian Wilson Chord" because Carole King called it that. When she and Brian met, they actually had a discussion about who was the first in their era to use that chord in their songwriting. The chord became pretty standard in quite a few singer-songwriters' arsenal into the 70's, including Carole King herself on several familiar songs, and James Taylor, etc. I'll need to reference it, but I think both her and Brian agreed the question of who was the first could be best decided by their fans.    And it's not saying there is a trademark on that chord going back to the days of Bach, but it can be heard prominently on a lot of 60's and 70's pop songwriting after those songs from Brian and Carole, hence the nickname.

[Pablo.]

Laura Nyro, Todd Rundgren and others... in most of the cases, in songs written at the piano.

[guitarfool2002]

Which is why sometimes trying to play such things on guitar when you don't have a piano or keyboard available for the performance can get a little tricky.

[Pablo.]

Actually, is kinda easy, just a barre chord. Or the triad at the 4-3-2 strings and the bass at the 6th (eg the A/B on Don't worry baby) Sounds good to me! I mean, Donald Fagen (who also uses it, IIRC) has tricker chords...

[guitarfool2002]

Actually, is kinda easy, just a barre chord. Or the triad at the 4-3-2 strings and the bass at the 6th (eg the A/B on Don't worry baby) Sounds good to me! I mean, Donald Fagen (who also uses it, IIRC) has tricker chords...

That one is an easy one, sure. But these "slash chords" in the hands of some arrangers and copyists can be a nightmare for the guitarist who has to actually read them in real-time on a chord chart. 

I had one of my first arranging professors (the one who was in the Four Freshmen for a few years) tell his class how many arrangers who write charts from their piano don't understand the guitar at all, and possibly don't want to take the time to do so in order to write good parts for guitar. And he was right, and I base that on my own experiences as well as some of the commercial jazz band style charts I see from some students. The writers who are arranging these charts seem to think the guitar is a piano all too often, and what can be a simple triad (as in the way certain Steely Dan guitar parts were actually played on the recordings) can turn into a mish-mosh of slashes and bizarre symbols instead of streamlined notation. That's my soapbox issue for the day. 

But a lot of times, like Don't Worry Baby, it's not a problem at all to nail the voicing heard on the recording. Some of the James Taylor chords are helped immensely by his use of a capo so you could drone some of those bass notes as open strings rather than fretting them in some odd configuration.

[Pablo.]

Yes, an arranger or composer who writes at the piano must understand the guitar if he doesn't want the guitar player to go crazy. For a old Steely Dan songbook, Becker and Fagen with a Denny Dias wrote a terribly amusing guide to their "secret weapon", the "mu chord", aimed at guitar players: http://www.steelydan.com/songbook.html

[Fall Breaks]

Haha, that was a great read (as is this entire thread)!

[Autotune]

This is a tricky one, although watching various videos makes it seem not so tricky.    I wanted to clarify a few things with the guitar versus analysis and all of that. Basically something like this is also so anyone reading can try it on guitar, keyboard/organ, try some stacked vocals, etc...in other words to try actually playing the music and then passing it on to others interested.  

First, I wanted to separate the analysis of those notes as a chord versus playing them according to any live versions or the studio version:

If you hear the notes A C# E F# played over a repeated bass accenting the note B...the first four are an F#minor 7th, in whatever inversion you'd suggest it is. Or A with an added 6th depending on context. It's similar to any number of (endless) exercises and assignments I had to do in the past where you'd take a two-part Bach counterpoint or even a 4-part SATB chorale and you'd get these odd chords where you could analyze it one way, then another person would disagree and make a case that it *could* be named something else. "Key of the moment", "V7 of IV", pivot chord...all of these rationales for what to call one chord out of dozens inside a work.

For the chord in question, if I'd look at the notes heard at that moment factoring in all voices and instruments, I'd say it was an F#minor 7th with a B pedal bass.

If I were naming it as a functional chord in the context of the song, the instruments playing the chord tones, and considering the composer...I'd seriously call it "The Brian Wilson Chord", or some form of A/B...that's a chord he used enough that some named it after him. No worries there, but the F# creeping in does add some other context too.


Now, the guitars:

No doubt at all, any number of live videos show Nicky Wonder, Jeff, Al, etc playing a normal A major bar chord at the 5th fret. That's easy to see. Although Al also does that backthumbed fingering of that A as well rather than the full bar.

If I got a gig to play in the BW band, I'd do *that* A bar chord too. Job security and all that...


If I were playing that song on acoustic around a campfire, I'd do my earlier version, combining parts of the organ voicings on the guitar, as follows:
B major:
x24442

To F#min7 / B:
x22222

I *like* that chord for that purpose when there is no one else doing chords to back a vocal. It works for me, it sounds right to me, I go with that in those scenarios. Campfires, drunken singalongs, etc.

BUT...and guitarists please give this one a try and share what you think after hearing it:

If I were in a group that had multiple guitars but no keyboard/organ, I could simulate or emulate the organ voicings on the '65 studio version by playing these triads on guitar, here is the full verse:

B major triad:
x x x 11 12 11

F#min triad
x x x 11 10 9

E major triad:
x x x 13 12 12

F# major triad:
x x x 15 14 14

Play these with the thumb, index, and middle fingers plucking all three strings in the staccato shuffle rhythm of the organ on the recording. If possible, hook up either a Leslie simulator pedal or the Electro Harmonix B9 Organ Machine pedal to capture the Hammond/Leslie sound.

Keep in mind that F#min triad...it's only one note away from an A major triad, F# A C# versus A 2nd inversion, E A C#.

Play it along with the track from '65, try both the triads using the F#m and the A, and see which one if either sounds closer to the blend heard on that track.

One note...that could be the difference. But either sound close enough to pretty much fool anyone, and it's only if you want to simulate the organ chords on guitar. If you're playing strictly rhythm guitar, follow Jeff-Al-Nicky et al and do a simple A for all its worth.  

Gotcha. It's hard not to see this from a keyboardist point of view, though.

[Scott]

Yes! Just to clarify, I have that part transcribed and what I can do short of importing some kind of notation software here is list the notes of those harmonies, and how they're stacked. The surprising thing to realize is that there is one lead and only three harmony voices, and it was such an economical way to arrange and sing those harmonies that at times the three notes can sound like more notes than are actually sung. This is where doubling was such a crucial part of Brian's arranging style.

here is the stacking:

"west coast has the sunshine..." is a B chord, stacked low to high: D# F# B

"girls all get so tan..." is F#m/B, low to high: E A(natural) C#

"ooo waa ooo waaa" is an E chord, 1/4 notes stacked: G# B E

the "ahhh" under "palm tree" is an F# chord, stacked C# F# A#


Brian is using simple triads and inversions, and the only "jazzy" note is the b7 note E on the F#m7 chord.

Yet it sounds like a thicker harmony than what this part actually is. Otherwise it's simple triads of whatever chord the song is sitting on, and it is a great sounding part.

If I'm missing something in the transcription, please add corrections!

I don't know if you've had a chance to revisit this, guitarfool - but there are 4 parts to the backing vocals.  Looks like you are missing the low one in your transcription.

Scott

[guitarfool2002]

Yes! Just to clarify, I have that part transcribed and what I can do short of importing some kind of notation software here is list the notes of those harmonies, and how they're stacked. The surprising thing to realize is that there is one lead and only three harmony voices, and it was such an economical way to arrange and sing those harmonies that at times the three notes can sound like more notes than are actually sung. This is where doubling was such a crucial part of Brian's arranging style.

here is the stacking:

"west coast has the sunshine..." is a B chord, stacked low to high: D# F# B

"girls all get so tan..." is F#m/B, low to high: E A(natural) C#

"ooo waa ooo waaa" is an E chord, 1/4 notes stacked: G# B E

the "ahhh" under "palm tree" is an F# chord, stacked C# F# A#


Brian is using simple triads and inversions, and the only "jazzy" note is the b7 note E on the F#m7 chord.

Yet it sounds like a thicker harmony than what this part actually is. Otherwise it's simple triads of whatever chord the song is sitting on, and it is a great sounding part.

If I'm missing something in the transcription, please add corrections!

I don't know if you've had a chance to revisit this, guitarfool - but there are 4 parts to the backing vocals.  Looks like you are missing the low one in your transcription.

Scott

Aha! It's been a few weeks shy of three years since I posted that, I'll listen for which note of the triad(s) that low voice is doubling. Or maybe in the meantime someone can/will add those low notes to make it complete.

Three years just flies by, really, I didn't realize it until checking the date. Wow. 

[zachrwolfe]

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