harmonic baubles
Bob Stuckey
A harmonic analysis of Baubles, Bangles and Beads.
I would like to share this intruiging tune, melodically simple but harmonically quite complex. It has become a favorite among jazz musicians with its subtle key changes.The opening motifs first appeared as the second movement of Borodins 2nd string quartet .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YAzUC6LzNk
At first in C major it was adapted by Wright and Forrest and put in Ab to be part of the musical Kismet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgzSrTFi62k
It is here analysed in chromatic solfa in which the major scale of the home key is shown as
u r m f s l t u as in the keyboard layout top left of the score. The do is represented by its older name ut so as to avoid confusion with the notename D. It may be easiest to follow the analysis if you play it in C = ut at first, starting with the first 8 bars and last 12, before venturing into the middle sections.
Also in the top left diagram the “black notes” shown as v w-x y z in lower case italic, meaning that it is a transposable representation. In this melody there is only one chromatic note in the first 8 bars, the passing note z at the end of the first line.
The chords in the first 4 bars are the root progression 2 5 1 represented in solfa as r s u, a common way of setting up the home key (e.g Tea of Two).
The key then sneaks up 4 quitar frets to m major whose scale runs
m x y a b v w m and the whole first 8 bars are transposed.
The bridge then takes us up another 4 frets into the key of y major which runs
y z u v w f g y with the 2 5 1 now transformed into z w y, modulating back into the home key in the 6th bar.
The A3 stays in the comfort zone of the home key apart from the dramatic use of higher melody notes and chromatic tension of z7#11 in the 7th bar. In the final bar the (l-7) is a typical turnaround chord that might be introduced by jazz musicians to create a bit of harmonic movement before going back to the top to improvise on the chord sequence.
