There are 36 comments.

1. Member
   Steven Seward

   @StevenSeward

   1:03 PM EDT ⋅ Apr 7, 2025

   Mark Camp (View Comment):

   Yes, I played the progression G – C7 – F – F7. The harmony makes perfect sense now to my ear! I shall have to try listening to the song again, and force my ear to hear the Eflat correctly. (Often once you have learned a phrase and your ear has assigned a musical meaning to the chords and notes (“The Eflat is a passing note resolving to D major chord”), it is almost impossible to correct it.)

   I sense that a music person could teach me more about it. Specifically, it makes much more sense to think of it as being in Fmajor, not in G minor. Think of it as starting on II minor instead of I minor. It then resolves to the tonic major. Tension is then created for the repeated progression by going to I7. (Dominant seventh chord on “I”, I mean.) It is done with the “voice leading” of the bass going from the I note to the VII flat note. This is actually pretty common: the chord is F (Bflat), or “F major B flat bass”. That is, the fourth (third??) inversion of F7.

   Interesting take.  I can see your point.

    

2. Member
   Steven Seward

   @StevenSeward

   1:19 PM EDT ⋅ Apr 7, 2025

   Mark Camp (View Comment):

   Steven Seward (View Comment):

    

   I once analyzed the chords from Layla a long time ago but I don’t remember much about it.

   Try playing this on the piano:

   C with C in the bass for two beats.

   Now run the bass up to the major third:

   C, D, E and play that 3-in-the-bass inversion for two beats.

   Then the sub-dominant chord for four beats:

   F major

   Then repeat. Then repeat again once or more (Clapton repeats it quite a bit).

   Now that your mind has taken the bait, set the hook: instead of repeating the C major, play a quiet Bflat dom 7th for four beats. And then resolve peacefully to an even quieter C major.

   That powerful surge of a feeling of peace is why Layla is one of the classic rock songs.

   I’ll try it.  Layla does create a special mood for me.

    

3. Coolidge
   OldPhil

   @OldPhil

   3:45 PM EDT ⋅ Apr 7, 2025

   Steven Seward (View Comment):

   Mark Camp (View Comment):

   Steven Seward (View Comment):

    

   I once analyzed the chords from Layla a long time ago but I don’t remember much about it.

   Try playing this on the piano:

   C with C in the bass for two beats.

   Now run the bass up to the major third:

   C, D, E and play that 3-in-the-bass inversion for two beats.

   Then the sub-dominant chord for four beats:

   F major

   Then repeat. Then repeat again once or more (Clapton repeats it quite a bit).

   Now that your mind has taken the bait, set the hook: instead of repeating the C major, play a quiet Bflat dom 7th for four beats. And then resolve peacefully to an even quieter C major.

   That powerful surge of a feeling of peace is why Layla is one of the classic rock songs.

   I’ll try it. Layla does create a special mood for me.

    

   Try watching this for an amazing discussion of chord changes.

4. Member
   Steven Seward

   @StevenSeward

   3:51 PM EDT ⋅ Apr 7, 2025

   OldPhil (View Comment):

   Steven Seward (View Comment):

   Mark Camp (View Comment):

   Steven Seward (View Comment):

    

   I once analyzed the chords from Layla a long time ago but I don’t remember much about it.

   Try playing this on the piano:

   C with C in the bass for two beats.

   Now run the bass up to the major third:

   C, D, E and play that 3-in-the-bass inversion for two beats.

   Then the sub-dominant chord for four beats:

   F major

   Then repeat. Then repeat again once or more (Clapton repeats it quite a bit).

   Now that your mind has taken the bait, set the hook: instead of repeating the C major, play a quiet Bflat dom 7th for four beats. And then resolve peacefully to an even quieter C major.

   That powerful surge of a feeling of peace is why Layla is one of the classic rock songs.

   I’ll try it. Layla does create a special mood for me.

    

   Try watching this for an amazing discussion of chord changes.

   I’ve actually seen this many months ago.  Rick Beato is great!  I used to  watch him all the time.

5. Member
   Mark Camp

   @MarkCamp

   8:14 PM EDT ⋅ Apr 7, 2025

   OldPhil (View Comment):

   Try watching this for an amazing discussion of chord changes.

   It is a fascinating video.  I have watched it many times, trying to add one element of understanding each repitition or two or three.

   I think it was this very video that led me to studying enharmonics, and from there to understanding 5 limit justly tuned chromatic 12 tone scales and so on, and all that beautiful synthesis of the realms of Theory of Numbers, Music, cultural anthropology, Physics, and Physiology!

6. Coolidge
   OldPhil

   @OldPhil

   8:37 PM EDT ⋅ Apr 7, 2025

   Mark Camp (View Comment):

   OldPhil (View Comment):

   Try watching this for an amazing discussion of chord changes.

   It is a fascinating video. I have watched it many times, trying to add one element of understanding each repitition or two or three.

   I think it was this very video that led me to studying enharmonics, and from there to understanding 5 limit justly tuned chromatic 12 tone scales and so on, and all that beautiful synthesis of the realms of Theory of Numbers, Music, cultural anthropology, Physics, and Physiology!

   I remember the first time I watched it, I was scrolling through the comments and up popped one from the girl singer lo those many years ago.