Tonality, melody and harmony
Tonality
The tonicThe first degree of a scale and the central key of music. In Roman numerals this is I. is G major and the music stays in this key until the modulation in the bridge section. G major modulates to E minor (the relative minor of G major) and C major (the subdominant of G major). The song modulates again in the third chorus - up a tone to A major - which is a modulation typical of pop and rock songs.
Melody
The tenor vocal melody is mainly conjunctA melody that moves by step. throughout with short phrases, especially in the chorus. The vocal melody features melismaSeveral notes sung to one syllable. heard in the 鈥淥hs鈥. A new melody, in the bridge section, is first heard on the guitar and there is also some improvisationComposing music on the spot or during a performance.. In the modulated chorus the vocals have been double trackedAudio recording technique where a performer sings or plays along with their own recorded performance, recording another layer. and there is an improvised guitar solo.
Harmony
Intro and chorus
The intro is in the tonic key of G major and uses the chords G-D-Em-C (I-V-vi-IV) and are played as power chordsGuitar chords of a bare 5th. on the guitar.
Verse
The chords in the verse are based on the intro, but use chord inversionPlaying a melody upside down., which are indicated by another note written next the original chord.
For example, G/B means that a G major chord is played, but with the note B in the bass. The chords change every two beats.
| G - D/F# | Em - D | C - G/B | Am - D |
| G - D/F# | |
| Em - D | |
| C - G/B | |
| Am - D |
Pre-chorus
The pre-chorus uses non-diatonic chords, such as the Eb chord which doesn鈥檛 belong to the key of G major.
Bridge
The bridge starts in G major, but modulates through E minor and C major. Some of the chords are 鈥榮us鈥 chords, where the third note of the chord is replaced by the fourth note above the root. Power chords (with the 3rd omitted) such as D5 are also used.