How To Compose like Stevie Wonder: Golden Lady

This material is intermediate/early advanced....
How to Compose Music
Chapters:
00:00 Solo Piano Golden Lady
01:10 Intro Talk
02:32 Interlude Transcription
06:54 Song Intro in Eb Major
08:24 Verse, 1st Half
09:31 Leading to the 2nd Half of the Verse
11:36 Verse, 2nd Half Moving to Gb Major
13:05 "Have You Met Miss Jones" Chords
14:22 Duke Ellington's Influence "Prelude To A Kiss"
15:32 Melodic Considerations in the Verse, 2nd Half
16:47 Chorus
18:15 Using Miss Jones to Move from G Major to Eb Major
18:58 Song Structure
21:10 Using These Concepts- Common Tone on Top
23:10 Moving to the 3rd Scale Degree
25:05 Major 7ths Ascending in 1/2 Steps
26:50 "Miss Jones" Harmonies
28:20 Using 'Slash Chords"
29:58 Epilogue
Materials for today's lesson:
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"Too High" Breakdown: • How To Compose Music: ...
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[@analogmemory313]

This is fantastic, more Stevie please !!

[@Neoanalogism]

The true beauty of this song isn't necessarily in the fade-out and gradual modulations at the end, but rather the sleight-of-hand trick that goes over the head of the majority of listeners, who only notice the sequential key switches up at the end of the song. This is to say, that it isn't the key switches, but instead, the ways in which Stevie utilizes them. In my opinion, the reason why the song is genius is because of the subtle modulation following the pre-chorus at the end. To the untrained ear, the transition from the pre-chorus to the final ascension of the Golden Lady refrain *(Golden lady, golden lady I'd like to go there)* ostensibly appears to be in the original key. However, Stevie wastes no time and modulates up, without the original chorus being given the light of day. It's so subtle because most "Truck Driver's Gear Shifts" are overly sanguine and campy as they overly dwell in the original key, and following this, only then does the modulation occur (typically one semi-tone up). Moreover, In musical notation, the expected chorus (*Golden lady, golden lady I'd like to go there)* is a chromatic descending line, as follows: G-Bb-Gb-Bb-F-Bb-E-Bb and ending in Eb. This descending line is expected in the final chorus of the song, and yet that's not what we get. We get a modulated version, that subtly subverts the listener's expectations, which goes: Ab-B...and so on relative to a half-step higher than the aforementioned G-Bb descending line. Furthermore what further confounds the listener is the seemingly accessible fade-out wherein Stevie modulates up a semi-tone with every repetition of (*Golden lady, golden lady I'd like to go there)*. In addition to the musical technique of the fade-out while modulating up, Stevie also uses a descending line. Here is the rub. Stevie is modulating/key-shifting ⬆️(up), while vocally, melodically, and harmonically going ⬇️(down), as per the descending line. This is the crux of why this song is a masterpiece.

[@countyone8975]

I've been playing piano for over 50 years and I love this type of jazz harmony. Over the years, I've been able to grasp some of this stuff just by learning by ear and then incorporating the style into my own improvisation. I have to tell you, it's a great pleasure to hear someone clearly explain how and why these complex harmonies work. The musical notation and the accompanying piano are a great help. Thank you. You have a new subscriber.

[@PeteCalandra]

Thank you. There are several other harmony tutorials with pdfs on my channel.

[@axeboardwilliesbassessoasis.]

Amazing Content

[@VeniVidiVid]

I’ve always loved Stevie Wonder‘s music in general, and this song in particular. Thanks for letting me see into the beauty of the choices he made.

[@PeteCalandra]

Thanks VvV

[@Markrspooner]

This is fantastic Pete, wonderful to have such a comprehensive break down of the song, one which I am not familiar with, but plan on listening to the album it is from.

[@PeteCalandra]

Thanks Mark. Innervisions is a great album.

[@tonyfonderson]

This is such an amazing explanation of the genius behind this song’s composition. Than you!🫶🏽

[@tonyfonderson]

Hey Pete, thanks for this brilliant explanation. For another in-depth analysis of Golden Lady, have a look at Chapter 2 of Timothy S Hughes’ PhD dissertation entitled “Groove and Flow: Six Analytical Essays on the Music of Stevie Wonder”. I think you’ll enjoy it!😊

[@PeteCalandra]

Thanks for watching and thanks for the tip…

[@franomilic]

Thanks a lot!!!

[@PeteCalandra]

Thanks for watching Frano!

[@le_med]

Can you tell me what keyboard that was what was the piano sound? Thanks EDIT: Nevermind I recognized the yamaha yc88

[@PeteCalandra]

I did eq the sound in pro tools, FYI