Songs with only two chords

By which I mean, it sounds terrible in that inversion. Having an additional higher G# (as well as the bass note) to make it Amaj7/G# sounds far better.

Sure, but you could also say this about inversions:

one could argue that any one of those chords on their own has its own sound and could subtly change the flavour of a chord progression depending on context or its "place" in the progression, i.e. what chord comes before and after and how the chord relates to those other two chords.

It's pretty well accepted, even by the fustiest classical theorists, that there are certain places where you could use I[6] (first inversion) and certain places where you could only use I. And second inversion chords are even a bigger deal. If anything, I would probably argue that this is more significant than the difference between V7 and V9.

xp

having the seventh doubled in different octaves is improper, though!

are there any good musical examples of a sustained chord with a major seventh in the bass?

Not that I know of. Example above was of maj7 as part of descending bass line. There is one very good example of a major triad over a flat 7th though.

So basically this thread is destined for 500+ posts about what a chord is

― Οὖτις, 3. september 2016 18:05

Chords, why are they so bad and hated?

Imaj7 is approaching V over I territory.

In any situation where this would make sense, I think I would analyse ^7 as an anticipation of V, i.e. a standard embellishment of a I-V progression.

If I'm understanding you right.

These kinds of arguments go way back

Or, if not that far back, at least to that other instance of this semi-regular ILX tradition for long weekends, the Great Music Theory Discussion of the Saturday Before Easter 2014.

I've just had to check out 'Autumn Almanac', I counted 26...

(A, A7, A9, Am7, Amaj7, Bb, B7, C, Cm, C#m, C#m7, D, Dm, D7, Eb, E, E7, Em, F, Fm, F7, F#7, G, Gm, G7, G#7)

Not counting the different extensions (and two discrepancies, one on the Eb - I think there's only an eb minor chord, and I think there's an augmented chord on the beat for "toasted" from "toasted, buttered currant buns"), the ones I'm missing are:

C and c minor chords?
e minor?
f minor?
g minor?

I don't hear these.

I figured out how to play this song as a teenager, by the way, but never really got through the whole thing!

Nice to look at it again - it sure is a great, great song!

I don't hear these.

― timellison, Tuesday, 6 September 2016 01:56 (fifty-one minutes ago) Permalink

Then yer doing it wrong.

Oh? Maybe you could point out where they are.

C, I got, by the way. Not c minor, though.

John Cale, "Ship of Fools"

'Crazy for You' by Slowdive is just C major and A minor.

'Age of Consent' by New Order is just D and G.

Ministry - "New World Order"

Gravity Rides Everything by Modest Mouse is just Cadd9 and G

Milligan claimed that he wrote this song as a bet, with his brother, that he could not get a song into the hit parade that had only two chords (in this case G and D7).[3]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nebe1zuEtbc

Tom Verlaine/Television, "Breakin' In My Heart"!

yes but which of these songs have the truth

― mookieproof, Friday, September 2, 2016 8:46 PM (six years ago)

"Practice Makes Perfect" is an unusual example of this, in that the two chords (Cm and G♭) don't share any conventional key or mode. Colin Newman did this again in the verse of "Don't Bring Reminders" (using B♭ and E), but tossed in three more chords for the chorus.