Post 88: BEWARE THE DRAGON CHORD!

John Burns, an old buddy of mine, who is brilliant on both banjo and cello, drew my attention to The Dragon Chord. For the technically-minded, it's based on the third note of a scale, and is the basic minor triad. So, in the key of C, it is E minor.

The first chord above is C major [C E G].

The following chord is E minor [E G B].

Once you have been alerted to this and its subtle effect (bright start followed by a slight switch to the sad or nostalgic), you notice that tunes often begin in that way - on the major chord, to be followed by the Dragon Chord.

How did it get that name? Think of the tune 'Puff, the Magic Dragon' played in the key of C.

'Puff, the Magic...' is on the C chord; but as soon as you begin the word 'DRAGon', you are on E minor. Get it?

Now think of 'When You're Smiling'. It begins, 'When you're smiling, when you're' - all on the C chord; but when you hit the second 'smiling', it's the Dragon! You can hear it, can't you?

Or try the start of 'Home in Pasadena'. 'I want to be in Pasa-' is on the chord of C; but the moment you sing '-dena', it's the DRAGON!

Or 'In Apple Blossom Time': 'I'll be seeing you in.....'. As soon as you reach 'apple', you are on the dragon chord.

And in 'I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter', it comes with the word '...letter'.

For further examples, try 'I Wonder What's Become of Sally', 'The White Cliffs of Dover', 'Daddy's Little Girl', 'Happy Days and Lonely Nights', 'You Belong To Me' and 'You Always Hurt The One You Love'.

Footnote: Stan Cummings (banjo, Sacramento) has sent me the following useful additional point:

Current harmonization of this progression, C-Em, is frequently shown as C-Cmaj7.

If you add the C note to the Em chord (EGB) it is a Cmaj7 chord.   As a tenor banjo player, I 

frequently play whichever is handy or sounds better to my ear.  Of course, this works in any key.

Post 77: THE I - IV - I (APPLE TREE) CHORD PROGRESSION

THE APPLE TREE PROGRESSION at the beginning of a tune is fairly common in traditional jazz, for example in the tunes listed below.

It is called The Apple Tree Progression because it was used in that lovely enduring song from 1905 - In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree.

What happens is that the song begins on the chord of the Tonic; it then moves on to the chord of the 4th note of the scale; and then back to the Tonic. So in the key of C, the first three chords would be C - F - C. The effect is that it gently rocks you away from the tonic and back on to it.

Hear it in:

Amazing Grace 

Blame It On The Blues [main theme] 

Bugle Boy March [main theme] 

Delia's Gone 

Gettysburg March 

Hush! Hush! Somebody's Calling My Name
I Love You Because

I'm Sitting On Top Of The World 

In The Sweet By and By 

In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree
I Wish'T I Was in Peoria

Lady Be Good 

Marching Through Georgia 

My Gal Sal 

My Old Kentucky Home 

Poor Old Joe

Precious Lord, Lead Me On

Red Sails In The Sunset 

Salutation March [main theme] 

Shine
Sometimes My Burden Is Too Hard To Bear 

The Rose Room 

Wait Till The Sun Shines, Nellie 

Walking With the King

Way Down Upon The Swanee River (aka The Old Folks At Home)

Walking the Dog

The Waltz You Saved for Me
What A Friend We Have In Jesus 

When You And I Were Young, Maggie

Redwing

Yearning