Solving The Mystery of Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" Chord

[@NAETEMUSIC]

Hello all! Hope you all enjoyed the video! Which artists/composer/piece/song should I tackle next? To support more music education online please head over to my Patreon for some cool benefits!: www.patreon.com/Naetemusic
ALSO EDIT: When I was spelling out the G#6 on the staff something fritz'd out in the notation software guys. Clearly there is an enharmonic error and that F should be written as E#. Sorry about that all!

[@gyohngpersonal]

In 2012, I composed a piano tune (without knowing Sir Duke existed) that transitioned from C to F#m - it works if F#m is followed by Fmaj7, which is exactly what Stevie Wonder is doing in Sir Duke (although one semitone lower). Available on TH-cam under George Yohng - Morning Rain

[@ralphmunn1685]

I was in my early 20's when this came out and, despite a nearly total lack of musical training, I heard this as a I-VI-II-V, though I lacked the learning to call it that. Funny how my ignorance solved what was a conundrum for more schooled ears!

[@NAETEMUSIC]

That’s the beauty of “implied harmony” the ear will perceive it no matter what is written on the page. There’s a whole spiel here about Heinrich Schenker, but I digress

[@WhydoIneedafuckinghandle]

I've always thought of it as a G#7 because that's how I figured it out from memory a few years ago. Slap an F (or E#, really) in the bass & you've got an Fm7b9. Why not. The G#7 by itself also kind of functions as a secondary dominant to IV (E) if you're willing to view it as the tritone sub of the IV's "backdoor" bVII7 (D7 turns into G#7). The function is retained despite the F in the bass.
That'll be 2¢ please.

[@NAETEMUSIC]

Totally Valid

[@yxw9276]

love this! please do more of this!

[@NAETEMUSIC]

I will 🥰

[@vineyardchicks]

Great lesson in theory. Enjoyed it. But I imagine to Stevie Wonder it just felt good!

[@MaggaraMarine]

I hear it as being more closely related to the I - #vio - IV progression, which is just based on a chromatically descending line: 5 - #4 - 4 (and this progression, with the m7b5 chord, is not rare in pop music). Instead of using a m7b5 chord, this song uses a regular m7 chord. But still, the effect is similar. The #iv and the IV chord have 3rd and 7th as common tones, and the root moves down a half step. The only difference is the 5th. When the #iv is a m7b5, the 5th is also a common tone, whereas if it's a m7, the 5th basically follows the root.
Basically, I hear it as a harmonization of the 5 - #4 - 4 chromatic line.

[@theblackstoneproject9917]

I was just trying to figure this chord out the other day. Some sheet music shows it as a Fmmaj7, others as a G#7 and it just sounds best when I do it as an Fm7. After seeing this video, I can see why.

[@jackdolphy8965]

Fabulous.

[@supahsean6710]

For all the TH-camr Jazz educators who teach the Barry Harris Method, this should be the entry piece. and @NAETE showed it when inverting the b5 min7 chord to be a 6 major chord voiced with a 6th on top.

[@NAETEMUSIC]

the barry harris comparison……… i am beyond flattered and humbled thank you

[@supahsean6710]

@@NAETEMUSIC well you know... major 6ths are inverted minor 7ths, and the fact that the roots of the 1 and b5 are part of the same fully diminished 7th chord. Glad you appreciated the reference.

[@connorlarkinbass]

I think of the Fm7 as a TriTone Sub for the 1 chord.
Fm7 has the same guide tones as a B6 (G# and D# or Ab and Eb).
I realized this when I was teaching a student about TriTone subs.
He asked me "what happens when you sub the 1?"
my answer upon listening to it was "you get Sir Duke!"

[@NAETEMUSIC]

Usually Tritone subs are dominant chords, which is why I excluded this possibility.

[@connorlarkinbass]

@@NAETEMUSIC I'm picking up what you're putting down. It's not exactly something you want to improvise with. It is however an interesting thing to consider when composing progressions. It can take you to some cool places that actually make sense to your ear.

[@JoeNaeem]

Great vid! Solid explanation!

[@NAETEMUSIC]

Thank you!

[@tvie-le7qc]

you could also analyse it as IIMaj9 in first inversion with an omitted root; parallel major of ii, can lead to ii in the same way a vi can - basically the trick Sir Duke himself did in A Train with the II7 chord.
but that F would be an E# (etc.), which is a pain in the ass to read, so I'd never write it in a chart that way

[@chriskartub]

The odd B to F minor. To me its B to E# minor. A much smaller harmonic distance. But regardless The Beatles used this chord change on Revolver's Here There and Everywhere but 1 chromatic step higher. C Major to F# minor. Paul sings "Life with the wave of her hand." using this range and vocal pitches G.A.B....E OK now adjusting to Paul's key, Wonder singing a completely new melody over this "odd" chord change using Paul's same 4 vocal notes but dropping the E down an octave creating a new vocal range E..G.A.B . Also notice that Wonder is singing the same sus4 "Treat"ment over the F# minor chord with pitch B as Paul did.

[@Wolferal]

I just think of the 2nd measure as still being B -- and the Fm7 is just a passing chord. It's very common.

[@akirathedog777]

Less than a minute in its obvious this is a minor third substitution on a I-vi-ii-V
Bartoks axis and all

[@jerrymac1795]

I think the books are wrong (and they're frequently wrong). The chord is actually an Fdim7. Which makes it just a simple chromatic approach the Emaj7. Occam's razor.

[@erickim555]

I think it is an Fmin7 (eg with a perfect fifth, not a diminished fifth). Listening to the bass line (th-cam.com/video/ETFvmkIA6S4/w-d-xo.html), I hear the bass playing: F->Ab->C (implying Fmin7), and not F->Ab->Cb (implying Fdim7).
I do like the idea of Fdim7 leading to Emaj7 with a shared fifth chord degree (B natural), and I bet that it would sound good with Fdim7 substituting Fmin7 (as the melody works with both), but in the recording they don't do it this way

[@erickim555]

I just tried B->Fdim7->Emaj7 on my piano, and it just doesn't sound as good as B->Fmin7->Emaj7 in this song.
That C (vs B) helps "lift" the chord and make it brighter/happier. Which, interestingly, fits well into the interpretation that the Fmin7 functions the same as G#7 (aka the VI7, in the popular falling thirds progression I->VI->IV->ii->V).
B->G#min7->Emaj7 (which, similar to Fdim7, uses a B rather than C) misses the "joy" of the song's chorus that B->G#7->Emaj7 has, even though the melody "works" for both. Fun stuff!

[@JAYDUBYAH29]

“Innocuous”-I do not think that word means what you think it means.. Perhaps you meant incongruous-as in, seeming not to fit? Innocuous means something like harmless or innocent or easy to overlook.

[@NAETEMUSIC]

Good catch! Embarrassing slip of the tongue!

[@JAYDUBYAH29]

@@NAETEMUSIC great video. Yea I record stuff sometimes and find I have said the exact wrong term in emphatically explaining something. Major instead of minor etc..

[@DianaandherGuitar]

Ok, but I don’t think those are the right chorus chords you showed. I play it B - Fm7(b5) - Emaj7 - C#m9 - F#11

[@NAETEMUSIC]

I used the official chart from Stevie's publishing company