# Allegro Agitato Analysis



## dhmusic (Apr 14, 2014)

Would anyone be kind enough/interested in posting a basic chord analysis of Thomas Bergersen's Allegro Agitato? I don't know if it's all that complicated, but I've been trying to do it by ear and I can't seem to figure it out.


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## handz (Apr 15, 2014)

Its very Williams like so it wont be so simple, would be interested too.


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## jdrcomposer (Apr 15, 2014)

Any part in particular?


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## Jetzer (Apr 15, 2014)

Try to figure out the bass part + the melody. 

*Notes:*
Bass part starts on F, the melody is Ab-G-C. 
Then, bass goes like F-G-Ab (new chord), melody is F-Eb-Ab

*Chords* would be like this:

Intro:
Fm-Ab-Fm-Db

First two chords after the intro:
Fm-Db

Someone please correct me if I'm mistaken, but I thought these were the chords (of the intro).

Maybe you already got this (?)


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## jdrcomposer (Apr 15, 2014)

That's what I hear, except the melody at the beginning is Ab-G-C, and the intro was just an F minor with the violins playing C-Ab-F-C at the top.


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## Jetzer (Apr 15, 2014)

C, not F, of course. :wink: (edited)

With intro I meant to 0:30.


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## jdrcomposer (Apr 15, 2014)

Ah! Of course gotcha


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## Rob (Apr 15, 2014)

dhmusic, here's a possible transcription of the first measures...


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## dhmusic (Apr 15, 2014)

Thanks so much for the feedback! And Rob I really appreciate the detailed visual transcription -- there we're totally parts I missed before I saw them written out. I feel like I have a decent understanding of the intro, however, from around 0:58 onward the piece seems to modulate several times. At 1:25 it resolves to the new key of G min. Then at 2:17 it resolves again to F min. At 2:53 it goes to D# min. 

These key changes seem so smooth and a lot of interesting things happen in between that seem rather complicated. It's musical trickery! Does anyone know what's going on during these sections?


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## Rob (Apr 15, 2014)

dhmusic @ 16th April 2014 said:


> Thanks so much for the feedback! And Rob I really appreciate the detailed visual transcription -- there we're totally parts I missed before I saw them written out. I feel like I have a decent understanding of the intro, however, from around 0:58 onward the piece seems to modulate several times. At 1:25 it resolves to the new key of G min. Then at 2:17 it resolves again to F min. At 2:53 it goes to D# min.
> 
> These key changes seem so smooth and a lot of interesting things happen in between that seem rather complicated. It's musical trickery! Does anyone know what's going on during these sections?



You're welcome dh! I've done a harmonic analysis of the piece from 0.58 on here, until it gets to the Eb min...


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## dhmusic (Apr 17, 2014)

That's perfect thanks so much Rob!


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## Jerome Vonhogen (Apr 17, 2014)

dhmusic @ Wed Apr 16 said:


> I feel like I have a decent understanding of the intro, however, from around 0:58 onward the piece seems to modulate several times. (...)
> These key changes seem so smooth and a lot of interesting things happen in between that seem rather complicated. It's musical trickery! Does anyone know what's going on during these sections?



Thomas Bergersen often uses harmonic inversions when he needs to modulate in a piece (like in the first 1 1/2 minute intro of this piece, which by the way sounds like a last minute addition that could as well have been left out). The way I see it, is that TJB often uses chord inversions (aka 'positions') to 'mask' modulations in order to give room to a descending or ascending bass line.

One of the benefits of this kind of 'masking' is that the lowest notes of the accompaning chords don't interfere with the bass line, which would otherwise kill the natural flow and phrasing if those chord notes would become too prominent.

Another benefit is that when an intro (or intermezzo, coda) has many modulations, it's better not to 'force' the audience to listen consciously to each individual change of chords, because that would distract the listener too much. You'd rather have the listener pay attention to bass lines, melodic elements, or other parts that involve some melodic phrasing, cause that's usually easier to follow than a series of modulating chords, and will add consistency to your piece as well.

It's a bit like editing a movie. You want your audience to focus on the main story, so intro's, flashbacks, cut-scenes, etcetera, should not distract too much from the story, otherwise your audience will be confused, which is usually not the intention of an introduction. 

Anyway, this is just my personal view and my impression of this piece, and not necessarily a representation of what is really going on inside Thomas Bergersen's brain, 'cause a genius like TJB does not think the same way as we, earthlings, do. I'm merely guessing, more or less based on what I would do in a similar situation. It's not an analysis of TJB's creative process.

One more thing: I don't really understand your choice to spend a lot of time studying the intro of this Hollywood Strings demo. TJB has written much better pieces, especially in the early days of Two Steps from Hell. If it really has to be a product demo, why don't you analyse "Love Suspended", "Sampled not Stirred" or "An Awfully Big Adventure"? Those pieces are excellent in every way and have a lot more 'character' and beauty than the one you picked. 8) 

- Jerome Vonhögen


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