Identifying suspensions
Non-chord tones on strong beats make for more interesting melodies
Today in pop aural skills, we identified suspensions, that is, melodies that place unexpected non-chord tones on strong beats, before resolving to the expected chord tones. These are melodic suspensions, which are not the same thing as sus4 or sus2 chords, but they are related concepts.
Western European classical theory has a lot of clear and unambiguous rules for suspensions. Pop follows those rules to varying extents, but not strictly. There is less of an expectation that the chord tones will be on strong beats in the first place, or that the chord tones are even the main melody notes. So some (maybe all) of these examples are debatable.
"You Never Give Me Your Money" by the Beatles
The suspension is in the very first line of the song. The words "You never give me your" are all sung on E over an Am chord. On the word "money", the chord changes to Dm, but the "mo-" is still on E, the second of the chord, a non-chord tone. Then it resolves down to the chord root D on "-ney".
Listen to the line "and the papers want to know whose shirts you wear" at 1:33. The words "know whose shirts" are sung on C over a C chord. On "you wea-ear", the chord changes to F. The words "you wea-" are sung on D, the sixth of the F chord, a non-chord tone. The second syllable "-ear" resolves down to C, the fifth of the F chord. Bowie does the same 6-5 suspension on "now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare."
"Dark Star" by the Grateful Dead
Once again, the suspension is in the first line. Listen at 0:15 to the line "Dark star crashes." The whole verse is in A Mixolydian, and the line is sung over an A7 chord. The word "Dark" is sung on E, the fifth of A7. The words "star crash-" are sung on D, the fourth, a non-chord tone. The second syllable "-es" resolves down to C-sharp, the third of A7.
"Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" by Stevie Wonder
There's an extraordinary series of 4-3 suspensions at 1:40, on the line "when you check it out." Everything I'm discussing is sung on the word "out". Stevie begins the word on C-flat, the fourth of the underlying Gb7 chord, a non-chord tone. Then he resolves down to B-flat, the third. But here comes the twist. The chord now changes to F7. Stevie continues to sing the B-flat, which now becomes the fourth of F. Then he resolves down to A, the third of F7. But then he changes the chord to E. Now his A is the fourth of the E chord. He resolves it down to G-sharp, the third of E. This same cycle repeats through Eb7sus4 and Eb7, D7sus4 and D7, and Db7sus4 and Db7. Pretty amazing!
Notice something else about this passage: after the first chord, everything is anticipated. Everything is on a weak subdivision! Suspensions are supposed to place non-chord tones on strong beats, but Stevie doesn't even use any strong beats after that first downbeat. So are these not really suspensions? Or is the strong beat rule not important? My preferred interpretation is that Stevie does the syncopated rhythm so consistently that those weak subdivisions become functionally "strong". I feel like I'm only in the earliest stages of being able to articulate how harmony and melody interact in a tune like this. It's a major growth area for musicology and music theory pedagogy.
I recently watched a Joni Mitchell documentary in which she talks about Wayne Shorter. Shorter apparently told her never to follow a suspended chord with a suspended chord. She apparently said something to him in reply along the lines of “My emotions can go unresolved for weeks, so certainly it’s OK for that to last the length of a single song.” :)
Thanks for this! I'm not a competent pianist but in a college composition class we had to pick something to play (on piano) and sing; I worked out "Don't You Worry Bout a Thing" and loved realizing what he was doing with that string of falling suspensions. (Had a real jazz pianist play it at my wedding years later.)