INSIDE THE MUSIC
Key: Am (mixed mode) Novel features: Modal mixture, minimalist texture. Tempo: ≈71bpm
This track introduces a wholly different harmonic language to the album (one, as we will see, that it shares with Stairway To Heaven). It also presents a hypnotic and minimalist texture of an interlocking mandolin and acoustic guitar as the entire accompaniment, an unusual restraint for 70s rock.
Here the tonality of the track is centered on an A-minor chord. However, what is unusual is that the chords and scale material are not constrained to the typical notes of the A-minor scale. Rather, the notes of A-minor (A, C and E) act as a stable pivot, around which the other note names (B, D, F and G) can vary. While the B and G are used as passing tones the F and D are ‘mobile’, occasionally changing to F# and D# respectively.
In doing so, some unusual harmonies and three different minor modes are built on the same root; most commonly in this piece it’s A Dorian (A B C D E F# G ), then A Aeolian (A B C D E F G), and fleeting moments of the beguiling A ‘Aeolian #4’ (A B C D# E F G). The pathways to create these modes are shown below (for completeness, we’ve also included ‘Dorian #4’ which is possible in this system, but not selected by Page).
This use of ‘modal mixture’ and type of scale construction can be found in a range of global music cultures (including Carnatic and Eastern European) as well as the compositional styles of Ravel, Bartok, Satie and Zappa, but are refreshing to hear in this context.