[link to original on tumblr]
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Yester-day I figured out Rod Argent's (I think it's Argent, at least) counterpoint part during the second half of the second verse of "Friends of Mine." It's the "ba ba ba..." part. It's simple enough that I could notate it, and I noticed a couple of interesting things. First of which is that it's in-between the beats:
Second, I noticed that it has some similarity with the mellotron part during the second verse of "Changes":
Like I've mentioned before, I'm not quite sure what key "Changes" is in, but I've been assuming that it's A minor. "Friends of Mine" is in C major. Already, there's a possibility of some tonal similarities because A minor and C major are relative keys.
The note values are different, but there are some similarities between the phrases. They each start with E and F notes, although in different orders. Then there's a matching descent of a second (A to G) and then an-other descent starting from a higher note in which the first two notes are the same (C, B, A, G, in "Changes;" C, B, G# in "Friends of Mine").
Mostly what I noticed about the two phrases is that the intervals are very small. They're mostly seconds or thirds. There are two fourths in the "Friends of Mine" phrase (ascending G to C and descending A to E). "Changes" has only one fourth interval, although it's the same ascending G to C that's in "Friends of Mine."
Because of the small intervals and the up-and-down nature of the melody, once I isolated this part from the rest of "Friends of Mine," it kept reminding me of "St. Anne," the tune to which "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" is sung. It also has small intervals (the largest of which is a fourth) and - like the phrase in "Friends of Mine" - has only one accidental. I'm assuming that Argent would be familiar with this because of his chorister days. I was also thinking he might have known it through Bach's use of the tune in his Prelude and Fugue in E flat major, BWV 552. But then I did some research, and it turns out that BWV 552 is referred to as "St. Anne" only because of its similarity to the "St. Anne" tune, which Bach wouldn't have known.
However! I was also going to note the similarity between "St. Anne" and the hymn tune "Was mein Gott will." Like the "Friends of Mine" phrase and "St. Anne," it's largest interval is a fourth. It has two accidentals though.
Back in April, I found "Was mein Gott will" in Bach's Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn, BWV 92, and I actually thought it was "St. Anne" at first. So maybe that's the tune Bach used for BWV 552? He also uses it in BWV 103, BWV 111, and BWV 144. In any case, I think there might be something to the similarity between the "Friends of Mine" phrase and these hymn tunes. It seems that choral singing is frequently touted as a feature on Odessey and Oracle, although usually that's in reference to things like "Maybe after He's Gone" and "Changes." But now that I know the notes of this "Friends of Mine" phrase, I think it's an indication of Argent's chorister background too.
