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A couple months ago, I learned the recurring phrase in "Money (That's What I Want)" (although I have to admit that I'm familiar with only the Beatles' version on With the Beatles). A little over a month ago, I realized that it has some musical similarities with the opening guitar figure of Argent's "It's Only Money, Pt. 2." I remember reading somewhere that the Argent song was based on "Money (That's What I Want)" (although I'm not sure how authoritative that claim is), so it really wasn't that surprising to discover those similarities.
The phrases are similar in two different ways. First, there's the rhythm. Here's (most of) the figure in "Money (That's What I Want)":
In every other measure, there're three eighth notes, a quarter note, and then three more eighth notes. The phrase in "It's Only Money, Pt. 2" has the same rhythm in every other measure too (it begins on an up-beat, so it's not in the first measure, but it is in measures 3, 5 and 7):
The second similarity is a three-note chromatic phrase. In "Money (That"s What I Want)," there's the phrase G, G#, A:
In "It's Only Money, Pt. 2," there are the phrases B, A#, A (followed by a G# in one instance, making a four-note chromatic phrase) and G#, G, F#:
While those aren't the same groups of notes and while they go in different directions, pitch-wise, both songs do have three-note chromatic phrases.
The phrases are similar in two different ways. First, there's the rhythm. Here's (most of) the figure in "Money (That's What I Want)":
In every other measure, there're three eighth notes, a quarter note, and then three more eighth notes. The phrase in "It's Only Money, Pt. 2" has the same rhythm in every other measure too (it begins on an up-beat, so it's not in the first measure, but it is in measures 3, 5 and 7):
The second similarity is a three-note chromatic phrase. In "Money (That"s What I Want)," there's the phrase G, G#, A:
In "It's Only Money, Pt. 2," there are the phrases B, A#, A (followed by a G# in one instance, making a four-note chromatic phrase) and G#, G, F#:
