Jambalaya

Jambalaya (1952)
Hank Williams Sr.
Country, USA

Euroclassical function names:	tonic	dominant
Tagg:	tonic	counterpoise
Riemann:	T	D or D7
scale degrees:	I	V or V7
chord names:	C	G or G7

  C    G         C
|:////|////|////|////:|

mode: C major/ionian — C D E F G A B C
melody: drmsltd’
form: ABA’B’
meter: duple
suggested time signature: 2|4

other recordings:
Professor Longhair, C
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, D
John Fogerty, G
Sergio Mendivil y sus Huellas, G (in Spanish!)
Emmylou Harris, A
Brenda Lee, Bb

Here it is, the textbook example of the counterpoise sandwich. Yet, because this four-measure phrase repeats for the entire song, it is also a loop. Here, the V chord is both the outgoing chord (the chord leaving home, the tonic) and the incoming chord (the chord leading back to home, the tonic). The classical part of me does wonder why we need to introduce new terms, when we clearly have a “normal,” in the European Classical Music sense, tonic-dominant relationship with a Perfect Authentic Cadence. But I do also have a part of me that agrees with Tagg: Classical music of the Common Practice Period rarely uses merely two chords, and certainly not for an entire song or piece. Loops in classical music tend to be long, like a chaconne or passacaglia (or other versions of ground bass) and still feel much more like a long line than a loop. The way the chord progression works in a song like this is markedly different and deserves a different way of looking at it and talking about it.

Now, if I’m working with kids, they do not necessarily have all this background in listening to classical music like I do — and let’s face it, your average adult doesn’t either. But the issue is partly that much of the theory and terminology is coming out of the Euroclassical tradition and often the terminology is confusing when applied to folk, rock, pop, and other “vernacular” styles, that have much in common with Euroclassical (which, of course, comes out of and develops alongside European Folk musics and subsequently American Folk musics) but are not the same. I am not suggesting throwing out the Euroclassical terminology, but extending it and adapting it where necessary.