Leaving on a Jet Plane...?

[Riverwolf]

Anyone else play it with these chords?
At a recent jam all I got was strange looks and corrective suggestions.
This is the only way I have ever played this song.
Strummed with mostly a D DU UDU,
but I am not real strict on patterns.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Glennwillow]

The chords you have seem to be the preferred way to play the song.

When I learned this 55 years ago after hearing Peter, Paul and Mary play it, I think that I was playing G to Am7 instead of G to C in the first two lines of each verse.

I just pulled out a guitar and tried it and either way works. I kind of like the G to Am7 change a little better, but they are pretty similar approaches.

Why were people looking at you strangely? What were their offered suggestions? It's a pretty simple song, so there can't be that many ways to play it aside from changing the key.

- Glenn

[Riverwolf]

Nobody else had heard of using the Em and Am.
And sure enough, I had a real hard time finding this version online.
Everyone else remembered and played it like this-
[IMG][/IMG]

[martingitdave]

Going by memory here...

I think John Denver played it with C and G. PP&M used the inversions for Em and Am, which work well with the melody, and especially the harmonies. One of my favorite parts of playing folk music is that I can use all kinds of inversions and alternate progressions when I am playing a song. It gives it some extra interest.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

Nobody else had heard of using the Em and Am.
And sure enough, I had a real hard time finding this version online.
Everyone else remembered and played it like this-
[IMG][/IMG]

There you go. That's John Denver's chords (Peter Paul and Mary's too).

What you've done is introduced (or found somewhere) some faintly jazzy substitutions... no wonder you got all those faces. "Help, he's playing jazz!! Run away!!!"
They work of course, and would go very nicely if a bassist was playing the original roots. Em/C is Cmaj7, and echoes the B melody note.

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by JonPR

There you go. That's John Denver's chords (Peter Paul and Mary's too).

What you've done is introduced (or found somewhere) some faintly jazzy substitutions... no wonder you got all those faces. "Help, he's playing jazz!! Run away!!!"
They work of course, and would go very nicely if a bassist was playing the original roots. Em/C is Cmaj7, and echoes the B melody note.

Interesting. I had no idea. I know very little of music theory.
I like to slow songs down and to me the Em and Am gives a slightly melancholy feel.
Jazz?
My version of Blowing in the Wind is very similar.

[Rodger Knox]

I've always played the Em but not the Am...
I can't remember where I learned it.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

Jazz?

It's a standard thing in jazz, whenever you get a D7 chord, to stick an Am7 in front. I.e, to split a D (in key of G) into half Am and half D, and then add 7ths.
Putting Em7) in front of the Am would be an additional step if it fitted.

Actually I was wrong about the B melody note. There is one in the phrase, but it begins with C not B:

CHORDS: |G                  |C             |D
MELODY: |C  C   B   A    G  |C   B  A   G  |A
        |I hate to wake you |up to say good-bye

That's interesting because the fact he sings a C note on "up" suggests the C chord will sound better than Em. But then he sings C at the beginning of the G chord too, where it technically clashes (a suspension), so there's no reason why Em would be a problem in place of C.

OK, this is all at a technical level you don't need to care about , but the use of that C over the G chord (resolving down to B) is a tension with a particular emotional effect. JD probably sang it intuitively, but he does it on most lines of the verse: "bags are packed....", "sta-anding here..." - that same plaintive tension, which is highly significant and obviously relates well to the theme of the song. The song would not have its emotional appeal if he'd just sung a chord tone as the beginning of each phrase.
The ends of those first two phrases are also non-chord tones. The words "go" and "door" are A against the C chord. These are consonant with the chord, but still technically unresolved tensions. It's as if his melody is echoing his "lack of resolution" (he's indecisive, he hates to go, wants to say goodbye). This kind of intuition is what genius songwriting is about: tune and words (and chords) combine to express the same thing, even if it's done subconsciously.

[jaymarsch]

Originally Posted by JonPR

It's a standard thing in jazz, whenever you get a D7 chord, to stick an Am7 in front. I.e, to split a D (in key of G) into half Am and half D, and then add 7ths.
Putting Em7) in front of the Am would be an additional step if it fitted.

Actually I was wrong about the B melody note. There is one in the phrase, but it begins with C not B:

CHORDS: |G                  |C             |D
MELODY: |C  C   B   A    G  |C   B  A   G  |A
        |I hate to wake you |up to say good-bye

That's interesting because the fact he sings a C note on "up" suggests the C chord will sound better than Em. But then he sings C at the beginning of the G chord too, where it technically clashes (a suspension), so there's no reason why Em would be a problem in place of C.

OK, this is all at a technical level you don't need to care about , but the use of that C over the G chord (resolving down to B) is a tension with a particular emotional effect. JD probably sang it intuitively, but he does it on most lines of the verse: "bags are packed....", "sta-anding here..." - that same plaintive tension, which is highly significant and obviously relates well to the theme of the song. The song would not have its emotional appeal if he'd just sung a chord tone as the beginning of each phrase.
The ends of those first two phrases are also non-chord tones. The words "go" and "door" are A against the C chord. These are consonant with the chord, but still technically unresolved tensions. It's as if his melody is echoing his "lack of resolution" (he's indecisive, he hates to go, wants to say goodbye). This kind of intuition is what genius songwriting is about: tune and words (and chords) combine to express the same thing, even if it's done subconsciously.

I really appreciate this level of explanation, Jon. Thanks for taking the time. This is why I want to learn more theory. More choices that can help really express the emotions of the song.

Best,
Jayne

[Tahitijack]

Let's remember to suggest this song for beginners as a highly recognized song that is easier to play and offers an opportunity to "play" with different chord changes. Thanks for posting on this song. Now where Glenn Willow?

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by jaymarsch

I really appreciate this level of explanation, Jon. Thanks for taking the time. This is why I want to learn more theory. More choices that can help really express the emotions of the song.

Best,
Jayne

Thanks.

I know it might be controversial in some circles to call John Denver a "genius songwriter" (he's not my favourite by any means), but what I meant is that sometimes a songwriter can hit a particular combination of elements - subconsciously or accidentally - and produce a song that strikes a chord with the public. Sometimes that artist may produce very little else of such significance, but that one song can be massive and long-lasting. (JD managed 'Country Roads', of course, but I think that's second to Jet Plane in impact and memorability.)

It's always when the whole thing works together, when every part of the track (including its production and arrangement) supports every other, especially the lyrics. You get the feeling that it's a really honest, direct expression, of whatever kind; that the songwriter's thoughts come through clear and strong, supported by the whole sound of the track rather than inhibited or veiled in any way (e.g., by technical virtuosity or fancy studio effects).

There are very tiny minority of songwriters who can do it again and again (Lennon/McCartney, Paul Simon, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin... Bob Dylan? stunning at his best, but somewhat patchy), while there are other true geniuses (IMO) who struggle to catch the public imagination: Joni Mitchell just about did it with Both Sides Now or Big Yellow Taxi, and Leonard Cohen with Suzanne and Hallelujah; both of them produced dozens of songs that are much better crafted than those, although those do have the quality of economic compactness; sturdy songs, no frills.
'Leaving on a Jet Plane' is definitely an example of that: 3 chords, no messing around, simple and clear - but with those tell-tale suspensions in the melody that make it irresistible. (There are obviously countless other simple 3-chord songs with nothing like this appeal.)

[valleyguy]

Peter Paul and Mary often took songs and added a lot of minors, it was they way they liked it to sound. I think generally folk songs have more minors.

I went to an introduction to a bluegrass group and the moderator gave a little talk on the genre. One comment that stuck in my mind was how bluegrass uses mostly majors, whereas folk and old timey like the minors for feeling. Of course today's groups blur the line.

A perfect example of this was when I went to learn Nanci Griffith's "Love at the Five and Dime". I heard it at a jam in a bluegrass style, all majors. Nanci plays it in G tuning, which I was not about to use. I went to YouTube and reviewed countless covers and versions of the song, bluegrass, folk and country. I settled on a combination of the folk and country chords, it best suited how I liked to sing the song. I think minors bring more melancholy.

There are no right or wrong ways to do a song.