Hotline Bling by Drake — real world music theory
Today I will analyze the song “Hotline Bling“ by Drake in terms of music theory and its harmonic content. The idea is to bring the dry topic of music theory to the real world and help you understand why songs like Hotline Bling work and sound like they do. If you’re lazy, watch my video on YouTube. So let’s get started…
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Overall
First you should notice, that Drake sampled an old recording from 1974 in the typical hip hop fashion. The sample comes from Timmy Thomas’s “Why Can’t We Live Together“ and was speeded up and pitched a whole step higher. The key of Drake’s version is F major (or D minor).
The whole tune has as a melancholic vibe and a rather static feeling. Drake has just been left by his girl and now bemoans the loss, without really coming to a conclusion or doing something. The harmony really helps to establish this mood by employing a few tricks:
- The song centers around the subdominant or IV in the key of F major. The subdominant is a very emotional chord in a major key. If you want to create intense feelings, start or end your chorus on the subdominant.
- By definition, the scale…
