Yuka Umezawa - Shells on the Sun Deck
Big caution for this analysis, my guitar may or may not have been tuned with A440 when transcribing the changes. So all analysis for this album could be off a half step or so!
1. Legend of the Sun I
|| A maj | F maj9 | D-9 | G7sus ||
Intro starts with an ocean spray dazzling in the Sun. A major is the theoretical I chord, followed by bVImaj…then IVminor taken from the key of A minor, then bVII7. The harmonic gravity is a bit wonky..but what holds it together is the melody: E, A, E, G, over every chord. The notes E, A, E, are the 5th and root of the A major. Then G note first lands on F major (emphasizing the 9th), then E, A, E over the D-9 chord (E is the 9th, A is the 5th), and G note landing on G7sus, the root.
||A maj | B7/A | F#- | Dmaj9 |
| Amaj/E F#- | B-7 Amaj | Gmaj(#11) | Emaj |
|A maj | B7/A | F#- | Dmaj9 |
| Emaj F#- | B-7 E7 | Amaj | Amaj ||
Generally we’re in A major, but the B7/A implies E major, where B7 is the V chord. And there’s a couple other funny substitutions, Gmaj(#11) ((the #11 is real brief, just hinted at with the C# melody from the measure previous), and actually that’s it lol.
Melody picks up from the end of the intro as A, B. Then into the verse: C#.....E, D#, B (B7/A)… A,G#,A…B, C#, F#, (F#-pentatonic run), E (on Dmaj9)…E, D, C#..B, B, A, D, C# (B-7), A, C#, B….. Then repeats with a slight note variation here and there. Pretty standard stuff, like a jazz standard!
|| Dmaj7 | C#-7 F#-7 | B-7 E7 |Amaj7 A7 |
| Dmaj7 | C#-7 F#7 | B-7 | E7 ||
Then back to 2nd half of the verse section, then the ballin’ intro. Then sea breeze solo over A…then to a new section:
|| F maj | G maj | A maj | A maj |
| F maj | G maj | A maj | A maj |
| F maj | E-7 | Ebmaj7 | D-7 |
| C-7 | D-7 | B-7 | E7 |
| E7 ||
Then boom to top of verse, then intro. Yea yea yea yea yea!!
2. In the Clouds
|| Emaj7 | | Dmaj7 | |
| Emaj7 | | Dmaj7 | |
| Gmaj7 | Amaj | Cmaj7 | Amaj ||
Played dreamly and fluffily.
3. Horizon
|| D-9 | G13 | D-9 | G13 |
| D-9 | G13 | D-9 | G13 |
| C-9 | F13 | C-9 | F13 |
| E-9 | A-9 | D-9 | G13 ||
|| E-9 | A-7 | E-9 | A-7/E |
| Fmaj7 | E-7 | Ebmaj7 | Dbmaj7 |
| Cmaj7 | ||
Descending the clouds through the mango colored sunset, palm trees lazily swaying in the evening’s exhale.
D-9 chord voicing: x5355x
G13 chord voicing: 3x345x
C-9 chord voicing: x3133x
F13 chord voicing: 1x123x
Lots of PRIMO bossa nova stuff happening here, amazing. And generally in the 2nd part of the song there are some harmonized 3rds slurring around.
The main part of the guitar melody is A, C, G, F, E..outlining A-7. Interesting the A, C are played lower, and the big jump to G, then descends to F and E, almost like the phrase is divided into 2 lower notes (A, C) and 3 higher notes (G, F, E) with a horizon between them…
4. Back to the Sea
Intro
||: Eb-9 | Ab13sus | Eb-9 | Ab13sus :||
Verse
|| Dbmaj7 | C7b9 | F-7 | Ab-7 Db7 |
| Gbmaj7 | Ab13sus | Dbmaj7/Ab | Ab-7 Db7 |
| Gbmaj7 | F-7 | F7 or Adim7 | Bb- |
| Eb- | | Ab7sus | ||
|| Dbmaj7 | Gbmaj7 | Dbmaj7 | Gbmaj7 |
| F7 | Bb- | Eb7 | Ab7 |
| Dbmaj7 | Gbmaj7 | Dbmaj7 Db7 | Gbmaj7 |
| F7 | Bb- | Eb-7 F-7 | Gb-7 Ab7 |
| Dbmaj | Bb- | Eb-7 | Ab7 ||
|| Dbmaj | Bb- | Eb- | Ab7 ||
Ends on like an out coda of A major7 stuff.
5. Esperance
B7sus voicing: 7x7670
Emaj voicing: 0x6454 hammer on from 4th to 6th fret of D string
|| B7sus | Emaj add9 | B7sus | Emaj add9 |
| D7sus | Gmaj7 | Fmaj7 | Gb-7 B7 ||
|| A maj | | G#-7 | C#7 |
|F#-7 | B7 | Cmaj7 | E maj7 ||
2nd ending
|| Emaj | E7 ||
Next section:
|| Cmaj7 | B-7 | Emaj | |
| Cmaj7 | B-7 | Bbmaj7 | A- |
| Fmaj7 | Gb-7 | B7 | ||
Tag out:
|| F#-7 | B7 | Cmaj7 | Fmaj7 |
| Emaj7 | | | ||
6. Legend of the Sun II
A Lydian vamp back and forth: Amaj9 and B7(11)
Amaj9 voicing: x06600
B7(11) voicing: 7x7800
Then:
|| G#-7 | C#-7 | G#-7 | C#-7 ||
7. Full Sail
||: Gmaj | Gmaj/B | A-7 | Dmaj :||
||: Cmaj | | B-7 | E-7 :||
|| E- | E-/D# | E-/D E-/C# | Cmaj D maj |
| B-7 | Emaj | Cmaj | Dmaj |
| G maj | Dmaj ||
Final repeat modulates to Amajor, so all chords go up a whole step, Amaj, Amaj/C#, B-7, Emaj, etc.
8. Legend of the Sun III
|| Fmaj | Gmaj | D-7 | Bbmaj |
| A-7 D-7 | G-7 C7 | Ebmaj | ||
Second repeat resolves to F major.
Then:
|| Bbmaj7 | A-7 D-7 | G-7 C7 | Fmaj F7 |
| Bbmaj7 | A-7 D7 | G-7 | C7 ||
Ends on vamp between Fmajor and Gmajor.
9. Hayley Cockle’s Beach
|| Cmaj7 | Bb-7 Eb13 | Abmaj7 | Ab-7 Db13 |
| Gbmaj7 | Bb-7/F | Eb-7 | Ab7sus ||
Second ending to Dbmaj7.
Then:
|| Db-7 | Gb7 | Bmaj7 | |
| Ab-7 | Db7 | Ab-7 | Db7 |
| Bb-7 | Eb-7 | Bmaj7 | |
| Dbmaj | ||
| Gbmaj7 | Ab-7 | Gbmaj7 | Ab-7 |
| Gbmaj7 | Ab-7 | Gbmaj7 | Ab7sus ||
Repeat A, then solo section on Bb-7 and Eb-9 back and forth a while, then…
|| Gbmaj7 | | F-7 | |
| Eb-7 | | Eb-7 | |
| Ab7sus | | Bb-7/Ab | Snappy G13 ||
10. When the Wind Sings
||: Gmaj7 | Dmaj/ F# | E-7 | Dmaj7 G7(#11) |
|| Gmaj7 | Dmaj/ F# | E-7 A7 | Dmaj7 :||
|| Cmaj7 | B-7 | Dmaj | |
| Cmaj7 | B-7 | Amaj | Amaj ||
||: Gmaj7 | Dmaj/ F# | E-7 | Dmaj7 G7(#11) |
|| Gmaj7 | Dmaj/ F# | E-7 A7 | Dmaj7 :||
Next part:
||: D maj7 | D7sus D7 | Gmaj | |
| A7 | | Dmaj | :||
11. Sunset Dance
Intro is back and forth between Cmaj7 and Bbmaj7, until the inevitable G7sus!
Then:
||: Cmaj7 | B-7b5 E7alt | A-7 | G-7 C7 |
| Fmaj7 | Cmaj/E | D-7 | G7 :||
|| Abmaj7 |Bb7/Ab | G-7 | C-7 |
| Abmaj7 |Bb7/Ab | G-7 | C-7 |
| F-7 | Ebmaj/G | Abmaj7 | G7sus |
| G7sus ||
|| Cmaj7 | B-7b5 E7alt | A-7 | G-7 C7 |
| Fmaj7 | Cmaj/E | D-7 | G7 ||
Then jam out over A-7 to D7 for a while.
Then:
|| G7sus | Fmaj | Ebmaj7 | D-7 G7sus ||
Then some repeats of the form. AND THEN, back to the first section, but modulated up to Ebmajor. So all chords go up minor 3rd. Soo; Ebmaj7, D-7b5, G7alt, C-7…etc, etc.
Then vamp out Ebmaj7 and Dbmaj7 until end.
12. Midsummer Night’s secret
The bulk of this tune is:
|| A-7 | D7 | Gmaj7 | Cmaj7 ||
With the melody: A, A, G, up to C, C…. C, D, C, B…
Then:
|| A-7 D7 | B-7 E-7 | A-7 D7 | B-7 E7 |
| A-7 D7 | B-7 E7 | A-7 D7 | Gmaj7 Cmaj ||
Ends on rocking back and forth on Gmajor and Cmajor.
13. Purple Ocean
Starts off with like Ebmajor add13 and Dbmajor add 13.
Ebmaj add13: x6x563
Dbmaj add13: x4x341
Then:
|| C-9 | F-9 | C-9 | F-9 |
| Db9(#11) | | Bb13sus | |
| C7sus | Bb7sus | C7sus | Bb7sus |
| Ebmaj sus | | Dbmaj sus? | ||
C7sus: x3336x
Bb7sus: x1114x
