I recently taught a class for a few minutes on the concept of “Harmony,” and I used Jeff Buckley’s version of “Hallelujah” to do so. It has a simple harmony that is easy to follow, and the song’s presentation is uncomplicated (just a voice and a guitar). In any case, while working on it, I actually paid attention to the lyrics for once (besides “Hallelujah, etc.”). The first verse would be perfect for teaching the relationship between music and lyrics:
When David played before the Lord
I heard he had a special chord
But you don’t really care for music do ya?
Well, it goes like this: the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composed his hallelujah.
Hallelujah, etc.
Oddly enough, when Jeff sings “the fourth, the fifth,” the chords he plays are, in fact, the fourth and the fifth (in C major, that would be F and G). When he sings “minor fall,” he plays an A minor chord, and when he sings “major lift,” he plays an F major chord. Leonard Cohen, who originally wrote and performed this song, was enjoying himself a little when he wrote this.
To be fair, text painting can be exercised on many levels besides just harmonic structure, but this explanation would be a simple and literal introduction to the idea for a basic Music Appreciation class.
