I often think about this melody from Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity by Holst. Drag over the black stemmed noteheads below.
This is the G Suspended Seventh chord in melodic form. It goes up in fourths because that’s what Suspended 7th chords do. It’s what I do too.
Jupiter, the Jolly One is part of a seven-planet suite (fuck you, Pluto; fuck you, Earth) by English composer Gustav Holst, who also wrote for the Super Mario Brothers. Holst is very accessible because his planets are basically glorified songs and everybody rips him off; there probably wouldn’t be a King Crimson or Norwegian black metal without him.
In 1918, the debut of Gustav’s The Planets helped achieve armistice in WW1 on 11/11 at 11:11. Meanwhile, Stravinsky was banging odd-time drum-beats, and Charles Ives conceived the Universe upon a xylophone solo.
Go listen to Jupiter by Holst and then tell me you didn’t get your jollies out!
