BELIEVEYOUME — chord charts (v1, simple)

BELIEVEYOUME , Vocal-Chord Hybrid Analysis

What this document is

A cross-album look at the major song elements and the most interesting vocal-chord interactions on Shiner's BELIEVEYOUME, with the vocal MIDI track held out of the chord-detection pool and then mapped back in as scale-degree commentary.

The album-wide insight up front: **Shiner's rhythm guitar and bass mostly voice power chords (root + 5), and the vocal supplies the third.** That single observation reframes the chord chart. The earlier MIDI extraction was treating vocal notes as chord tones, which inflated F5 power chords into spurious F5add9, Cmsus4, Bbm7 and so on. With the vocal removed from chord detection, the rhythm + bass voicing reads cleanly, and the vocal's role becomes legible as a separate harmonic decision: usually the third (completing the triad), sometimes a held pivot (same note across a chord change), sometimes a high-register decoration on the 6th or 7th.

Four behaviors recur across the record.

1. **Vocal-supplies-the-3rd.** The signature move. Tracks 1, 6, 9 are clearest. Rhythm + bass give a power chord, the vocal lands on the 3rd, the chord lands.

2. **Vocal-pivot.** The same vocal note is held across a chord change, so the listener feels the chord move underneath while the melody stays put. Tracks 2, 3, 5, 10.

3. **High-register decoration.** Vocal sits on the 6th or 7th of the chord, above the harmony rather than inside it. Tracks 8 and 10.

4. **Mode-mixing.** The rhythm guitar voices a power chord, and the vocal sometimes lands on ♮3 (major) and sometimes on b3 (minor), so the song slides between major and minor without changing chord. Tracks 2 and 5 most explicitly.

Per track, the major elements and the most-interesting moment

1. Asleep in the Trunk , F minor

Rhythm + bass live on F5 for most of the song (the bar-level extraction shows F5 as the dominant chord for 121 bars). The rhythm guitar adds a high Db ringing on top, a Phrygian color above the power chord.

Verse signature. The vocal floats A natural over the F5 + Db bed. F to A is the major 3rd, not the minor 3rd that the surrounding F-minor context would predict. That's the song's central ambiguity, a bright vocal melody over a darker harmonic bed. The prior extraction was reading A as a chord tone and labeling F major or F6 in spots, but the rhythm + bass alone are unambiguously F5 with Db.

Most interesting. The chorus progression is Db5 → Bb5 → Ab5 → F5, and the vocal lands on each chord's 3rd or b3 in sequence:

Db5 + vocal F = Db major (vocal = ♮3)
Bb5 + vocal Db = Bb minor (vocal = b3)
Ab5 + vocal C = Ab major (vocal = ♮3)
F5 + vocal Ab = F minor (vocal = b3)

The vocal completes every chord. No fourth voice is needed because the vocal IS the third.

2. The Alligator , G mixed-mode

Rhythm + bass voice G (with a strong B natural in the rhythm guitar's middle voice) alternating with Bb (♭III, borrowed from G minor). The verse riff sits between G major and G minor parallel modes.

Verse and hook signature. The entire vocal melody is two notes, B and C, alternating. The chord underneath changes (G → Bb → G → Bb), and the role of those two vocal notes changes with it.

Most interesting. The same B-C melody means three different things depending on the chord underneath:

Over G: B = ♮3, C = sus 4 (the vocal completes G major and decorates it)
Over Bb: B = ♯1, C = 9 (the same vocal B is now a chromatic clash)
Over B: B = root, C = b9 (briefly atonal, in the bridge passing chord)

Same melody, three meanings. That's the songwriting payoff. The prior extraction was reading the sus 4 vocal as a chord member and labeling Bb6/9 or Gadd9.

3. The Mutiny , F# major

Rhythm voices F# (root + 5, with A# as the major 3rd) alternating with A#m (root + b3 + 5). Bass enters partway through the song; the first 38 bars are rhythm guitar and vocal only.

Verse signature. The vocal holds a sustained A# (= Bb in the extract) over the chord change.

Most interesting. A# is the ♮3 of F# AND the root of A#m, which means the same held vocal note has two different functions one bar apart:

Bar 1: F# chord, vocal A# = ♮3 (vocal completes F# major)
Bar 2: A#m chord, vocal A# = root (vocal anchors the new chord)

The melody hasn't moved, but the song has. That's the cleanest vocal-pivot example on the album. Also the bridge contains an Fdim chromatic passing chord, F-Ab-B, and the vocal C natural lands on the ♭5 of that chord, the most-dissonant vocal-against-chord moment on the record.

4. So Far So , D minor

Rhythm + bass anchor on D (the song lives on the D bass for 91 of its bars). The rhythm guitar adds F natural (b3, confirming D minor) and Bb (b6, Aeolian color).

Verse signature. The vocal anchors on A natural, the 5th of D minor. A is the most-stable possible scale degree, and the song uses that stability deliberately, the vocal sounds calm while the harmony churns underneath.

Most interesting. When the chord moves from Dm to Bb (the b6 chord), the held A natural in the vocal becomes the major 7th of Bb. That's a wistful lift, the same physical pitch suddenly carries a different emotional weight. The prior extraction labeled it Bbmaj7 because A was being counted as a chord tone. With the vocal excluded, the chord is plain Bb, and the vocal A is correctly a melodic ♮7 sitting on top.

5. My Mirror Hates Me , E minor

Rhythm + bass voice E5 with a strong D in the rhythm guitar (the b7 of E, suggesting E Mixolydian or E Dorian rather than pure E Aeolian). The rhythm guitar also has G# in several bars, the major 3rd, which would make E major.

Verse signature. The vocal hovers on G# and B (the ♮3 and 5 of E), so the verse-with-vocal resolves as E major even though the chord is just E5. The mode-mixing is built into the song's basic voicing.

Most interesting. The vocal sometimes lands on F# natural, which is the major 2nd / 9th of E. F# is in E major scale but also in E Dorian (where the chord underneath would be Em, with F# = ♮9 / Dorian color). So F# is the vocal's mode-tester, it commits to neither pure major nor pure minor. The prior extraction had moments of E6 or Eadd9 from this F# being counted as a chord tone, when it's really a melodic decision.

6. Endless Summer , Bb major

Rhythm + bass live on Bb5 for 109 bars. This is the album's most-concentrated single-chord song, the entire structure orbits Bb.

Verse signature. The vocal centers on D natural, the major 3rd of Bb. So the same trick as track 1, vocal supplies the third, but now in the bright key. Bb5 + D = Bb major triad, completed by the vocal.

Most interesting. The vocal also visits Eb (the 4th of Bb, briefly a sus 4 color) and C (the 2nd / 9th). When the chord briefly drops to F5 in the bridge area, the C# (which had been a chromatic note over Bb) becomes the 5th of F#. There's a subtle pivot moment where C# moves from b6-of-F to 5-of-F# as the harmony shifts. The prior extraction was occasionally calling Bb6 or Bbsus when these decorative vocal notes got pulled in.

7. Lazarus , C minor, instrumental

No vocal track in this MIDI. The song is built on a Drop-C rhythm guitar with C5 → Gm → G5 → Em movement.

Note for the band book. Lazarus is the album's instrumental, so the vocal-supplies-the-3rd pattern doesn't apply. The chord chart for this track is stable without vocal-degree commentary, the rhythm + bass voicing IS the harmony. The most-interesting feature is the Drop-C tuning itself, which gives the rhythm guitar a low C (C2) that sits below the bass's normal range in places, doubling and reinforcing the root.

8. Not Too Much , Ab major

Rhythm + bass voice Ab (root + 5, often with C completing Ab major in the rhythm) alternating with Bb5 and C5.

Verse signature. The vocal sits on F natural, which is the 6th of Ab major. The 6 is NOT a chord tone of a basic triad, the vocal is decorating from above rather than completing the chord. The completed chord is Ab major (rhythm gives the major 3rd C), and the vocal sits one step higher on the 6.

Most interesting. When the chord moves Ab → Bb, the same vocal F becomes the 5th of Bb. The vocal hasn't moved, but its function shifted from a high decoration (6 of Ab) to a structural chord tone (5 of Bb). The prior extraction was calling Ab6 or Ab(add9) because the F was being pulled into the chord label. With the vocal excluded, Ab is plainly Ab major, and the F is a melodic high-register decision.

9. Broken Satellites , Eb major

Rhythm + bass voice Eb5 (with the rhythm guitar adding G = ♮3 in many bars to complete Eb major). Bass walks Eb → C → Ab → G → Bb across the verse.

Verse signature. The vocal anchors on the root and 5 of Eb, with D natural (the major 7) showing up as a leading-tone color on the cadences. The melody is more chord-anchored than the rest of the album.

Most interesting. The bridge has a C5 → Bb5 → F5 → Eb5 walk. The vocal sustains F across the C5 → Bb5 change, which means F moves from sus 4 of C to 5 of Bb in two bars. That's another vocal-pivot example, but quieter than the Mutiny version, the held note resolves a sus 4 by changing chord rather than by moving down. The prior extraction labeled Csus4 explicitly because F was sitting in the chord, but the rhythm + bass alone are just C5 with the vocal supplying the sus.

10. Jackie , C minor

Rhythm + bass voice Cm, Eb, Ab in rotation. The bass walks C → Eb → Ab → G across the verse.

Verse signature. The vocal sits HIGH, mostly on the 6th and 7th of the chord underneath. This is the album's most-extreme high-register-decoration vocal, the melody almost never lands on the chord's root or third.

Most interesting. When the chord moves Eb → Ab, the held vocal G stays put. G is the major 3rd of Eb, then the major 7th of Ab. That's a fancy pivot: same vocal note, the chord moves IV → ♭VII (or III → VI in C minor), and the held G transforms from a stable 3rd into an unstable ♮7. The prior extraction was reading this as Ebmaj7 and Abmaj7 because the G was getting included in the chord labels. With the vocal excluded, the chord changes are plainly Eb and Ab, and the G is melodic, the song's emotional climb.

Cross-album patterns worth naming

**Power chord + vocal-supplied third is the signature.** Asleep in the Trunk, Endless Summer, and Broken Satellites use it most explicitly. The rhythm + bass give a 5th, the vocal lands on the 3rd, the chord lands. This is why the prior extraction kept inventing 7ths and 9ths, the third was sitting in the vocal track, not the rhythm guitar.

**Vocal pivots are the slow-payoff move.** The Alligator, The Mutiny, My Mirror Hates Me, and Jackie all do this. The vocal holds, the chord changes, and the listener feels the harmonic shift through the unchanged melody. The Mutiny is the cleanest example (A# = ♮3 of F#, then root of A#m, one bar apart). Jackie is the most extreme (G = ♮3 of Eb, then ♮7 of Ab, the function flips from anchor to suspension).

**Two tracks decorate from above.** Not Too Much sits the vocal on the 6th of Ab. Jackie sits the vocal on the 6th and 7th of every chord. In both cases the vocal is not part of the triad, the rhythm + bass give the chord, and the vocal is doing high-register melodic work above it.

**Mode-mixing lives in the rhythm guitar's voicing.** The Alligator has both B and Bb in the rhythm. My Mirror Hates Me has both G and G# in the rhythm. The vocal then picks one or the other depending on the line. This isn't ambiguity, it's a deliberate songwriting choice, the song slides between major and minor parallel modes without changing the chord root.

How this fixes the prior extraction

Every per-song FIXED_HYBRID chart now has a "what changed from the earlier MIDI extraction" section spelling out which inflated chord names came from vocal contamination. The shared theme: the vocal's third, sus, 9, b9, or sus 4 was being counted as a chord member by the auto-detector. Once the vocal track is held out of the pool, the rhythm + bass voicing is unambiguous, and the vocal can be mapped back in as scale-degree commentary rather than chord material.

For the band book, the practical impact is that chord charts should list power-chord voicings as the base layer (what the listener can play on guitar), and the completed triad name as the layer the listener hears (what the band actually does). That two-layer view is what the per-song HYBRID charts now provide.

Existing per-song hybrid charts

Tracks 4-10 covered in this synthesis only. If a single-song deep chart is needed for any of them, run the same extraction pipeline (rhythm + bass for chord, vocal as separate scale-degree map).