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Music theory · BELIEVEYOUME, all ten songs v7

BELIEVEYOUME, the analysis set

Shiner · ten songs read in the manner of Alan W. Pollack’s Notes On… series · Drop C throughout

Ten single-song music-theory pages, one per track, each stating key, meter and form then walking the sections, with a scale-degree table, a Nashville-number map and verified chord fingerings. All grounded in the definitive BELIEVEYOUME v6 book.

Album device the withheld third Meter 4/4, Drop C Songs ten, in album order Method Pollack Notes On

BELIEVEYOUME, the whole album in plain words

This is a set of ten pages, one for each song on a Shiner album called BELIEVEYOUME.

Every page tells you the home note, the scale, one clever trick the song plays, and how to finger its main chords.

The big secret of the album is the third, the note that says happy or sad. Most songs leave it out and let the singer add it. The last song hides the home note instead.

Every card below shows the home note, the scale, the main chord flow, and the sections. Tap the card to open the full page.

How to read this set. Each card gives the tonal center, the scale in play, the main progression as detected roots, and the section form, then a one-line thesis on the song’s device.
Every value comes from the definitive BELIEVEYOUME v6 book and the measured key-and-mode data. Exact bar-by-bar chords route to the linked sources on each song page.
The album’s one idea: the third, the note that decides major or minor, is the tone the band keeps moving around. Most tracks leave the third out of the guitars and let a voice or a bass supply it late. A few invert the move: My Mirror Hates Me plays both thirds at once, Endless Summer flips major to minor on one held note, and the closer Jackie hides the root instead of the third and exits on a vamp that never resolves.

BELIEVEYOUME · ten songs, in album order

Album BELIEVEYOUME (Shiner) · Tuning Drop C · Pages ready 10 of 10

01 · openerpage ready

Asleep in the Trunk

Key F, modal, third withheld, Mixolydian ♭7
Scale F G A B♭ C D E♭
1(no3)F
♭6D♭
4B♭
5C
1F
Form bass cell F–E♭–C · F pedal pre-chorus · chorus D♭–F–C · outro cadence B♭–C–F

The album’s thesis stated: the voice sings the major third, the guitar flickers the minor third late, both from opposite sources.

02page ready

The Alligator

Key G major, third withheld, Mixolydian shading
Scale G A B C D E F
1(no3)G
♭3B♭
1(no3)G
1/3G/B
Form a twelve-bar I to ♭III cycle with G fixed as the root, closing on G/B when the third finally lands in the bass

Chords by subtraction: a frozen Gadd9 with no third, cycling I to ♭III, the major third saved for the exit.

03page ready

The Mutiny

Key B♭ Aeolian (natural minor), tonic B♭
Scale B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭
1mB♭m
♭6G♭
5mFm
♭6G♭
Form a long single-cell body, bare B♭5 opener, G♭ and F minor neighbors, narrows back to B♭

A bare B♭5 holds the third open over a heavy flat-six field; the major third arrives late in the vocal.

04page ready

So Far So

Key D, modal, D Mixolydian, third supplied by the voice
Scale D E F♯ G A B C
1(no3)D
♭6B♭
5mAm
1C/D
Form D pedal verse · chorus floor drops to B♭ · bridge on E and A minor · lone C-over-D close

A one-note D pedal the voice colors with a Mixolydian flat-seven; the band moves the floor, closes on a C-over-D clang.

05page ready

My Mirror Hates Me

Key E minor, hidden under an E-and-D drone, revealed in the chorus
Scale E F♯ G A B C D
1(no3)E/D
1m7Em7
♭VIID
♭3/♭7G/D
Form E-and-D drone verse with the third grinding · chorus arpeggiates E minor seven · bridge walks D–B–G–A · outro on G over D

The thesis inverted: both thirds grind at once (G♯ against G♮) over the drone, unresolved on G over D.

06page ready

Endless Summer

Key B♭ major, a held D recolored under moving chords
Scale B♭ C D E♭ F G A
1/3B♭/D
2⁷susC7sus2
3mDm
1(no3)B♭5
Form sustained D reread as 3, then 9, then 1 · half-step flip to C♯ · close rocks B♭5 against F7sus, ends third-less

Common-tone recoloring: one held D across three functions, a half step flips the home chord major to minor.

07page ready

Lazarus

Key C minor, a frozen C5 with the third left out
Scale C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭
1(no3)C5
♭6A♭
♭3E♭
♭7B♭
♭6△7A♭maj7
Form held C5 over a walking bass (E–F♯–D–F) · falling verse melody · flat-side refrain lift (A♭–E♭–B♭) · major-seventh close

Harmony as narrative: a frozen C5 over a tritone bass walk, a flat-side lift, a major-seventh glow for a close.

08page ready

Not Too Much

Key B♭, living in the A♭ field, root hidden at the start
Scale B♭ and A♭ pairing, with C♯ chromatic
1B♭
♭7A♭
♭3C♯
exitD
Form two-chord rock B♭↔A♭ with no dominant · chorus slips a C♯ · bass-silenced bridge flickers its third · outro exits on D major, a tritone from home

An architectural refusal: a hidden root, two major chords a whole step apart with no dominant, exit a tritone from home.

09page ready

Broken Satellites

Key E♭ Lydian, raised fourth (A♮) opening the color
Scale E♭ F G A B♭ C D
6C5
5B♭5
1E♭5
Form intro marks the key by absence · verse re-reads one D three ways · pre-chorus hangs the tritone · bridge holds the song’s only cadence · outro cluster never settles

Recoloring at its furthest orbit: one held D read three ways, a raised-fourth tritone, one cadence saved for the bridge.

10 · closerpage ready

Jackie

Key A♭ major, root hidden, home chord spelled from above
Scale A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G, D♮ in the Lydian bridge
1△7A♭maj7
5E♭
1 LydA♭
3mCm
Form rootless A♭ verse over A♭maj7 · E♭ add-four chorus · A♭ Lydian bridge · A♭-against-C-minor closing vamp that never cadences

The thesis one level deeper: the root is hidden, the home is spelled from above, the exit is a vamp that never resolves.

Sources

Definitive source: the BELIEVEYOUME v6 book. Method: Alan W. Pollack’s Notes On…. Measured data: keys & modes, ixi analysis, stems.