Continuing with our look at Jason Mraz, I will delve further into his songs. In class this week, we checked out “Absolutely Zero”. I’m not sure if I fully understand the concept of it but will provide my layman interpretation here.
The song is in F major and relies heavily on a II minor, V major, I major chord progression which is a jazz standard.
In relation to the song, Mraz uses lands on the I major at the start of each verse which add a sense of drama, suspense and anticipation of what comes next. He continues the cycle slowly over the verse to land on the I major again at the start of the next stanza.
What makes this structure so popular is its strength at establishing a new key centre. Play it on your guitar in any key. You’ll hear when you reach the I, the mood, feel, sound – whatever you choose to call it – completely changes and a new feeling is set.
