My song ‘Less Traveled’ is about taking those proverbial roads in life that seem scary or risky at first but actually lead us to unexpected, serendipitous and beautiful places/adventures. I think about the line in the poem ‘Road Less Traveled’ by the poet Robert Frost where he says…
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
Only Frost knows the true meaning, but my own interpretation of those last lines of the poem leads me to the belief that life changes while scary, can many times be a good thing. Moving forward into the unknown despite fear is true courage. Putting one foot in front of the other leading us to personal growth.
My song ‘Less Traveled’ you can hear that trepidation, and bold courage of moving forward cautiously but with determination.
Musically ‘Less Traveled’ is in the key of D minor and 4/4 common time. The song starts out with a special studio effect of a reverse note D (played backwards) and then goes into the main theme of the song. If you listen carefully at the end of the song it ends on a D major chord giving it a sense of optimism. In music theory terms this is called a Picardy Third. This means a song is in a minor key and it ends or cadences on a Major Triad. So for example ‘Less Traveled’ is in the key of D minor. D minor triad is D, F, A. and then D Major triad is D, F#, A. Let’s take a look at what a D minor triad (three notes) would look like on the treble staff…
And now D Major triad (three notes) on the treble staff.
Notice the difference? The note F was raised to make it F#, which makes it go from D minor to D Major.
Now let’s see D minor (DFA) on the piano keyboard…
And now D major triad with it’s raised third of F# (D, F#, A)
It’s a subtle change in one note to the triad of F natural to F sharp that gives it a noticeable end to the song.
So there you have it, a brief behind the music of ‘Less Traveled’ along with a music theory lesson all rolled into one!
Listen to ‘Less Traveled’ on Spotify HERE
Listen to ‘Less Traveled’ on Pandora Radio HERE
Listen to ‘Less Traveled’ on Apple Music HERE
Want to learn how to play ‘Less Traveled’ on your piano or keyboard? Sheet Music available HERE
