The recent passing of Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, is a good time to reflect on the music that inspired her and in turn touched us all. 

Soul combines two major currents of 20th century African-American music, blues and gospel, which offer two very different ways to respond to the fundamental questions of life. In blues, the answer is temporary: live for today and deal with tomorrow when it comes. Gospel offers a permanent answer: follow Jesus and you will be saved. Musically speaking they have much in common, but this difference in message is revealed in the harmony. Traditional blues changes consist of dominant chords, which contain a built-in dissonance known as the “devil’s interval.” In classical European harmony this dissonance always resolves into a major or minor triad (e.g. E7-A), but the final chord in blues songs is also a dominant chord (e.g. E7-A7) - the song may be over, but the tension remains unresolved. By contrast, gospel songs invariably end on a major chord, often with an amen cadence, or four chord resolving to the one major triad (e.g. D-A). The tension is resolved and God is in his heaven. Amen.