Canalave City – Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum

About game/music

This is “Canalave City” from the RPG “Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum” released by The Pokémon Company.
The music is composed by Go Ichinose.
This music is played in a harbor town. The arpeggio at the beginning reminds me of the waves that come and go.
In the Platinum version, it is famous as the place where you can get the Pokémon called Darkrai.

Analyzing

bar 6~9

• bass goes down a semitone at a time in a smooth flow while using the inverted form.

bar 7~8

• iv in major key (other Tabs include this)
  • one of the so-called “subdominant minor chord”, which include b6th in the scale.
  • It’s nostalgic or romantic.
  • Typically used following IV.
  • It’s borrowed mostly from parallel minor, but also from Mixolydian b6 (in this case, ivM7)
  • other examples are the following songs.
    • The King Lost in Time – Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City
    • Lonely Rolling Star – Katamari Damacy
    • Candy Constellation – Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
    • Big-Bean Vine – Kirby’s Epic Yarn
    • Costumes & Colors – Kirby’s Dream Buffet
    • Shopping in Wakeport – Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
    • Badges – Pikmin Bloom
    • Dewford Town – Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire
    • Rustboro City – Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire
    • Fortree City – Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire
    • Abandoned Ship – Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire
    • Valor Lakefront – Pokémon Diamond/Pearl
    • Hearthome City – Pokémon Diamond/Pearl
    • Canalave City – Pokémon Diamond/Pearl
    • National Park – Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver
    • Cianwood City – Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver
    • Route 26 – Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver
    • Pewter City – Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver
    • Castelia City – Pokémon Black2/White2
    • Marine Tube – Pokémon Black2/White2
    • Iki Town (Day) – Pokémon Sun/Moon
    • Cobalt Coastlands – Pokémon Legends: Arceus
    • Levincia – Pokémon Scarlet/Violet
    • Clear Breeze – Skullgirls
    • Wave Ocean – Sonic the Hedgehog(2006)
    • Magical Snow Day – Sonic Runners
    • Oh! One True Love – Undertale
    • Temmie Village – Undertale

bar 20

• modulates from the original key of A major to C major
  • The chord progression used for the modulation is II-V-bVII (=V in C major).

bar 28~29

• bVI-bVII-I (other TABs include this)
  • the root ascends by a whole tone and resolves to the tonic
  • bVI, bVII are borrowed chords from parallel minor
  • Sometimes called “Mario Cadence”
  • other examples are the following songs.
    • The Amazon – DuckTales
    • Roadside Trees Outside the Window – Etrian Odyssey
    • Labyrinth – World Shrine – Etrian Odyssey Nexus
      • Since it is in a minor key, it may be different because bVI, bVII are not borrowed chords and I is considered a picardy cadence.
    • Ripple Field 2 – Kirby’s Dream Land 3
    • Credit – Kirby’s Dream Land 3
    • Seabed Diving – Kirby’s Return to Dream Land
    • Rainbow Road – Mario Kart 7
    • Route 203 – Pokémon Diamond/Pearl
    • Canalave City – Pokémon Diamond/Pearl
    • Battle! (Frontier Brain) – Pokémon Platinum
    • Bicycle – Pokemon Black/White
    • Believe In Myself – SONIC ADVENTURE 2
    • Seaside Hill – SONIC HEROES
    • Go Quickly! – Sonic Runners
    • World Star – Super Mario 3D World