Contenidos
Stay With Me — Sam Smith (2014)
Three piano chords, a voice begging someone not to leave, and a church choir that is really one person recorded twenty times. This is how a gospel chorus is built.
🏷️ Ficha musical
Why it's in this book
This song comes in March, the month of With or Without You, and shares its family with it: family B, the four-chord pop loop you already know from Don't Stop Believin' and Chasing Cars. Stay With Me starts that loop on the minor chord and leaves one chord out: A minor, F, C. In class we play only those three; the record adds a G and an E as passing chords in the chorus, and you do not need them to sing it. There is no guitar solo here: the challenge is the three-part choir. In the room with no instruments we build it a cappella, with three voices and claps on 2 and 4; in the ukulele room, singing over A minor, F and C; and in the music room, with the keyboard on the chords, the bass on the roots and the drums slow.
Why this song
Listen to the chorus only and count how many people are singing. It sounds like a whole church choir, twenty or thirty voices.
It is one person. Sam Smith recorded themself about twenty times, each time in a different spot in the studio, singing different parts. Stack them up and you get a choir.
The question on this page is: what does it take for a handful of voices to sound like gospel? The answer fits into three chords and three notes that barely move.
Historical context
Sam Smith was born in London in 1992. They first got noticed singing on other people's tracks: in 2012 they were the voice on "Latch", by the electronic duo Disclosure. Two years later came their first album of their own, In the Lonely Hour.
"Stay With Me" was written in a London studio in just over half an hour. William Phillips started playing three chords on the piano. Jimmy Napes added a drum pattern. According to Smith, the song "just flowed out". Then came the twenty voices, and that demo is what ended up on the record.
Foto: marcen27, CC BY 2.0, vía Wikimedia Commons
Sam Smith at a concert in Glasgow in October 2014, the year of the album. In 2019 they came out as non-binary and use the pronoun they.
The song went to number 1 in the UK and number 2 in the United States and in Spain. In 2015 it won two of the biggest Grammy awards: Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
That same year there was a problem. The chorus melody sounded a lot like "I Won't Back Down", a 1989 song by Tom Petty. Nobody went to court: they reached an agreement, and Petty and his co-writer Jeff Lynne have been credited as writers ever since. Petty said he did not think it was deliberate: "these things can happen".
Musical characteristics
Three chords that never move. The whole verse is the same loop: A minor, F, C, over and over. It starts on a minor chord, which gives it that pleading tone. It ends on C, the home of the song. Take the family B loop (C, G, A minor, F), drop the G, and this is what is left. A short chord progression that repeats non-stop is called a chord loop.
A slow pulse. Tap the beat with your hand: it is slow, about 85 beats per minute. The drums put a sharp hit on beats 2 and 4 of every bar. That off-beat hit is the backbeat, and in gospel it is done with handclaps: the congregation claps on 2 and 4, never on 1.
One voice, then many. In the verse there is a single voice, with the piano behind it. In the chorus the choir comes in. Listen to how it sings: all the voices say the same words at the same time, each one on a different note, like the fingers of one chord. One melody on top and the rest building the chord underneath: that is homophonic texture, and it is how church choirs sing.
Why it sounds like gospel. Gospel is the music of African American churches in the United States. It has three things you can hear here: a piano carrying the harmony, a choir that answers and pushes, and claps on 2 and 4. Smith had no choir in the studio. They built one out of their own voice.
A dangerous resemblance. Hum the chorus, then listen to the chorus of "I Won't Back Down". The melody draws almost the same shape. When a new song reuses the melody of an older one, even by accident, it is called an interpolation, and the writers of the older song get a share.
Hard facts: C major, 4/4, 85 beats per minute, 2:52 in the single version. The form alternates verse and chorus over the same loop; Hooktheory only analyses those two sections.
Guided listening
Play the music video. At the start, while Smith leaves the house and walks down the street, listen to the piano alone with the voice. Count the chords: there are three, and they always come back in the same order.
When the drums come in, clap on 2 and on 4. If your claps land on the sharp hit, you have found the backbeat.
When the first chorus arrives ("Won't you stay with me?"), count the voices. How many different notes can you hear at once? At least three.
In the church scene, compare that choir with the one in the first chorus. The words are the same. What has changed: the number of voices, the volume, or what the lead voice does on top?
Trivia and curiosities
- The choir on the record is Sam Smith recorded about twenty times. It shows that in a studio, a choir can be a single throat.
- The song was written in 30 to 40 minutes. The hard part was not the harmony, which is three chords, but the voice.
- Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne receive 12.5% of the song, but they did not get the Grammy: the Academy treated their part as a reused melody, not as new writing.
- In the 2024 re-recording, Smith changed one line: "'cause I'm just a man" became "baby understand". Lyrics can change when the person singing them changes.
Classroom activities
- Three still voices. Before singing the song, sing just the chords. High group: E, F, E. Middle group: C, C, C. Low group: A, A, G. Each note lasts one bar. You will hear A minor, F and C. Notice that the middle group never moves: C is in all three chords.
- Melody on top. While two groups hold their notes, the third sings the chorus. Then swap roles.
- Play. On ukulele: A minor, F, C, one chord per bar, downstrokes on every beat. It is the key of the record: nothing to transpose.
- Band. Keyboard on the three chords in crotchets, bass on the roots (A, F, C), drums with kick on 1 and 3 and snare on 2 and 4, at 85. Everyone else sings and claps on 2 and 4.
- Analyse. Listen to Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" and then the chorus of Stay With Me. Answer in one sentence: is it the lyrics, the melody or the chords that sound alike?
Key vocabulary
- Chord progression — progresión de acordes
- Chord loop — bucle armónico: una progresión corta que se repite sin cambiar
- Backbeat — el golpe fuerte en el 2 y el 4
- Homophonic texture — textura homofónica
- Interpolation — interpolación: reutilizar la melodía de otra canción
Resources
Official music video — Directed by Jamie Thraves. It starts on a London street and ends in a church with a choir.
Piano tutorial — Bitesize Piano. The chords, slowly, in an easy version. The piano is the instrument the song was born on.
Guitar tutorial — JustinGuitar. A beginner lesson with the three chords and the strumming.
Ukulele tutorial — The Ukulele Teacher. A minor, F and C, with strumming.
Bass — MunsonCovers. A played-through version with the chords and lyrics on screen: useful to see which note the bass plays under each chord.
Drums — Kyle Eng. Not a lesson: the song played on the kit. Watch what the foot does and what the hand does on 2 and 4.
The choir parts — ThemcoversMB. Goes through the chorus harmonies voice by voice.
- Harmonic analysis — Hooktheory has the verse and chorus with chords and melody: https://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab/view/sam-smith/stay-with-me
Por qué está en este libro
Esta canción llega en marzo, el mes de With or Without You, y comparte con ella la familia B: el bucle de cuatro acordes del pop que ya conocéis de Don't Stop Believin' y Chasing Cars. Stay With Me usa ese bucle empezando por el acorde menor y saltándose uno: la menor, fa, do. En clase tocamos solo esos tres; el disco añade un sol y un mi de paso en el estribillo, y no hace falta tocarlos para cantarla. Aquí no hay solo de guitarra: el reto es el coro a tres voces. En el aula sin nada la montamos a capela, con las tres voces y palmas en el 2 y el 4; en el aula de ukelele, cantando encima de la menor, fa y do; y en el aula de música, con el teclado llevando los acordes, el bajo en las raíces y la batería despacio.
Por dónde entrar
Escucha solo el estribillo y cuenta cuántas personas cantan. Parece un coro de iglesia entero, de veinte o treinta voces.
Es una sola persona. Sam Smith se grabó a sí mismo unas veinte veces, cada vez en un punto distinto del estudio, cantando partes diferentes. Al sumarlas sale un coro.
La pregunta de esta página es: ¿qué tiene que pasar para que unas cuantas voces suenen a gospel? La respuesta cabe en tres acordes y en tres notas que se mueven muy poco.
Contexto histórico
Sam Smith nació en Londres en 1992. Se dio a conocer cantando en canciones de otros: en 2012 puso la voz a «Latch», del dúo electrónico Disclosure. Dos años después sacó su primer disco propio, In the Lonely Hour.
«Stay With Me» se escribió en un estudio de Londres en media hora larga. William Phillips empezó a tocar tres acordes al piano. Jimmy Napes añadió un patrón de batería. Según Smith, la canción «salió sola». Después vino lo de las veinte voces, y esa maqueta es la que acabó en el disco.
Foto: marcen27, CC BY 2.0, vía Wikimedia Commons
Sam Smith en un concierto en Glasgow, en octubre de 2014, el año del disco. En 2019 se declaró persona no binaria: en castellano usa el pronombre elle.
La canción fue número 1 en el Reino Unido y número 2 en Estados Unidos y en España. En 2015 ganó dos de los premios Grammy más importantes: Grabación del año y Canción del año.
Ese mismo año hubo un problema. La melodía del estribillo se parecía mucho a la de «I Won't Back Down», una canción de Tom Petty de 1989. No hubo juicio: llegaron a un acuerdo, y Petty y su coautor Jeff Lynne aparecen desde entonces como autores. Petty dijo que no creía que fuera a propósito: «estas cosas pasan».
Cómo suena
Tres acordes que no se mueven. Toda la estrofa es el mismo bucle: la menor, fa, do, una y otra vez. Empieza en un acorde menor, y eso le da el tono de queja. Acaba en do, que es la casa de la canción. Si tocas el bucle de la familia B (do, sol, la menor, fa) y quitas el sol, te queda este. Una progresión de acordes corta que se repite sin parar se llama bucle armónico.
El pulso, despacio. Marca el pulso con la mano: va lento, unos 85 golpes por minuto. La batería pone un golpe seco en el 2 y el 4 de cada compás. Ese golpe a contratiempo es el backbeat, y en el gospel se hace con palmas: la congregación aplaude en el 2 y el 4, nunca en el 1.
Una voz y luego muchas. En la estrofa canta una sola voz, con el piano detrás. En el estribillo entra el coro. Fíjate en cómo canta: todas las voces dicen las mismas palabras a la vez, cada una en una nota distinta, como si fueran los dedos de un mismo acorde. Una melodía arriba y las demás formando el acorde por debajo: eso es una textura homofónica, y es la forma de cantar de los coros de iglesia.
Por qué suena a gospel. El gospel es la música de las iglesias afroamericanas de Estados Unidos. Tiene tres cosas que aquí están: un piano que lleva la armonía, un coro que contesta y empuja, y palmas en el 2 y el 4. Smith no tenía coro en el estudio. Lo fabricó con su propia voz.
Un parecido peligroso. Canta en voz baja el estribillo y después escucha el de «I Won't Back Down». La melodía hace un dibujo casi igual. Cuando una canción nueva reutiliza la melodía de otra, aunque sea sin querer, se habla de interpolación, y los autores de la primera cobran una parte.
Datos duros: Do mayor, 4/4, 85 pulsos por minuto, 2:52 en la versión del sencillo. La forma alterna estrofa y estribillo sobre el mismo bucle; Hooktheory solo analiza esas dos secciones.
Escucha guiada
Pon el videoclip. Al principio, cuando Smith sale de casa y camina por la calle, escucha el piano solo con la voz. Cuenta los acordes: son tres, y vuelven siempre en el mismo orden.
Cuando entre la batería, da una palmada en el 2 y otra en el 4. Si encajan con el golpe seco, has encontrado el backbeat.
Cuando llegue el primer estribillo («Won't you stay with me?»), cuenta las voces. ¿Cuántas notas distintas oyes a la vez? Al menos tres.
En la parte de la iglesia, compara ese coro con el del primer estribillo. Las palabras son las mismas. ¿Qué ha cambiado: el número de voces, el volumen o lo que hace la voz principal por encima?
Curiosidades
- El coro del disco es Sam Smith grabado unas veinte veces. Demuestra que un coro, en un estudio, puede ser una sola garganta.
- La canción se escribió en entre 30 y 40 minutos. Lo difícil no fue la armonía, que son tres acordes, sino la voz.
- Tom Petty y Jeff Lynne cobran un 12,5 % de la canción, pero no recibieron el Grammy: la Academia consideró que su parte era una melodía reutilizada, no una composición nueva.
- En la regrabación de 2024, Smith cambió un verso: «'cause I'm just a man» pasó a ser «baby understand». Una letra también puede cambiar cuando cambia quien la canta.
Para hacer en clase
- Las tres voces quietas. Antes de cantar la canción, cantad solo los acordes. Grupo agudo: mi, fa, mi. Grupo medio: do, do, do. Grupo grave: la, la, sol. Cada nota dura un compás. Sonarán la menor, fa y do. Fijaos en que el grupo medio no se mueve nunca: el do está en los tres acordes.
- Melodía encima. Mientras dos grupos sostienen sus notas, el tercero canta el estribillo. Después cambiad los papeles.
- Tocar. Con ukelele: la menor, fa, do, un acorde por compás, golpes hacia abajo en cada pulso. Es el tono del disco: no hay que transportar nada.
- Banda. Teclado con los tres acordes en negras, bajo en las raíces (la, fa, do), batería con bombo en el 1 y el 3 y caja en el 2 y el 4, a 85. El resto canta y da palmas en el 2 y el 4.
- Analizar. Escuchad «I Won't Back Down» de Tom Petty y luego el estribillo de Stay With Me. Contestad en una frase: ¿se parece la letra, la melodía o los acordes?
Vocabulario fundamental
- Progresión de acordes — Una serie de acordes que se repite en el mismo orden. Aquí: la menor, fa, do.
- Bucle armónico — Una progresión corta que vuelve una y otra vez sin cambiar.
- Backbeat — El golpe fuerte en el 2 y el 4 del compás. En el gospel se hace con palmas.
- Textura homofónica — Una melodía arriba y las demás voces formando el acorde por debajo, todas a la vez.
- Interpolación — Volver a usar la melodía de otra canción dentro de una nueva.
Recursos
Videoclip oficial — Dirigido por Jamie Thraves. Empieza en una calle de Londres y acaba en una iglesia con coro.
Tutorial de piano — Bitesize Piano. Los acordes, despacio y en versión fácil. El piano es el instrumento con el que nació la canción.
Tutorial de guitarra — JustinGuitar. Lección para principiantes, con los tres acordes y el rasgueo.
Tutorial de ukelele — The Ukulele Teacher. La menor, fa y do, con rasgueo.
Bajo — MunsonCovers. Versión tocada con los acordes y la letra en pantalla: sirve para ver qué nota toca el bajo en cada acorde.
Batería — Kyle Eng. No es una clase: es la canción tocada a la batería. Mira qué hace el pie y qué hace la mano en el 2 y el 4.
Las voces del coro — ThemcoversMB. Explica las armonías del estribillo voz por voz.
- Análisis armónico — Hooktheory tiene la estrofa y el estribillo con los acordes y la melodía: https://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab/view/sam-smith/stay-with-me
Why it's in this book
This song comes in March, the month of With or Without You, and shares its family with it: family B, the four-chord pop loop you already know from Don't Stop Believin' and Chasing Cars. Stay With Me starts that loop on the minor chord and leaves one chord out: A minor, F, C. In class we play only those three; the record adds a G and an E as passing chords in the chorus, and you do not need them to sing it. There is no guitar solo here: the challenge is the three-part choir. In the room with no instruments we build it a cappella, with three voices and claps on 2 and 4; in the ukulele room, singing over A minor, F and C; and in the music room, with the keyboard on the chords, the bass on the roots and the drums slow.
Why this song
Listen to the chorus only and count how many people are singing. It sounds like a whole church choir, twenty or thirty voices.
It is one person. Sam Smith recorded themself about twenty times, each time in a different spot in the studio, singing different parts. Stack them up and you get a choir.
The question on this page is: what does it take for a handful of voices to sound like gospel? The answer fits into three chords and three notes that barely move.
Historical context
Sam Smith was born in London in 1992. They first got noticed singing on other people's tracks: in 2012 they were the voice on "Latch", by the electronic duo Disclosure. Two years later came their first album of their own, In the Lonely Hour.
"Stay With Me" was written in a London studio in just over half an hour. William Phillips started playing three chords on the piano. Jimmy Napes added a drum pattern. According to Smith, the song "just flowed out". Then came the twenty voices, and that demo is what ended up on the record.
Foto: marcen27, CC BY 2.0, vía Wikimedia Commons
Sam Smith at a concert in Glasgow in October 2014, the year of the album. In 2019 they came out as non-binary and use the pronoun they.
The song went to number 1 in the UK and number 2 in the United States and in Spain. In 2015 it won two of the biggest Grammy awards: Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
That same year there was a problem. The chorus melody sounded a lot like "I Won't Back Down", a 1989 song by Tom Petty. Nobody went to court: they reached an agreement, and Petty and his co-writer Jeff Lynne have been credited as writers ever since. Petty said he did not think it was deliberate: "these things can happen".
Musical characteristics
Three chords that never move. The whole verse is the same loop: A minor, F, C, over and over. It starts on a minor chord, which gives it that pleading tone. It ends on C, the home of the song. Take the family B loop (C, G, A minor, F), drop the G, and this is what is left. A short chord progression that repeats non-stop is called a chord loop.
A slow pulse. Tap the beat with your hand: it is slow, about 85 beats per minute. The drums put a sharp hit on beats 2 and 4 of every bar. That off-beat hit is the backbeat, and in gospel it is done with handclaps: the congregation claps on 2 and 4, never on 1.
One voice, then many. In the verse there is a single voice, with the piano behind it. In the chorus the choir comes in. Listen to how it sings: all the voices say the same words at the same time, each one on a different note, like the fingers of one chord. One melody on top and the rest building the chord underneath: that is homophonic texture, and it is how church choirs sing.
Why it sounds like gospel. Gospel is the music of African American churches in the United States. It has three things you can hear here: a piano carrying the harmony, a choir that answers and pushes, and claps on 2 and 4. Smith had no choir in the studio. They built one out of their own voice.
A dangerous resemblance. Hum the chorus, then listen to the chorus of "I Won't Back Down". The melody draws almost the same shape. When a new song reuses the melody of an older one, even by accident, it is called an interpolation, and the writers of the older song get a share.
Hard facts: C major, 4/4, 85 beats per minute, 2:52 in the single version. The form alternates verse and chorus over the same loop; Hooktheory only analyses those two sections.
Guided listening
Play the music video. At the start, while Smith leaves the house and walks down the street, listen to the piano alone with the voice. Count the chords: there are three, and they always come back in the same order.
When the drums come in, clap on 2 and on 4. If your claps land on the sharp hit, you have found the backbeat.
When the first chorus arrives ("Won't you stay with me?"), count the voices. How many different notes can you hear at once? At least three.
In the church scene, compare that choir with the one in the first chorus. The words are the same. What has changed: the number of voices, the volume, or what the lead voice does on top?
Trivia and curiosities
- The choir on the record is Sam Smith recorded about twenty times. It shows that in a studio, a choir can be a single throat.
- The song was written in 30 to 40 minutes. The hard part was not the harmony, which is three chords, but the voice.
- Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne receive 12.5% of the song, but they did not get the Grammy: the Academy treated their part as a reused melody, not as new writing.
- In the 2024 re-recording, Smith changed one line: "'cause I'm just a man" became "baby understand". Lyrics can change when the person singing them changes.
Classroom activities
- Three still voices. Before singing the song, sing just the chords. High group: E, F, E. Middle group: C, C, C. Low group: A, A, G. Each note lasts one bar. You will hear A minor, F and C. Notice that the middle group never moves: C is in all three chords.
- Melody on top. While two groups hold their notes, the third sings the chorus. Then swap roles.
- Play. On ukulele: A minor, F, C, one chord per bar, downstrokes on every beat. It is the key of the record: nothing to transpose.
- Band. Keyboard on the three chords in crotchets, bass on the roots (A, F, C), drums with kick on 1 and 3 and snare on 2 and 4, at 85. Everyone else sings and claps on 2 and 4.
- Analyse. Listen to Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" and then the chorus of Stay With Me. Answer in one sentence: is it the lyrics, the melody or the chords that sound alike?
Key vocabulary
- Chord progression — progresión de acordes
- Chord loop — bucle armónico: una progresión corta que se repite sin cambiar
- Backbeat — el golpe fuerte en el 2 y el 4
- Homophonic texture — textura homofónica
- Interpolation — interpolación: reutilizar la melodía de otra canción
Resources
Official music video — Directed by Jamie Thraves. It starts on a London street and ends in a church with a choir.
Piano tutorial — Bitesize Piano. The chords, slowly, in an easy version. The piano is the instrument the song was born on.
Guitar tutorial — JustinGuitar. A beginner lesson with the three chords and the strumming.
Ukulele tutorial — The Ukulele Teacher. A minor, F and C, with strumming.
Bass — MunsonCovers. A played-through version with the chords and lyrics on screen: useful to see which note the bass plays under each chord.
Drums — Kyle Eng. Not a lesson: the song played on the kit. Watch what the foot does and what the hand does on 2 and 4.
The choir parts — ThemcoversMB. Goes through the chorus harmonies voice by voice.
- Harmonic analysis — Hooktheory has the verse and chorus with chords and melody: https://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab/view/sam-smith/stay-with-me