What was Joni Mitchell’s unique contribution to prog rock?
Prog rock remains one of our more elusive genres. The unpredictability of the genre is what we love, but it’s also what makes it difficult to define. When we talk about prog rock, we talk about bands who have an evident link to rock music, but that couldn’t fit into that specific category so smoothly. Mothers of Invention, Tool and Rush all come to mind.
Frank Zappa, the leader of Mothers of Invention, once provided his take on what he thought the definition of prog rock was. While the genre’s elusive nature is what makes it so appealing, given his work within it, he was keen on better understanding why people flocked to it so much.
“I would presume that people would accept this definition,” he explained. “Progressive rock is anything that doesn’t sound like regular rock. Regular rock is everything that sounds like itself. All songs which sound the same, everything on MTV, everything on the radio, that’s rock. Progressive rock is stuff that doesn’t sound like that.”
This is a pretty sound definition, as it explains the genre well but also doesn’t set specific parameters around it. When you have a band that clearly runs adjacent to rock but has something unconventional about it, which means you can’t merely define them as a “rock band”, that’s when you’re dabbling in the world of prog.
There are a number of bands that have contributed greatly to the world of prog, as they have managed to bring a unique style to what people know as rock music. One of the most famous examples is Cream. While their work clearly takes its influence from rock, the band’s ability to incorporate multiple other genres ever so slightly opened the door for this brand new movement in music.
There are a number of different bands and artists who help define what remains borderline undefinable, and some you expect more than others. Alongside the legendary bands who are heralded as prog rock messiahs, you also have the musical stylings of none other than Joni Mitchell. While she might not be an artist who prog rockers are flocking to listen to, she had a way with music that has been adopted by the genre wonderfully.
Mitchell remains one of the most underrated guitarists on the planet. When we talk about good guitarists, we tend to talk about those who shred, delivering face-melting solos to every song they’re on. While that’s a lot of fun to listen to, it’s also not the only form of guitar playing. What Joni Mitchell managed to do with just her voice and her guitar was unlike anything any other musician has ever been able to.
This unique style boiled down to two key factors: the first was her use of the strings, dividing them into sections so they represented different parts of a band. The second, and what is subsequently her contribution to prog, was the unique time signatures she played with.
One key attribute of prog rock is that bands don’t necessarily pay within the standard 4/4 time signature that is common across most other genres. One of the first artists to really highlight how effective strange time signatures can be was Joni Mitchell, and her work will certainly have influenced many who came after her and started making heavier music.
Don’t believe me? Just ask Maynard James Keenan. When he was asked about his special approach to time signatures and what bands have helped him achieve that unique sound, he was quick to mention Joni Mitchell. “Odd time signature stuff,” he said. “There’s some Joni Mitchell stuff that has crazy time signatures […] She’s singing on the up, she’s singing on the down, and that was kind of like the running.”
Joni Mitchell and prog rock… talk about undefinable.
