On how the verse chords of Sleeping Satellite - Tasmin Archer may be derived

Did we fly to the moon too soon...


Tasmin centers on note F. Effectively this is a pedal F existing on any chord of the verse.


Bass goes the F minor scale from tonic F in step down mode, ie F then E then D...


Since the key is F minor all B, E, A, D are flat.


So since bass goes down step by step and voice stays up at F we have the following bass code:


F
E9 with 3rd added (see Bach Bass Rules)
D7 (the 3rd above bass is already added by the note F)


So we have from the simple rule 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 above bass (we choose what notes sound correct or we like)
And by taking the correct flats we have:


F bass and F bA C which we may rearrange as Ab C F


So we have


F bass and Ab C F
Eb bass and G bB F
Db bass and Ab C F (C creates a major 7th)
etc



So effectively it reminds a lot the standard sequence described by Bach:
F
E6
D7


But the ingenious difference is that the second chord is created by repeating the note F thereby creating the interval of major 9th above bass.


Brilliant.


So in fact it is really the simple rule of avoiding cosectutive 5ths and using a step down bass. But implemented in a great way.

Reference

Bach Bass Rules - Bach, Niedt - PDF