Editing Pet Sounds (section)

===Structural unity===
Lambert posits that the album's "overall unity" is reinforced by shared musical elements that had evolved from Wilson's approaches on ''Today!'',{{sfn|Lambert|2008|p=117}} and that these elements, while subtle, were deliberate on Wilson's part, aligning with his aspiration for an album that "felt like it all belonged together".{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=227}} Techniques in ''Today!'', such as recurring scale [[motif (music)|motifs]] that permeate arrangements and vocal lines, reached fuller realization in ''Pet Sounds'' tracks like "[[Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)]]", where ascending [[steps and skips|stepwise]] vocal phrases (G{{music|flat}} to C{{music|flat}}) receive mirrored instrumental responses.{{sfn|Lambert|2008|p=117}}{{refn|group=nb|"[[Kiss Me Baby]]" had featured a four-note titular motif transformed through choral interplay and instrumental reinforcement, while "[[Good to My Baby]]" constructed its melodic framework around persistent stepwise patterns mirroring lyrical themes of emotional ambivalence.{{sfn|Lambert|2008|p=117}}}} According to Lambert, this arch-shaped motif serves as a unifying thread throughout the album, appearing in the concluding organ phrase in "I Know There's an Answer" and the vibraphone progression during the second half of "Let's Go Away for Awhile", among other tracks.{{sfn|Lambert|2008|p=118}}{{refn|group=nb|A reversed version appears in the closing of "Wouldn't It Be Nice", the instrumental accompaniment throughout "I'm Waiting for the Day", while interlocking standard/inverted bassline forms in "God Only Knows", with chromatically altered variants emerging in the first half of "Let's Go Away for Awhile".{{sfn|Lambert|2008|p=118}} }}

{{listen|filename=Beach Boys-Pet Sounds.ogg|title=Intro of "Pet Sounds"
|description=The title track features a [[Leslie speaker]]-processed lead guitar<ref name="Waspensky1997">{{cite AV media notes |first=Russ |last=Waspensky |chapter=Pet Sounds Session List |title=The Pet Sounds Sessions |others=[[The Beach Boys]] |year=1997 |publisher=[[Capitol Records]] |type=Booklet |chapter-url=http://albumlinernotes.com/Pet_Sounds_Session_List.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022223319/http://albumlinernotes.com/Pet_Sounds_Session_List.html |archive-date=October 22, 2021}}</ref> and incorporates cyclic motifs prevalent throughout ''Pet Sounds'', including a major [[submediant]] (VI) shift, arch-shaped melodic figures, and descending bass line.{{sfn|Lambert|2008|p=131}} }}

[[Tertian]] modulations (by thirds) are frequent.{{sfn|Granata|2003|p=141}} Perone argued that the album's musical continuity stemmed from "Wilsonian" traits, such as a descending third interval concluding verses in "You Still Believe in Me" and a "madrigal sigh" motif in "That's Not Me" (where the motif punctuates each verse line), "Don't Talk", and "Caroline, No".{{sfn|Perone|2012|pp=28, 30}} [[Bass line]]s, often [[chromaticism|chromatic]],{{sfn|Lambert|2016|p=90}} prioritized melodic movement over tonic emphasis.{{sfn|O'Regan|2014|p=185}} Descending 1–5 patterns are a recurring device, one that Wilson had applied before, but not in work leading to ''Pet Sounds''.{{sfn|Lambert|2008|pp=118–120}}{{refn|group=nb|Lambert speculated that Wilson's rekindled interest in this device, which he had used on ''[[Surfin' Safari]]'' and ''[[Surfin' U.S.A. (album)|Surfin' U.S.A.]]'', may have been inspired by "[[I'll Be Back (song)|I'll Be Back]]" from ''[[Beatles '65]]'' (the American version of ''[[Help! (album)|Help!]]'').{{sfn|Lambert|2008|p=120}}}} Recorded early in the sessions, the album's title track features a prominent bass descent from B{{music|flat}} to F (through A{{music|flat}}, G, and G{{music|flat}}), which served as a foundational motivic element, becoming a structural inspiration for subsequent tracks.{{sfn|Lambert|2008|p=118}}{{refn|group=nb|For example, "Here Today" employs a similar descending bass line (1–{{music|flat}}7–6–{{music|flat}}6–5) but substitutes a [[secondary dominant]] on {{music|flat}}7 for the {{music|flat}}VII chord used in "Pet Sounds". Wilson later highlighted this motif by drawing attention to the trombone in the choruses. The opening of "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" begins with another descending bass progression, while "Let's Go Away for Awhile" incorporates a harmonically varied descent.{{sfn|Lambert|2008|pp=118–120}}}}

The use of major and minor [[submediant]]s, which establish tonic–submediant (I–vi/VI) relationships in all key-shifting tracks except "God Only Knows", is cited by Lambert as another "important source of overall unity".{{sfn|Lambert|2008|p=116}}{{refn|group=nb|This pattern begins in "Wouldn't It Be Nice", modulating from F to D, and recurs in tracks like "That's Not Me" (A to F{{music|sharp}} major) and "Let's Go Away for Awhile" (F to D). Side B continues the motif: "Pet Sounds" shifts to G major within B{{music|flat}} while "Here Today" and "Caroline No" employ minor submediants. The sole exception is "God Only Knows", which modulates up a fourth instead of using submediant relations.{{sfn|Lambert|2008|p=116}} Lambert adds that while submediant key relations were new to Wilson's "intra-album thematic" approach, earlier Beach Boys albums had featured diverse tonal shifts—one "specific precedent" being "[[Your Summer Dream]]" (1963)—and similar techniques had occasionally appeared in contemporaneous pop; however, for Wilson, influenced by [[jazz harmony]], such progressions were habitual.{{sfn|Lambert|2008|p=117}}}} Author [[Jim Fusilli]] observes that Wilson frequently departs from and returns to the composition's "logic" to cement "emotional intent", but never "unbridled joy", as he had with "The Little Girl I Once Knew".{{sfn|Fusilli|2005|p=75}} Lambert locates this technique in Wilson's use of [[diminished seventh chord]]s, "almost always [appearing] at a dramatic moment", such as in "Don't Talk" (on the word "eyes" in "I can see so much in your eyes") and "God Only Knows" (on the words "sure about it" and "livin' do me").{{sfn|Lambert|2016|p=91}}