tips & tricks for the rhythmically & harmonically-challenged
Harmonic Concepts
Can You Spare a Chord or two or more, Please?: Borrowed Chords or Modal Interchange
Apr 18th
I’m back! And I need to borrow something….No worries, I’m referring to our little bag of harmonic tricks. I hope by now you have gone through the diatonic triads and 7ths of both the major and minor scales (all three variations). In this post, I’m going to show you how you can spice up your diatonic chords by applying a technique called modal interchange or borrowed chords.
Check out this song by James Morrison “You Give Me Something”:
Here is the sheet music:
You Give Me Something – James Morrison & Eg White
The very first two chords of the introduction point to the prevalent use of borrowed chords in this soulful song, i.e. Ab-Fmi6-C or bVI-IVmi6-I in the key of C major.
Modal interchange or borrowed chords is a harmonic device where chords from the parallel scale of the existing scale or key is taken (or borrowed) and used in that key. A parallel scale is one that shares the same first note or tonic or root note, e.g. the parallel minor scale of C major is C minor — any one of the three, i.e. natural, melodic or harmonic. Technically, you can also borrow chords from the parallel modes* that has the same root note, e.g. C Dorian, C Lydian, etc. The most common though is from the minor scales.
Using modal interchange adds chromaticism or extra colors to your chords and chord progression because it veers away from just the seven diatonic chords of the current key.
Let’s go back to Mr. Morrison’s song. As mentioned, it starts off with a 3-bar intro of bVI-IVmi6-I. Both of these chords are from the parallel scale of C natural minor. It’s like replacing an ordinary diatonic VImi-IV-I progression, with IV-I being a classic Plagal or “Amen” cadence or phrase-ending chords.
The verse goes through a very diatonic progression of mainly triads, then moves the same way through the chorus and ends with the parallel minor cadence.
In the bridge section, the first half starts off with the following chords: Ebmaj7-Dmi7-G-Bb/F-F-C7-Ebmaj7-Bbmaj7 which works out to bIIImaj7-IImi7-V-bVII/5-IV-I7-bIIImaj7-bVIImaj7.
And what parallel scales are we seeing here? Ebmaj7 or bIIIma7 is either from C natural minor or C Dorian. C7, Bb/F and Bbmaj7 (I7, bVII/5 & bVIImaj7, respectively) are from the C Mixolydian mode, giving the song its bluesy character. Arguably, both the Bb structures could also come from the C Dorian mode. But I’m more inclined to go with the Mixolydian mode because of the bluesy nature of the section.
And there you have it! Just by borrowing chords from the parallel minor key and modes, Morrison has managed to make a simple song sound bluesy and soulful.
Let’s look at another example. Just in case you think modal interchange equals the blues sound, listen to this old pop classic by Spandau Ballet, “True.” I’ll spare you the cheesy-looking ’80s video and let you have an mp3 clip instead.
True/Spandau-BalletHere is the first page of the sheet music that contains the two main borrowed chords featured in the song:
On the third line, the first chord Fmaj9 or bVIImaj9 in the Key of G major; and the last line second chord Eb or bVI of the key. Later on in the song during the sax solo, the group vamps on Ebmaj7 and Abmaj7, which are bVImaj7 and bIImaj respectively.
So where do these borrowed chords come from? bVI definitely comes from the parallel G natural minor scale; bVIImaj9 is from the G Mixolydian* (the fifth mode of C major scale); and bIImaj7 from the G Phrygian* (the third mode of the Eb major scale).
As you can see, employing modal interchange to a composition does not equate adding a bluesy sound to the song. Generally, it just adds color that otherwise will not be there in an entirely diatonic song.
So all in all, we can see that the popular borrowed chords are the bVI and bVII, coming from the parallel natural minor scale and the parallel mixolydian mode, respectively.
[All video & music clips and music sheet used for educational purposes only.]
* The major modes are made up of notes from the major scale but are being repositioned or displaced to start on different degrees of the scale, e.g. playing the C major scale but starting and ending on the D note will give us the D Dorian mode; similarly, beginning and ending on G but playing notes from the C major scale will result in the G Mixolydian mode. I will cover the major modes in depth in another post.
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Harmonic Rhythm – The Natural Flow of Chord Changes
Mar 18th
Hmm…the blog post title sounds like a mashup of my two favorite musical elements! Well, it is…but leaning more towards the rhythmic aspects of when and where chords move. In other words, harmonic rhythm refers to the rate of chord change or how often one chord progresses to another.
Most songs or compositions are written in a form in which the total number of bars is divisible by two. Hence, we naturally tend to hear and feel music in 2-bar phrases. For example, a standard 32-bar song form can be thought of as a structure of four sections with eight bars each. Refer to the lead sheet of “Autumn Leaves below”:
This torch song has a classic A-A-B-C form, where each letter represents an 8-bar phrase. Within this 8-bar phrase, we can further subdivide it into a 4-bar phrase and then a 2-bar unit. The odd-numbered bars within each 8-bar phrase, i.e. Bars 1, 3, 5 & 7, are considered strong bars while the even-numbered ones, i.e. Bars 2, 4, 6 & 8, are considered weak bars, hence, forming a “Strong-Weak, Strong-Weak, Strong-Weak, Strong-Weak” dichotomy within the 8-bar musical phrase. This means that a chord on a weak bar will always have a natural pull back to a strong bar, or a tendency to move towards or resolve into a chord in the strong bar.
This is why it is common to see II-V-I progressions that fall on a 4-bar “Strong-Weak-Strong-Weak” phrase. Chords I and II are commonly found on odd-numbered or strong bars, while the V7 chord with its natural need to resolve is usually found on the weak bars.
Examples from “Autumn Leaves” are the following progressions: Ami7/// D7/// Gma7/// //// and F#mi7(b5)/// B7/// Emi/// ////. You will also notice the duration of each chord before it changes, i.e. Chords II and V have the exact same number of beats (4 beats each) while Chord I usually has twice as many (8 beats).
This principle also holds true when the phrase breaks down to a basic 2-bar unit. A II-V-I progression within a 2-bar phrase usually sees Chords II and V getting two beats each while Chord I lasts for four beats. Within a 2-bar phrase, Beats 1 and 5 are the strong beats, while Beats 3 and 7 are the weak beats. Refer to the lead sheet of “Blue Moon” above.
Two-bar phrase examples from “Blue Moon” are the following progressions: Fmi7/ Bb7/ Eb/// in Line 5 and Abmi7/Db7/ Gb/// in Line 6. You will also notice the duration of each chord before it changes, i.e. Chords II and V have the exact same number of beats (2 beats each) while Chord I usually has twice as many (4 beats).
This applies to all contemporary music. It is common for chords to change every two beats within a 4/4 bar or measure, or sometimes a chord may last for a whole bar or two. Refer to Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” below:
The 2-bar phrase with its harmonic rhythm is consistent with the “Strong-Weak” concept that we have been discussing, i.e., Eb5/Absus2/ Bbsus///, the chords on Beats 1 & 3 last for two beats each, while on Beats 5, the chord duration is twice as long, four beats.
For music in 3/4 time, it is very common to see a chord lasting for a whole bar, or if there are two chords, they will always be placed on Beat 1 and Beat 3. Refer to Miles Davis’ version of’ “Someday My Prince Will Come” above:
The whole piece has only chord changes on every first beat of the bar, except for one. Look at the last line: the first chord Cmi7 on F bass lasts for two beats and changes to F7 on Beat 3. Also check out this classic A-B-A-C form in terms of its harmonic rhythm. The “Strong-Weak” principle is strictly adhered to.
Occasionally, you will come across some pieces that break this “Strong-Weak” rule of harmonic rhythm. However, this does not happen consistently and eventually “rights” itself along the way. For example, take a look at the very popular “Fly Me to the Moon” below:
The progressions: Ami7/// Dmi7/// G7/// Cma7/ C7/ and Fma7///Bmi7(5)///E7///Ami7/A7/. The G7 and E7 chords in both these 4-bar phrases are definitely prominently on the strong bars while the resolution chords Cma7 and Ami7, respectively, are on the weak bars. Furthermore, both dominant 7th chords occupy four beats to their counterparts’ two – truly a reverse of what we have learned. These are occasional exceptions to the rule.
You will notice that eventually at the close of the 4-bar phrase, the C7 (on the weak bar and beat) does resolve to the FMa7 on the strong bar, and so does the A7 to the Dmi7. The following next two four-bar phrases “right” themselves by employing the natural harmonic rhythms: Dmi7/// G7/// Cma7/// Emi7/ A7/ and Dmi7/// G7/// Cma7/// Bmi7(b5)/ E7/.
So make the most of this knowledge that you have about harmonic rhythms and ensure that your chord changes fall on the correct places within the bar!
(All music sheets used here are only for educational purposes.)
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Analyses of Minor Key Songs
Jan 31st
Who would have thought that the coming Chinese New Year has brought some inspiration to my current blog post! Well, to be specific it’s the little ditty which I know only as “Gong Xi, Gong Xi, Gong Xi Ni-ah! Gong Xi, Gong Xi, Gong Xi Ni!”
And the reason I’m writing about this is because it’s in minor key! Have a look at my transcribed lead sheet with a lightly jazzed up chord progression:
And here’s a little jazzy rendition of the piece:
Gong-Xi-Gong-XiA quick scan and listen to the song will uncover that the melody is clearly from the harmonic minor scale and so are the accompanying chords. So we can safely say that this piece is a classic example of a song composed in the harmonic minor key. It’s also very interesting to note that a supposedly festive and celebratory tune is written in a minor key, which is usually reserved for a more solemn and darker mood.
Chords used are the Imi (Ami), IVmi7 (Dmi7), IImi75b (Bmi7b5), V7 (E7) and bVIma7 (Fma7). These are actually very common chords in pop and simple jazz tunes. The major key equivalent would be I, IVma7, IImi7, V7 and VImi7. When looked from this perspective, learning chords and chord progressions in minor keys are not that daunting, right?
Let’s look at another song in minor key: Oasis’ “Wonderwall” (Sheet music and video clip used here are for educational purposes only.)
The original key of this piece is F#minor, specifically in F# Natural Minor. All the melody notes and chords are generated from this scale. The chord progression is in 2-bar phrases and these are repeated a number of times.
Here are the chord phrases used:
Intro:Imi-bIII-bVII-Imi (x4)
Pre-Verse: Imi-bIII-bVII-Imi (x3)
bVIma7-bVII-Imi
Verse 1/2: Imi-bIII-bVII-IVmi (x4)
Pre-Chorus: bVI-bVII-Imi (x2)
bVI-bVII-bIII-Imi-IVmi
Chorus: bVI-Imi-bIII-Imi (x3)
bIII-bIII6 (1st ending)[Repeat from Verse 2]
bIII-Imi (2nd ending)
bVI-Imi-bIII-Imi (x5)
bVI-Imi-bIII-Imi (x7)
bVI-Imi-bIII-Imi
So far, both pieces have remained within the appropriate minor scales.
Finally, let’s take a look at a minor composition that employs the natural and melodic minor keys. (Lead sheet and short music clip here for educational purposes only.)
I play a simple ballad arrangement here so that you can hear the movement of the chords and main minor melody line:
Autumn-LeavesThe song is in the key of E minor. Just by looking at the melody of the song, we can see that it uses a combination of the scales of E natural minor (second line, 1st bar melody notes C & D) and E melodic minor (second line, 3rd bar melody notes C# & D#).
But because jazz standard tunes can usually be broken down to II-V-I chord progressions, the first four chords, i.e. Ami7-D7-Gma7-Cma7 actually form the IImi-V7-Ima7-IVma7 of Key of G major (the relative of E minor); and the F#mi7b5-B7-Emi is the IImi7b5-V7-Imi of Key of E minor. Hence, you hear the fluidity of the melody notes moving from natural minor (or related major) to melodic minor and back and forth.
So learn up all three minor scales and their diatonic chords and play some great music today!
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Meet the Major Scale’s Little Cousins…
Dec 16th
… the Minor scales!
They might be named “minor,” but there is nothing small or insignificant about the minor scales, which are closely related to the major scales. In fact, without the flavor of the three main minor scales and their diatonic chords, the music we know today will be quite bland and one dimensional. Jazz music especially relies on the minor scales a lot for its chromaticism or color.
In contemporary music, there are altogether three types of minor scales, i.e. Natural, Melodic and Harmonic. Each of these scales are as important as the other in terms of its scale as melody sources and its diatonic chords as rich harmonic sources.
Natural Minor Scale and its Diatonic Triads
By starting on the sixth degree of a major scale and playing every note until it reaches the next octave of the same note, we form the natural minor scale. This is the purest form of the minor scale. The other two are variations of this.
Chords I, IV and V are minor; III, VI and VII are major; and chord II is diminished.
Harmonic Minor Scale and its Diatonic Triads
The major scale is also famously known for its DO-RE-MI-FA-SO-LA-TI-DO (these are the solfege names of the scale notes) — thanks to the popular song “Do-Re-Mi” from the wonderful musical The Sound of Music. Try this: Sing out loud the first five notes, i.e. DO-RE-MI-FA-SO, your ears will naturally be drawn to complete the rest LA-TI-DO! This demonstrates that our ears have been influenced by the natural and organic sound of the major scale and how it completes itself. Notice how the seventh degree of the scale, i.e. TI has an especially strong pull back to the first note.
Now, if we take the natural minor scale and try to end the scale with the same strong TI-DO sound, this will form the harmonic minor scale. Observe how the unique sound of the harmonic minor scale comes from the movement from the sixth degree to the seventh, LE-TI (a span of three halfsteps).
We have an interesting mix of chord qualities from the harmonic minor scale. Chords I and IV are minor; V and VI are major; II and VII are diminished; and chord III is augmented. As you can see this scale actually contains all the four basic triad types, i.e. major, minor, augmented and diminished.
Melodic Minor Scale and its Diatonic Triads
Moving along, we can further smoothen the movement of the sixth to the seventh degree in harmonic minor by changing the LE to LA, essentially reverting to the LA-TI-DO sound of the major scale. Doing this will create the melodic minor scale.
The melodic minor scale also contains all the four basic triad types. Chords I and II are minor; III is augmented; IV and V are major; and chords VI and VII are diminished.
Notice the first five notes of all three minor scales are the same. They differ only in the sixth and seventh degrees. So if you put all the available notes together, you actually form a composite minor scale.
Composite Minor Scale
A song in minor will use any or all of the three minor scales at one time, so the composite scale is very useful.
Compiling all the available diatonic triads from all three minor scales is just as important.
| Chord/Scale | Natural Minor | Harmonic Minor | Melodic Minor |
| I | Ami | Ami | Ami |
| II | Bdim | Bdim | Bmi |
| III | C | C+ | C+ |
| IV | Dmi | Dmi | D |
| V | Emi | E | E |
| VI | F | F | F#dim |
| VII | G | G#dim | G#dim |
Now, break it down further by chord degree and you will find a few chord qualities for each.
| Chord Degree | Chord Qualities |
| I | Ami |
| II | Bdim, Bmi |
| III | C, C+ |
| IV | Dmi, D |
| V | Emi, E |
| VI | F, F#dim |
| VII | G, G#dim |
This is a lot of information to digest. In the next article, I’ll take a look at a minor piece or two and put all these together!
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Wanna Play Pop, R&B, or Jazz? Then You Must Know the Diatonic 7th Chords Too!
Nov 28th
Oops! That looks like my longest article title yet! But it got you looking, right? Cool 
Now that you know what the major scale diatonic triads are (check out my post on diatonic triads here), it’s time to expand the wee little triad to include it’s cooler, modern-sounding fourth note, that is to stack another note on top to make a Diatonic 7th chord.
Diatonic 7th Chords of the Major Scale
Here are the seven Diatonic 7th chords in the key of C Major:
Notice how just one additional note has given a slight twist to the chord qualities. The main quality of the chords are still there. With the exception of two of the chords, the major chords still retain their major quality sound and are still in the major chord family; the same goes with the minor chords. However, the 7th note has given each chord an extra bite, or a slightly more sophisticated quality, apart from contributing to a fuller, richer sound.
Now, the next important thing to look at are the chord symbols relative to each chord’s position (or chord degree) in the scale:
| Chord Degree | Chord | Chord Degree | Chord |
|
I |
Cmaj7 |
V |
G7 |
|
II |
Dmi7 |
VI |
Ami7 |
|
III |
Emi7 |
VII |
Bmi7b5 |
|
IV |
Fmaj7 |
|
|
The I and IV chords are both major 7th chords. The chord symbol is now represented by a capital letter along with ma7 or maj7.
The II, III and VI chords retain their minor chord quality to become minor 7th chords. The chord symbol is now represented by a capital letter along with mi7 or min7, sometimes you will also see this -7 (minus sign followed by the 7).
The two chords that take on different qualities are chords V and VII. Chord V is especially important to note because the added fourth tone has changed the major quality triad to one that is now called the dominant 7th chord. The chord symbol comprises simply the 7 next to the capital letter.
The Importance of the V7 Chord
The dominant 7th chord contains the 4th and 7th degrees of the major scale. If you take a look at the keyboard, you will notice that these two notes are part of two sets of white key halfstep intervals. For example, G7 consists of the notes G-B-D-F — B is the 7th and F is the 4th. These two notes form the core structure of a dominant 7th chord and give it the “active” sound that calls for a resolution to a stable chord, which is usually chord I of the key.
Listen to the chord again, followed individually by the 7th and 4th notes and finally the 7th and 4th notes sounded together (forming a tritone interval).
G7-chord-and-its-tritoneIn this case, G7 will move naturally and completely (or resolve) to C. Notice how and where each note moves from V7 (SO-TI-RE-FA) to I (DO-MI-SO-DO). Breaking the notes down to solfeg, you will see a very natural and organic movement in music, i.e. SO moves (up a perfect 4th or down a perfect 5th) to DO; TI resolves up a halfstep to DO; and FA resolves down a halfstep to MI.
In short, the V7 is a signpost to the key of a song or composition, since there is only one such chord quality in a major key. For example, if we see this chord progression, Gmi7-C7, there’s a great probability that we are in the key of F major; or G major, if it’s this progression: C-D7.
And finally, the last chord of the scale on the seventh degree, VII, is now a minor 7th with a flatted 5th. The chord symbol is a capital letter along with mi7b5, mi7(b5), min7b5, or min7(b5).
Traditionally, this chord is referred to as a half diminished. However, in pop and especially jazz music, we view this chord as having a minor chord quality rather than a diminished one.
So this wraps up all the seven diatonic 7th chords of the major scale. In the next post, I will show you how just by using these seventh chords, a simple song can be tweaked to sound more sophisticated. Meanwhile, learn and play them in all keys!
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