Chord Phrasings
and Progressions
Chord
Voicing - The notes that make up a chord are
referred to as voicings. For now, the two basic voicings
we are interested in are the root or bass note (generally
the lowest note on the chord) and the lead or soprano
voicing (the highest note of the chord.)
These two voicings
are important when playing chords because they should
be moving in various cycles (Chromatic, Circle of 4ths,
Circle of 5ths, etc.)
Example chord
progression: Am7 - D7(b9) - GMaj7
The A note in
the Am7 Form I chord is the root or bass voicing. The
E note in an Am7 Form I chord is the lead or soprano
voicing. As this chord progresses to the D7(b9) Form
II, the A moves upward in a cycle of 4ths to D, the root
in a D7(b9). The E moves chromatically lower to Eb, which
is the flat 9th of the D7(b9) chord or the lead voicing.
As the D7(b9) progresses to the Gmaj7 chord, which is
Form I, the D in the D7(b9) chord moves in an upward
cycle of 4ths to G, the root or bass note of the Gmaj7
chord. The Eb in the D7(b9) chord moves chromatically
lower to a D, which is the lead or soprano note of the
Gmaj7 chord.
That's pretty
stinking confusing isn't it? Let me explain.
Important:
Chromatic
Cycle - The circle of fifths, or fourths,
may be mapped from the chromatic scale by multiplication,
and vice versa. To map between the circle of fifths
and the chromatic scale (in integer notation) multiply
by 7 (M7), and for the circle of fourths multiply by
5 (P5).
Here is a demonstration
of this procedure. Start off with an ordered 12-tuple
(tone row) of integers.
| 0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
representing
the notes of the chromatic scale:
| 0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
| P |
S |
P |
S |
P |
P |
S |
P |
S |
P |
S |
P |
| C |
C#/Db |
D |
D#/Eb |
E |
F |
F#/Gb |
G |
G#/Ab |
A |
A#/Bb |
B |
Look familiar?
The "P" stands for Primary. The "S" stands
for Secondary.
Now multiply
the entire 12-tuple by 7 (Basically the first row x 7,
which shows in the second row):
| 0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
| 0 |
7 |
14 |
21 |
28 |
35 |
42 |
49 |
56 |
63 |
70 |
77 |
| C |
C#/Db |
D |
D#/Eb |
E |
F |
F#/Gb |
G |
G#/Ab |
A |
A#/Bb |
B |
and then subtract
12 from each number as many times as necessary until
the number becomes smaller than 12:
| 0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
| 0 |
7 |
2 |
9 |
4 |
11 |
6 |
1 |
8 |
3 |
10 |
5 |
| C |
C#/Db |
D |
D#/Eb |
E |
F |
F#/Gb |
G |
G#/Ab |
A |
A#/Bb |
B |
which is equivalent
to:
| C |
G |
D |
A |
E |
B |
F#/Gb |
C#/Db |
G#/Ab |
D#/Eb |
A#/Bb |
F |
which is the
Circle of Fifths!
Note that this
is enharmonically equivalent to (just flats and sharps
switched around):
| C |
G |
D |
A |
E |
B |
Gb/F# |
Db/C# |
Ab/G# |
Eb/D# |
Bb/A# |
F |
Circle
of 5ths ("circle progression") -
undoubtedly the most common and the strongest of all
harmonic progressions" and consists of "adjacent
roots in ascending fourth or descending fifth relationship," with
movement by ascending fourth being equivalent to movement
by descending fifth due to inversion.
Circle
of 4ths - Typically "Circle of Fifths" is
used in the analysis of classical music, whereas "Circle
of Fourths" is used in the analysis of Jazz music,
but this distinction is not exclusive. (So in other
words, don't even think about the Circle of Fourths.
Just use the Circle of Fifths.)
A chord progression
(also chord sequence and harmonic progression or sequence)
is series of chords played in order. Chord progressions
are central to most modern music and the principal study
of harmony. A chord change is a movement from one chord
to another and may be thought of as either the most basic
chord progression or as a portion of longer chord progressions
which involve more than two chords.
Generally, successive
chords in a chord progression share some notes, which
provides harmonic and linear (voice leading) continuity
to a passage. In the common-practice period, chord progressions
are usually associated with a scale and the notes of
each chord are usually taken from that scale.
The most common
chord progressions, in the common practice period and
in popular music, are based on the first, fourth, and
fifth scale degrees (tonic, subdominant and dominant).
The chord based on the second scale degree is used in
the most common chord progression in Jazz harmony, ii-V-I
turnaround.
Exercise:
Key of C (C
Major Scale)
This is a 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 scale with the root note C (obviously)
using just the 1st pattern. It will suffice here.
This is a Major
7-th I-ii-iii-IV-V-vi-vii chord progression below.
(Remember that "ii
and iii" means 'minor'. "I, IV, V" means
'Major'.)
The notes used
are: C D E F G A B (these letters are bolded below)
| Scale |
I |
ii |
iii |
IV |
V |
vi |
vii |
| C Major
Scale |
Cmaj7 |
Dm7 |
Em7 |
Fmaj7 |
G7 |
Am7 |
Bm7b5 |
Play It!
Now, we need
to round out this measure, because it's all in quarter
notes and we've only got 7 chords so far.
So here's what
we have. We have tablature below where in the first bar
you are playing the ORIGINAL (Cmaj7, Dm7, Em7, Fmaj7,
G7, Am7, Bm7b5) chord progression from further above,
but we need to add one more chord to round out this measure.
Notice in the
first bar that I've added the Fmaj7 after the Bm7b5 to
'round out' the measure. This was on purpose. I've changed
this to end on a IV chord. Weird huh?! Doesn't sound
too cool does it?
Try interchanging
that last IV chord with...what? Do you know? It would
sound MUCH nicer with the bolded chords changed to:
Cmaj7, Dm7,
Em7, Fmaj7, G7, Dm7 (from Am7), Bm7b5, Cmaj7 (from
Fmaj7) wouldn't it?
You could go
back to the V after the vii, but why not go back to the
I? I'm also not a big fan of the Am7 at the vi. Are you?
Why not make it a Dm7 at the ii? It rounds the song out
instead of hinting at moving to a different phrasing.
Like this:
C Major Scale
