HaRmOnIc THeoRy

I Would Like to Start a Harmonic Structure Thread based with an emphasis on songwriting.

There are many things to discuss in the topic, I don't have

a question, I would just like to share knowledge.

Here are a couple starters, though.

Psychological/Emotional Affect________________:

I've seen established in this Forum that minor chords are

generally sadder and major chords are generally happier.

I say generally, because this is usually only when you ring

the chord by itself.

Relativity sets in when you start making progressions. We should

start examining simple riffs (our own or other's) and try to establish a progressions emotional/psychological affect.

Pink Floyd____________________________:

This may be a strict matter of opinion, but I think that Pink Floyd

are some of the best songwriters (music and lyrics both) in the

world. They would be an interesting master study into songwriting

Harmonic Voicings__________________________:

When writing riffs/music, try playing with certain two note

harmonies. The most common is a 3rd. Below is an example:

e 0 2 3 5 7 8 10

b 1 3 5 7 8 10 12

CM DM Em F#? GM Am Bm

This is the Em (minor) scale, voiced in thirds. Your tonal center

or root position, would be the 3/5 (the third tab), which is

an Em harmony, consisting of E and G. It would be a chord

if it had a third note, usually B in Em's case.

Notice that E, A, and B are all minors. It is common in pop music, and three-chord players to just play these three. It is the common I IV V progression. Even Pink Floyd uses this sometimes.

It's a good base to start for building a song.

Harmonic structure comes from the overtone series. Most specifically, the I - V - I relationship. All chords interpolated between this harmonic progression are passing chords to the dominant or tonic.

However, the II is the dominant of the V, and quite often receives enough stress to be qualified as a genuine harmonic structure, rather than a passing chord.

Similarly, the interval of a third also appears in the overtone series, however, it is not as fundamental as the perfect fifth. In triadic harmony, the third quite often receives enough stress to be qualified as a genuine harmonic structure, rather than a passing chord.

The other chord that can qualify as a harmonic structure is the IV, which while appearing as a fifth below the tonic, still has harmonic status due to its proximity to the dominant.

The minor third sounds 'sad' because it does not appear in the overtone series, in relation to the fundamental tone. Therefore, the minor third is somewhat dissonant. This was true in the days when music was written on the basis of the 8/5 chord. Triadic harmony's inclusion of the major third also opened the door for the minor third to be introduced as an alteration.

Actually the major third is NOT a true harmonic. the true harmonic is actually slightly higher. There is also annother harmonic about halfway between the major and minor third, although it is so high up there it really isn signifigant, but is used in some eastern scales. anyways enough science, i really had a different point to make

In a minor chord 1 3b 5 the 3b and 5 are a major interval, and that is why the chord works so well, and yes is is somewhat dissonnant, but so is the 3 and 5 of a major scale and can be accentuated if voiced incorrectly. The truth is that anything that is not either the tonic or an octave has some dissonance, even perfect fifths.

I've really found the harmony theory is fairly useless in pop/rock writing. I can usually pick out a harmony in a matter of minutes. Much of the time i jsut want to use it to accent the end of phrases or a few words, and (at least when studying classic theory) it is assumed in most cases that a harmony will last for the duration of a song or part of a song, when sometimes it is not needed. The trick isnt really knowing where the harmony is, it is knowing when it is.

Brian

Totally correct in regard to the first two points.

You've lost me in the third paragraph though.

All I'm trying to say is that i just dont think about anything when im writing, and when i do it usually slows me down. I usually just follow the melody.

i did sort of go off a little bit with out really making my self clear. when i studied theory (classical) I had to do harmony exersises, bassically write a melody on the trebble clef, and then write a harmony.

I think there are several states of mind that you can approach your instrument with.

Most of what I'm discussing here has to do with the practice state of mind, where you submit these things to your subconscious, then when you go and write in a performing state of mind, you don't have to think about it, because it's already a part of you.

In Pop/Rock writing, the I-IV-V progression is used a lot, it's where the ear wants to go out of habit, from being raised on pop songs, or maybe because this IS the universal harmonic progression.

I'm not a big pop/rock fan, because I don't find it all that fun. I started out guitar with blues, then went into classical and flamenco and harmonic metal, but I'm getting back into blues now with a new emphasis on it, because of the subconscious harmonic theory I have acquired through studying other styles.

Blues also works best with I-IV-V (especially when you make all of them a seventh) But there are many creative deviations, such as using the third of one of these degrees in its place, or inverting chords to make walks fit better, etc.