Section 6: Chord Progression & Harmony

You're almost ready to start putting your music to paper. There is just one more major element that needs to be covered. That is Chord Progression and Harmony. Again, if you have followed the examples in previous sections you will have the melody to your song and you may have already decided how you want your song to flow, (structure), and have even set the mood based on your inspiration and purpose.

What's left? What's left is setting the key. It is general practice to start writing music in the key of C. The key of C contains no flats or sharps, making it easy to set the key. As you write music in the key of C, you will mark accidentals as you progress. After a few minutes, you will undoubtedly notice certain accidentals are constant. Make note of these and place them at the beginning of the measure to set the key for the entire song.

For example, if you notice that you have constant C sharp and F sharp accidentals, you would mark the sharp accidental, (#), at the beginning of the piece, (C# and F# is the key of D Major).

If you remember back to your definitions, Chord Progression helps move a song along to the next step. In some cases, as you write music or come across other works of music, you will see that progressions sometimes use Roman Numerals instead of the name of the chord.

One of the most commonly used progressions uses only two notes. In the key of C, it would be C and G, and the reference would be I-V, (the first and fifth notes of the C scale). If we were to look at another scale like the A Minor, a I-V progression would be Am-Em. Regardless of the key a I-V progression would be the first and fifth note of that scale.

Does any of this look familiar? That's right. This resembles closely to a named interval! We also call this a named Chord Interval. Take a look at the following table.

Progressions:	Notes:
I-V	C G
I-IV	C F
I-VI-IV-V	C A F G
I-IV-I-V-I	C F C G C
I-IV-V-I	C F G C
II-V-I	D G C
I-V-I-V-VI-VII-III-VII	C D C G A B E B

Exercise:

Let us have some more fun.

1. If you have an instrument, play the progressions in the table above. If you have access to a keyboard or piano, give the entire chord a shot.
2. Now that you have gotten the feel for them in the order, try mixing it up a little to see which chords work with each other and which ones clash.

After the second step you will quickly realize that some chords work together and others don't. The reason for this is that some notes have a "pull" toward the I chord or tonic, because of the V chord and that placement on the scale.

This is also the first step towards resolution or hearing where the note is finishing. Resolution is vital to playing by ear. The more attuned to resolution you are, the easier it becomes to play along with any music. On the other hand, anticipation is hearing where the note is going to next. As you play, you will realize that certain notes in a chord will lead to other notes.

This "leading" is the chord progression. So how does this work with the harmony? Chords will usually fall at the beginning of a measure setting the down beat. Remember the "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" exercise from the Arpeggios, Chords, & Harmony Section in Chapter 2? We discussed a common method for creating a harmony to the melody. Following the guideline of 3rd intervals, you can place a chord on the 3rd note of the melody as well.

A general guideline for chord placement is to place chords where they match the rhythm of the song. Whether you match it to the harmony or melody is entirely up to you. Here's a quick review.

Basic Steps to Follow When Preparing Your Music:

1. Determine a point of inspiration and a purpose. (What inspires me? and Why am I writing?)
2. Focus on your inspiration and determine the mood you want to set, or the message you want your listener to receive.
3. Using structure as a guideline, develop a hook that will serve as the center of your music.
4. Pay close attention to rhythm. Make sure that your beat is steady and uniform, Remember your Time Signature).
5. Determine what key you are writing in. Start writing in the key of C, identifying constant accidentals, and then place the accidentals at the beginning of the piece of music instead of accidentals on every recurring note.
6. Once you have the melody, (hopefully based around your hook), create a harmony to match. Try using the method of 3rd intervals.
7. Try and match chords to the harmony or melody in the key that your are writing.

On a further note, Staff Structure is also important. You are familiar with the two staves, (the Treble clef and the Bass clef). Each of these must have their own staff. Adopt the habit of using two Treble staves and one Bass staff.

The top Treble staff is harmony, the bottom Treble staff is the melody, and the bass staff sets the rhythm and beat. It is common practice to keep harmony and melody separated. This is due to harmony and melody having different rhythms.

What's Next? In the next section, we will take a look at The Three Clefs. We will examine note structure in three clefs and define the characteristics that make each of them unique.

In Closing:

If you remember back to Section 3, (Duration), we used the example of an information waterfall to describe the flow of information in this book and how it would apply to your learning. As it were, many of the blocks of information have been put into place to form a "foundation" of theory and concepts.

Up to this point, you should have developed a very solid understanding of core concepts and intermediate-level music theory. The knowledge you have acquired has helped to build a strong foundation.

On top of that foundation we have built a rudimentary understanding of music composition technique and have put into practice what you are learning with working, interactive examples.

With that said, we know that you have several definitions, terms, concepts, ideas and thoughts, swimming through your head. Understandably, it will take time it all to be processed and "logged" by your brain. Likewise, you must allow yourself time to grasp the information.