Episode 18 is a general overview of what to expect in harmonic rhythm...
Episode 18 is a general overview of what to expect in harmonic rhythm (1:00), chord functions (1:27) and experience with common harmonic progressions (3:56).
Question of the day (6:34): What are the chords used in the 12 bar blues chord progression, as written using Roman Numerals?
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Hi and welcome to the APsolute Recap: Music Theory Edition. Today’s episode will recap Harmonic Progression
Lets Zoom out:
We’re in Unit 4 - Harmony and Voice
Leading I: Chord Function, Cadence, and Phrase
Topic 4.3
Our Big idea is pitch
It all started many moons ago when a bass line was first added to a soprano line. Ta-da! We had our first harmonic progression. Read between the lines and you will see implied harmonies. Since about 1650, Western music has had typical harmonic progressions called “common practice.”
Lets Zoom in:
Harmonic progression is not only the change of chords, but how frequently they change. Harmonic rhythm is used to describe the rate at which harmonies shift. In common time music, chords change on the whole note, half note, or quarter note. Keep in mind that the chord inversion might change, but the basic harmonic may not. For example the beginning of the measure might be a root position tonic chord, and then shift to a second inversion tonic chord on the half note.
Now let’s dig deep into chord functions. Many times, chords are used to get the music towards a tonic, dominant or predominant chords. If you are thinking back to when we talked about the labels of scale degrees, and predominant is not ringing a bell for you, it is because we have never talked about this before. It may come as no surprise to you that a predominant chord is a blanket term for any chord that opens the door politely for the dominant chord, such as the IV, vi, or ii chord. How CHORDial of them! Ha! This is where producer Brad takes out the laughing at my own joke.
When chords are all cheering to get towards a tonic, dominant, or predominant chord, this is called harmonic function. How the chords work together is important, and is more ingrained in your brain than you realize. Common practice is the reason why the chord sequence of tonic, dominant, tonic is so grounding to the listener. Any chords that may happen in between those benchmarks are fans in a crowd helping the star musician surf across the audience... all the other notes are just thrilled to carry the tune from tonic to dominant.
Quick side note: Whenever you are trying to get your head into a specific key, it is always helpful to start by aurally orient yourself by singing chord sequence of tonic dominant tonic. For example- Do mi sol mi do sol do.
With the exception like jazz, or other genres like it, music tends to follow these quote normal progressions. I highly recommend practicing performing or listening to performances of songs that use the most common four chords which are: I V vi IV. It will really bring to light how predictable music can be, and yet how at first listen the songs sound pleasing and novel.
To help you practice listening to this common chord progression and analyze with Roman Numerals, here is an example for you to dissect in the key of D major.
I IV V7 I
I IV V7 I
One more time
I IV V7 I
The answer is: I IV V7 I
Now listen to how these same chords can be played with different inversions to accommodate smoother transitions and voice leadings. Decipher the arabic numerals to represent the chord position.
I5/3 IV6/4 V6/5 I5/3
I5/3 IV6/4 V6/5 I5/3
One more time
I5/3 IV6/4 V6/5 I5/3
If you listened carefully, the fifth was omitted from the dominant chord when put in first inversion. The complete answer to the inversions were tonic chord in root position, subdominant in second inversion, dominant seventh chord in first inversion and tonic chord in root position.
No harmonic progression would be complete without a cadence, which refers to the chords used to end a phrase. We will dive into the different types of cadences in the next episode.
To recap…
Harmonic Rhythm is the frequency of chord changes. The most grounding harmonies stem from the tonic and dominant. Harmonic progressions conclude with a cadence. The most common chord progressions include the chords I V vi IV.
Coming up next on the Apsolute RecAP Music Theory Edition: Cadences
Today’s Question of the day is about a common chord progression
Question: What are the chords used in the 12 bar blues chord progression, as written using Roman Numerals?