This makes it a little easier to understand, especially since the triad built on the third degree, the mediant, is not an augmented chord.
You can also think of harmonic minor as borrowing the dominant chord from the major scale. This is because the raised leading tone allows us to have a major dominant 7th chord. The harmonic minor scale is used most often for harmony – hence the name. This is what gives them their unique tonality. Notice the locations of whole steps and half-steps in the scales.
You can still be diatonic within any of these modes, however functionality is really a feature of the major and minor scales. I don’t feel that a history lesson is all that necessary right now, so I am going to ignore other modes like phrygian, locrian and mixolydian. Tonal music is based off of two main tonalities. So what am I talking about when I say diatonic harmony? Two Scales – Major and Minor But to understand this type of music, you need a firm grasp on the simpler, diatonic harmony. I love the way it winds in and out, with extended chromatic passages and dramatic dynamics. Listen to the example below, I think it will be much clearer. The last two chords are normally a V to a I so in this case a G to a C.This also strongly implies there is a Cadential Six Four chord (I haven’t talked about cadences yet, but you can find more info about them on this site).In the last two bars, there is a common melodic phrase of 3-2-1 or E to D to C.C7 tends to lead to F Maj because C7 is the dominant chord of F Maj.The last note in the 2nd bar is a Bb, which implies the harmony changes to C7.This strongly implies the underlying harmony is C major. If you look at the first two bars, the notes that fall on the strong beats are C, E, G, and C.In fact, triads, or notes built off of thirds are the building blocks for western diatonic harmony. Put three notes together and you start to have something a little more tangible. Harmony is, in its most basic form, the sound created by more than one note or tone being played together.
To start off our discussion, we will look at basic concepts with harmony, the major and minor scales, and then functional harmony within the realm of diatonic harmony.Īfter that we’ll talk about some chromatic harmony. Functional harmony gives us a way of moving to and from tonic, in an orderly fashion. In tonal music, we usually have a note, that is more stable than the others. Functional Harmony: The Purpose of Chordsįunctional Harmony is a way of thinking about the purpose of chords – both in relation to each other, and to a main harmony. The key is to bring in the second way of thinking about harmony. The theory books are all too dry and hard to follow. They believe harmony to be a confusing subject. This is how most people start, and sadly, where most people stop. Sometimes you end up with a good chord progression, and sometimes you don’t. Intuition for the most part is guided by your experiences listening, your ability with whatever your chosen tool is (Piano, pen and paper, DAW). It all starts with a few simple concepts. It will also give you the ability to venture into chromatic harmony without much effort. Diatonic Harmony = Amazing Chord ProgressionsĪ solid understanding of diatonic harmony will allow you to explain and write chord progressions. On the other hand, some composers seem to be able to take those chords and do incredible things with them, while you keep repeating the same old patterns. Do you feel like your understanding of diatonic harmony is missing something? On one hand, it makes sense.
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