Cape Cod Acoustics
  • Home
  • Your Lessons
  • Performance services offered
  • About Gene
  • Contact
  • Guitars, Ukes & Accessories
  • Acoustic Guitar Blog
  • Tips for guitarists
  • Guitar Gallery
  • More...

Why do they use those chords?

9/29/2014

0 Comments

 
When my students reach the intermediate level of playing I often have them spend some time examining the chordal structure of songs they have learned. I admit this can be a bit “dry” but I think it’s important to understand the very basic concept of why certain chords are found together. This is valuable not just for practice purposes but also for the ear. It is one of the most important first steps in “playing by ear,” i.e., being able to figure out which chords are used in a song just be listening to it.

Of course, as with almost all musical concepts there are very few instances of always. What I mean by that is you can make educated guesses about which chords will be present but if there were hard and fast rules music would be very boring, indeed! A much better word is…. Usually.

Some time ago I wrote about how major diatonic scales are constructed and how the triads (chords) come out of those scales. Without getting into the concept of modes, it breaks down like this:

In any Major key, the I, IV and V chords are Major. The II, III and VI chords are minor. The VII chord is diminished, but in many instances in various forms of popular music the root of that VII chord is lowered by ½ step, turning it into a Major chord. This is usually referred to as the “flat VII chord.”  Here are the scale-line triads (including a flat VII rather than the naturally occurring diminished chord):

Key of G Major (Major diatonic scale: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#):

G Major, A minor, B minor, C Major, D Major, E minor, F Major.

Another example. Key of D Major (Major diatonic scale: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#):

D Major, E minor, F# minor, G Major, A Major, B minor, C Major.

Think about songs you may know in those two very common keys and I’ll bet the majority of the chords – if not ALL the chords – are listed. This is no accident. In Western music, for the last four hundred years or so melodic structure has been based for the most part on the Major Diatonic Scale and the chords above are constructed on ONLY notes in a given key (the exception being that bVII chord, which includes one note – the root – not in the key). So in a nutshell, those chords sound “good” to our ears in that key. Our musical brains are just programmed that way, from a very early age!

Of course there are exceptions, some of them quite wonderful. For example, what made the Beatles music so refreshing and different was that they very subtly altered a chord or two in certain songs, making our ears go – whoa, what was that?! In the beautiful John Lennon song “In My Life” the chords begin totally within the scale but then suddenly a minor is substituted for the Major IV chord. The change is only one note, a flatted 3rd, but it adds a new “color” to the song. Shortly after that a Major chord is substituted for the minor II. But in each case, those subtle changes are immediately resolved on the next change with a scale-line chord, making our ears go, ahhh….that’s nice! Pure genius in pop music and quite revolutionary at the time. Did John think that through? Who knows, but I’ll bet their legendary producer George Martin had something to do with it.

The challenge for the songwriter in popular music is to insert small changes, but nothing too jarring. The more notes that are outside the Major key that are found in chords, the more they sound strange to anyone who only listens to pop music. This is why many people find jazz quite challenging. In modern jazz the conventions of the Major Diatonic Scale and the matching chords are often abandoned entirely. This is why many advanced players love jazz, though. The rule book is thrown away and the doors to creativity are thrown wide open.

But for most music lovers and many guitar players, sticking to the tried-and-true is much more pleasing. There is nothing wrong with this! Take some time to examine the songs you play and make note of the chords that are used. You may even use this scale-line triad concept to begin writing songs of your own. But keep an open mind – and open ears.

Peace & good music,

Gene

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Gene Bourque

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed