Chapter Six
Chord Progression
Deciding how to harmonize a piece of music is not always simple. There is nothing wrong with using cheat sheets in music. The following table should be referenced when you are deciding on a chord progression.
|
Degree |
Triads for Harmonizing Degrees |
|
1 (8) |
I, vi, IV |
|
2 |
ii, vii, V |
|
3 |
iii, I, vi |
|
4 |
IV, ii, vii |
|
5 |
V, iii, I |
|
6 |
vi, IV, ii |
|
7 |
vii, V, iii |
Nonharmonic Tones: So far we have discussed harmonic tones. For example, the IV chord in the key of C has the tones F, C, and A. What happens when you introduce non harmonic tones in a melody. There are numerous types of nonharmonic tones and we will provide a brief description of each one.
Passing Tone: Tones that occur between chords in a stepwise or tiered fashion are passing tones. Passing tones are always surrounded by chords and proceed in a stepwise fashion.
Neighboring Tone: A neighboring tone is a nonharmonic tone that is between two identical harmonic tones.
Suspension: A good picture tells a thousand words, and we will start with an example to show a suspension.
Midi File for Suspension Example
The chord in the first measure is G. The chord in the second measure is D. However, the tone B was held from the G chord while F sharp and A were played in the D chord. The D chord was completed with D as a resolution note.
Escape Tone: The escape tone occurs on a unaccented beat and does not return to the chord tone preceding the escape tone, rather it jumps to another chord tone.
Anticipation: An advance sounding of a chord tone is anticipation.
The above nonharmonic tones occur frequently in all types of music. Students are encouraged to review sheet music and identify the various nonharmonic tones.