Let’s Play Music #11

Building Upon Functional Harmony

A Quick Recap

In Let’s Play Music #2: Playing Music By Numbers, we discussed functional harmony in the Major Scale. By taking our seven notes of the Major Scale and numbering them 1 through 7, we can focus on the 4^th and 7^th degrees of the scale. In C Major these are the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. The important notes are F and B because they are the 4^th and 7^th degree notes.

When we construct chords, we start with a note like C and then skip a note to get to the next in our chord. Starting with C we skip D and use E. From E we skip F and use G. The notes C-E-G create a C major chord. We can continue this pattern to get Dm: D-F-A, Em: E-G-B, F major: F-A-C, G major: G-B-D, Am: A-C-E, and B diminished: B-D-F.

Chords that do not use the 4^th degree note are Tonic chords and are “at rest”. These chords would be C major, Em, and Am. Chords that use the 4^th degree note, but not the 7^th degree note, and Pre-Dominant chords and are “moving us” somewhere. Dm and F major would be our Pre-Dominant chords. Dominant chords use both the 4^th and 7^th degree notes and have tension that “calls for resolve”. G major and B diminished are Dominant chords.

Looking at G major we have G-B-D, but no F. The note F is implied because if we continue the pattern of constructing this chord we use D, skip E, and then use F.

The concept of focusing on the 4^th and 7^th degree notes as ways to add and remove tension is a great way to control how your music sounds. This can also be used to create movement based on tension, which can be translated to any of our modes.

To keep this simple I’ll focus on the two main key types. Ionian is what we use for any Major Key, while Aeolian is used for any Minor Key. My previous lesson used the Circle of Fifths and focused on how to construct it. I highly recommend you take the time to SLOWLY learn how to write out the entire circle, which is shown in my previous post.

Comparing The Relative Major and Relative Minor Keys

Ionian and Aeolian are paired relative modes because they are a minor third apart from each other. A minor third is one and a half steps. Looking at the chart below we can go to Aeolian and then move up a minor third to Ionian. We can do the same thing from Dorian and move up a minor third to Lydian and the same by starting at Phrygian and moving a minor third up to Mixolydian. Each of these pairs has a minor mode (Aeolian, Dorian, or Phrygian) and a major mode (Ionian, Lydian, or Mixolydian). Locrian is by itself because it is a half-diminished mode and is used to “lead” to other modes. Simply, we’ll stick to the paired modes Ionian and Aeolian shown below.

·         Chords highlighted in yellow are Pre-Dominant, chords in orange are Dominant, and remaining chords are Tonic.

C Ionian and A Aeolian use the same notes and therefore have the same chords as shown above. The two big differences are the degrees used and the Tonic note. C Ionian uses degrees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, which are listed above as the roman numerals I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, and vii°. A Aeolian uses degrees 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, and b7, which are listed as i, ii°, bIII, iv, v, bVI, and bVII. Right away we can see that the roman numerals used in each mode are very different even though the notes and chords are the same.

The Tonic note of C in C Ionian and A in A Aeolian is what causes this to happen. All our chord progressions and melodic movements are ultimately related to the Tonic note. We can see how this plays out as we look at the 4^th and 7^th degree notes of each mode.

C Ionian’s 4^th and 7^th degrees are F and B. A Aeolian’s 4^th and 7^th degrees are D and G. It’s important to mention that A Aeolian has G as the b7 (minor seventh). Whether a degree is flat, natural, or sharp does not matter. All that matters in functional harmony is the degree number. If we happened to be in a mode that used a #4, like Lydian, then that would be our 4^th degree for the purposes of functional harmony. You will find that using flat and sharp degrees can really change the functional sound of a mode. This can be difficult to heard when using C Ionian and A Aeolian because they have the same notes and chords. To make it easier to hear this we will need to play these modes in parallel.

Using Relative Modes In Parallel

Below we have C Ionian and C Aeolian. These are still the relative paired modes, but now we just start on the same note. If you compare A Aeolian from the first chart to C Aeolian you’ll find that we use the same degrees and chord types because they are both in Aeolian due to using the altered degrees b3, b6, and b7.

To hear the differences of these two modes I’ve made some audio clips that use the same numbered chords for progressions in both modes. As you listen to progressions that use D° you’ll likely hear this as a Dominant chord because it contains a Tri-Tone interval. The TriTone is three whole steps and is found in the interval between D and Ab. The TriTone also exists in chords like G7, which is found between B and F.

In C Aeolian the D° chord is Pre-Dominant based on the degree it uses, but is Dominant due to the TriTone interval. Dominance usually takes over in most uses of the D° chord, but there are ways to use voice leading to make D° feel like a Pre-Dominant chord. Listen to these examples while paying attention to the roman numerals and functions.

While the roman numeral degrees and functions are relatively the same in in each example, the sound is widely different. I used to have a hard time understanding why we use modes until I started hearing them in parallel. The huge difference between chords in similar progressions made is easier for me to understand modes based on the sounds they produced.

Try out your own chord progression examples and remember that you can play parallel modes from any single note. Even A Aeolian to A Ionian works as shown below.

Borrowing Chords for Functionality

It’s finally time to go beyond seven chords in a mode now that we are talking about using two modes in parallel.

Using C Ionian to write a song always works great, but there are only seven chords to use. To expand on our pallet of sounds we turn to the parallel mode of C Aeolian because they start with the same note and are a relative pair. Remember that Ionian & Aeolian, Lydian & Dorian, and Phrygian & Mixolydian all pair up like peanut butter & jelly.

In the diagram above, we add in all the chords of C Aeolian except for Cm to avoid having to different “tonal center” tonics. We can have many chords functioning as a “tonic chord”, but having two different chords that our song pull towards can make a song sound odd. There are ways to use C and Cm, but as soon as we hear Cm we are hearing everything else in the terms of C Aeolian. By sticking with C as the tonal center tonic chord we hear everything in terms of C Ionian. Try playing some progressions using the chords above and listen to how C or Cm alters the way the previous chords felt. A great example of this is CMaj7 – Dm7 – Em7 – Cmaj7 vs CMaj7 – Dm7 – Em7 – Cm7.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the chords we add in have functions that are based on the original mode. This means that in C Ionian the 4^th and 7^th degree notes are F and B. When we add in Bb7 we have the notes Bb-D-F-Ab. F is our 4^th degree and, in this context, Bb is our b7. While Ionian does not have a b7, it is still a 7^th degree so combining it with our 4^th degree note of F we get a Dominant chord.

The Bb7 can also be considered a Dominant chord because it has a TriTone interval between the notes D and Ab. A TriTone also exists in the chord D°, so it is circled in orange to denote that it can function as a Dominant chord. This may seem like there are a lot of rules, but we’re just keeping track of the 4^th degrees, 7^th degrees, and TriTone intervals. Diminished chords and Major Dominant chords like G7 & Bb7 always have TriTone intervals, which makes locating that interval much easier.

Keep in mind that borrowing chords goes both ways, so you can be in a minor mode and borrow from a parallel major mode.

Filling in the Gaps

When we borrow from other modes, we end up with a few notes that are note used. I like to fill in the gaps so that I have a complete pallet of notes, chords, and functions. I don’t use all of them for a song, but I want to have them available so that I have somewhere to go when a song needs a little extra color.

Chords can be borrowed from any mode in parallel. This means that C Ionian can use chords from C Dorian, C Mixolydian, and so on. I find that when I am in a major mode it is best to fill in the gaps with a minor mode and vice versa.

Above is the complete list for C Ionian and C Aeolian that I like to use. There are many other chords that you can use for a variety of purposes.

What to Practice

Focus on recognizing notes that act as degrees 4 and 7, which includes #4 and b7. If you are working in an exotic scale like Harmonic Major, then watch out for b4 and bb7 as well. Also look for common chords that use the TriTone interval (3 whole steps) like 7, #11, m6, mb5, m7b5, and °7. These chords can act as dominant chords even if they do not use both the 4^th and 7^th degree notes.

Try out some of your favorite songs, scales, modes, and chord progressions and write out the function of each chord based on how the notes used line up with the degrees of the original scale. Some notes like F#/Gb can be tricky because they are the #4 and b5 relative to any mode with C as the 1^st degree. Let’s check out a few examples when we use C Ionian.

To figure it out, compare the borrowed chord to the original scale/mode.

A chord like CMaj7 #11 from C Lydian uses F# as the #4^th, aka #11, and B as the 7^th making it function as a dominant chord. It can also be seen as dominant due to the TriTone from C to F#.

If you have a chord from C Locrian like C°, then Gb is the b5. There is no true 4^th degree note used in C°, but it does use a TriTone between C and Gb. This lets us treat C° as another Dominant chord.

As you practice songs, you’ll likely use keys other than C. In the key of F we use F, G, A, Bb, C, D, and E. Bb and E are the 4^th and 7^th degree notes of F Ionian. So, the notes Bb, E, and TriTone chords are what we look for first. The next thing to watch out for are suspended chords like Asus2. In F Ionian, an Asus2 uses A-Bb-E to make a Dominant functioning chord. Try playing |F  |Gm  |C  |Am  Asus2  |F   | and listen to the Asus2 to F as a Dominant to Tonic movement.

To help you study functions I’ve made a list of progressions. Try to figure out the function and roman numeral of each chord before looking at the answer key. I’ll put in some borrowed chords as well, but I’ll also give you the notes for both modes that are used. Remember that borrowed chords typically belong to chords in the original scale, so E7 to Am makes E7 the V7/i or Dominant Fifth of Minor One. Leave me any questions in the comments section below and keep practicing. You’ve got this!

Tonic: No 4th degree note. Pre-Dominant: Has the 4th degree note, but not the 7th degree note. Dominant: Has the 4th and 7th degree notes OR contains a TriTone interval of 3 whole steps. Roman numerals are uppercase for major, lower case for minor and diminished, and the number is the degree that matches the root note.