The first chapter is the new theory of chords.
Tradition and acoustics interpret all chords as three-dimensional relationships, striving for perfection and standardization of harmonic progression. However, the harmony of modern pop music, especially jazz, has been highly complicated and liberalized. Although triple superposition is still the basic principle of chord formation, it is no longer an important means of explanation. These days, it can be said that several sounds are combined into a chord. Whether harmony is standardized or not is a secondary issue, and the mistakes of parallel five octaves are basically ignored. The only criterion is whether it sounds comfortable or not. The complex additive chords in jazz music almost make you confused about the function of chords. Blues and chords are mixed with the same name and size, and the inexplicable series is difficult to explain with classical harmony theory. We are now entering the wonderful world of modern chords.
Chapter II Chord Marking
This tutorial uses alphabetic chord symbols to represent chords. This is a common notation in pop music. It will be very convenient to combine it with series notation, which will allow you to thoroughly understand the subtle relationship between chords with different keys, just like you have a chord table in your mind. Let's get familiar with this symbol.
1。 Major triad: The root note and the third note are big three degrees, and the third note and the fifth note are small three degrees. They are represented by capital English letter names of root sounds, such as DO, MI, SOL chords are represented by C, FA and LA, DO chords are represented by F, MI, SOL and SI are represented by Eb, and FA, LA and DOL are represented by F#.
2。 Minor chords: the root sound and the third sound are minor, the third sound and the fifth sound are magnanimous, which are represented by the uppercase English letter name of the root sound plus lowercase m, for example, the chords of RE, FA and LA are represented by Dm, the chords of MI, SOL and SI are represented by e m, and the chords of Mi, SOL and SI are represented by Ebm.
3。 Add a triad: the root and the third note, and the third and fifth notes are all major degrees. Add aug or a "+"to the first letter of the root sound. For example, DO, MI, rising SOL chords are represented by Caug or C+, while FA, LA, rising DO chords are represented by Faug or F+.
4。 Subtraction triad: the root sound and the third sound, the third sound and the fifth sound are minor degrees, and the capital English letter name of the root sound is added with dim or a "-". For example, RE, FA, LA-drop, expressed as Ddim or D-, DO, MI and SOL-rise, expressed as #Cdim or #C-.
5。 Major and minor seventh chords: On the basis of major triad, add a minor third, just add "7" to the initial of the root sound, and the chords of darts OL, SI, RE and FA are denoted by G7, and the chords of LA and S in DOL, MI and SOL are denoted by A7.
6。 Major Seventh Chord: based on major triad, the third degREe is added, which is represented by the capital English letter name of the root plus Maj7. For example, the DO, MI, SOL and SI chords are Cmaj7, and the SI, re, FA and LA chords are Bbmaj7.
7。 Minor seventh chord: based on minor third chord, the minor third is added, which is represented by the capital English letter name of the root sound plus "m7". For example, chords LA, DO, MI and SOL are denoted as Am7, and re, FA, LA and DO are denoted as Dm7.
8。 Minor chord, major chord and seventh chord: on the basis of minor chord, minor chord and seventh chord are increased by three degrees, which are represented by the capital English letter name of the root sound plus mM7. For example, DO, mi- fLAt, SOL and si chords are denoted as CmM7, and la, DO, mi- flat and SOL- flat chords are denoted as AmM7.
9。 Minus seventh chord: add three degrees on the basis of MINUS third chord, which is expressed by adding dim7 to the capital English letter name of the root. For example, SI, RE, FA and LA flat chords are denoted as Bdim7, while LA, DO, MI flat chords and SOL flat chords are denoted as Adim7.
10。 Subtract the seventh chord: on the basis of subtracting the third chord, increase the third degree, which is represented by the capital English letter name of the root plus m7-5. For example, the chords of SI, RE, FA and LA are expressed as Bm7-5, and the chords of FA, LA, DO and ME are expressed as #Fm7-5.
1 1。 Chord addition: refers to adding other sounds to a chord on the basis of the three-degree relationship, such as adding six degrees, nine degrees, four degrees and so on. The notation is to write the degree of this addition on the right side of the original chord. For example, the DO, MI, SOL and LA chords can be marked as C6 (LA is the addition based on the c chord), and the FA, LA, DO and SOL chords can be marked as F9. However, it should be noted that the writing method of adding four-tone chords is stipulated. To write sus4, the three tones of the original chord are omitted, otherwise the three tones and four tones will be pointed together. For example, the DO, FA and SOL chords are labeled Csus4. C chord omits three notes and four notes. Most accents are 6, 9 and 4 degrees. In addition, there are more complicated theories to distinguish between additive chords and chords. For example, the chords of FA, LA, DO and SOL should be marked as Fadd9, while the chords marked as F9 will be considered as FA, LA, DO, MI and SOL. However, this is only a theory. Generally speaking, you can make others understand you with simple phonetic notation.
12。 Specify the root sound of the chord: that is, play the chord, that is, play according to the mark without playing your own root sound. For example, C/G means that g is placed at the lowest pitch when playing chords. Dm/G is to put the G note at the lowest pitch when playing Dm. You can also use On* to mean the same thing. For example, F9OnD actually plays RE, FA, LA, DO and SOL. Obviously, this notation can be used to express the transposition of chords.
Chapter III Functions of Chords at All Levels
In pop music, only major chords are generally talked about, and minor chords are rarely redefined as modes, because it is very common to use major and minor chords in pop music, and it will be confusing if we use classical and acoustic explanations.
Let's take c major as an example. There are seven basic chords * * *: C, DM, EM, F, G, AM and BDIM. They are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 chords respectively. 1, 4,5 are called positive triplets, and 2,3,6 are called auxiliary triplets. Seven chords are rarely used in pop music. 1 chord is also called the main chord, the 4th chord is also called the subordinate chord, and the 5th chord is also called the subordinate chord. Next is the attribute of each chord, which is very important!
C, namely 1 chord, is used to clarify tonality. Generally, songs in major begin with it and end with it. But the main chord can be used as little as possible in the middle of music, otherwise it will always give people a sense of termination, and the concert is very hard.
The second chord Dm is a very soft chord, and its most important use is before the dominant chord, that is, the fifth chord. The pentachord naturally returns to the 1 chord, so it is easy to form a series of 2-5- 1. This is an extremely common process.
Em, the third chord, is also a very soft chord. As she is in the process of music, she will immediately become soft and slightly sad. The series of 1-3-4, that is, C-Em-F in C major, is a very common series. Where the 1 chord is originally used in music, it can sometimes be considered to be replaced by a 3-chord chord, and the music will not be tough immediately. This technique is very common in Hong Kong and Taiwan music.
F, the fourth chord, is another positive triad in major and belongs to one of the main chords. Very bright, people feel open-minded, and there is a feeling of "flying" at once. American country music and songs describing the western prairies and grand canyons are expressed by quartic chords. 1 A chord followed by a 4 chord is definitely different from a 3 chord.
G, the fifth chord, and the third positive triad in major are indispensable for any song. Play a role in supporting the main chord. The ending feeling of music is produced by the progress of 5- 1. Of course, in modern pop music, especially in Europe and America, many songs don't end with 5- 1, which is the characteristic of pop music, but the fifth chord is still unshakable as the skeleton chord of music.
Am, the sixth chord, is a neutral chord. If it's a major chord, it's a minor. This song is bound to become melancholy and sad. If the sixth chord appears in some parts of the major, it plays a role in connecting different chords. A chord of level 6 is like a bridge, which can connect almost all the chords in front, and the same is true in the back. It can be a continuous progression of chords, not rigid. 1-6-4-5 is very common. In fact, you can write songs with these four chords.
Bdim, the seventh chord, is rarely used in pop music. Because it is a MINUS triad, there is a sense of tension that contracts inward, which is generally only used for some ongoing or root sound flow.
After understanding the properties of the above chords, you can try to arrange chords for songs. However, this is a long-term exploration and practice process. Whether you can match the basic correct chords is not something that can be taught in a few words, nor is it the goal of this tutorial. Our goal is to match better and more beautiful chords, and we can't stay at the level of right and wrong. As far as my personal experience is concerned, if you can do the following, you will take a key step towards the arranger:
1, you can hear the basic internal chords of the song at one time (namely 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 chords).
2. Being sensitive to off-key chords commonly used in songs, it is generally necessary to distinguish off-key chords within 1 to 2 times.
3, look at the chords in music, you can imagine its sound effect, and if others are wrong, you can immediately notice it.
4, watch a single melody, without any instrument, you can match chords in your mind.
Our current pop music system is purely western, and melody and harmony are equally important. Without a systematic study of harmony, it is difficult to produce excellent modern music works.