Lesson 1 Functional harmony .

We begin our Journey into Music
With our tuning system or " Temperament "
We are going to use a system called
" twelve tone equal temperament"
AKA "12tone e.t.
It means all 12 of our notes are equally spaced like a clock on wall .

Inside this widely adapted system
Exists several languages .

1.Tonal music language ( Functional harmony
2.Modal music language
3.Polytonal music language
4.Atonal music language

This Defines very clear start and finish line of Music category .

We are going to put our focus and attention on number 1 Tonal mudic language ( Functional harmony )

This musical language is most widely used
( and also required to understand before moving onto the others)

So this is the beginning of OUR journey in lesson 1.

Lesson 1 [ Tonal music language

Part 1 . The Functions .

You see, Music is a language just like our spoken language is . We think of our " idea" say " store"

Then we fill in the details of the idea with a specific sentence

" I am going to the store "

The idea is store, then we create a specific way to express the idea ( and theres limitless unique sentences that all sound different but express the same meaning )
Let's see a couple examples .

1.I am going to the store.
2 would you please go with me to grab some groceries later today?
3.we need to pick up produce for dinner layer on.
4.Can we go out to get ingredients after?

You see these all sound different are different lengths yet share the same deep level of meaning .
( semantics ) .

Tonal music language ( Functional harmony

Works just like our spoken language in this exact way.

We have a deep meaning that everything expresses.

This is called " Functions "

There are only 3 functions .

And any music you create from progressions to melodies,licks,riffs and lines ( on any instrument

Let's now look at what these 3 functions are and how they work.

3 functions .

Tonic.. ( means relaxed , at home or the hero

The tonic is the center focus of gravity

Next function is subdominant.

Subdominant ( journey, tension traveling

The subdominant creates harmonic movement
It means we travel away from home in order to create motion in the music so that it does not sit still the entire time .

The last Function is Dominant

Dominant ( farthest from home, very tense
The dominant is the villian .

The dominant function is the farthest we can possibly get away from home. It creates the most motion and movement in our music.
This creates excitement like a good motion picture .

3 Functions

Tonic
Subdominant
Dominant

Part 2.

The KEY.

In music we have our 3 functions
( the deepest level of meaning )

And the 3 functions work in a context .

As we seen, the tonic is the center of gravity which the dominant and subdominant focus around.

This all takes place in a KEY.

Our first KEY is the KEY of C major .

Step 1

We start with all 12 notes
C.C#.D.D#.E.F.F#.G.G#.A.A#.B.C.

But then we select 7 notes for the KEY

The KEY of C major is .

C.D.EF.G.A.BC.
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.1.

Step 2

We create a chord for each note in the KEY
By "selecting every other note"

KEY of C major
CDEFGABC

I.CMajor7 .....CEGB
ii.Dminor7......DFAC
iii.Emin7........EGBD
IV.Fmaj7........FACE
V.G7.............GBDF
vi.Amin7......ACEG
vii.Bmin7b5..BDFA

These are the chords which belong to our KEY.

We have seven " diatonic" chords.

These 7 chords fit into 3 functions .

Tonic. ( relaxed.home.Hero.
I.Cmaj7..CEGB
iii.Emin7..EGBD
vi.Amin7..ACEG

Subdominant
ii.Dmin7..DFAC
IV.Fmaj7..FACE

Dominant
V.G7.............GBDF
vii.Bmin7b5..BDFA

This means that any of the chords in the same function. Can be swapped out for each other
( substitutions)

The chords that belong to the same function
Have the same deep meaning as each other .
So because each chord has it's own feeling and flavor in the way it sounds .this means you get several ways
To express or communicate the same musical meaning .

Let's look once more at the KEY of C major

CDEFGAB.

1 Cmaj7.CEGB................Tonic.Home.Hero
2.Dmin7.DFAC......Subdominant.journey.away
3.Emin7.EGBD.................Tonic.home.hero
4.Fmaj7.FACE......Subdominant.journey.away
5.G[dominant]7.GBDF..Dominant.very.tense.
6.Amin7.ACEG...............Tonic.Home.hero
7.Bmin7b5.BDFA......Dominant. very.tense.

Next we have 3 functional blueprints which all chord progressions and song sections are made from .

Tonic/ subdominant/ tonic

Tonic/ dominant/ tonic

Subdominant/dominant /tonic

Let's look at the first .

Tonic/subdominant/tonic
[Home.]journey]Home]

We establish the hero go on journey then end at home .

Tonic/ dominant/ tonic
(Hero)Villian)home)

We establish the home then the hero defeats the villian .( most powerful movement)

Lastly

Subdominant/dominant/tonic

[Journey] Villian]Hero]

We go on journey then hero defeats the villian.

So these are the 3 blueprints that ate combined togther in different ways to create song sections then a whole song ( with chord progressions )

Part 3 .
Chord progressions .

Lets now take our first blueprint .

Tonic/ subdominant/ tonic

Now, we will plug in our specific chords from the KEY into the correct functional slot.

Let's see several examples of the exact same blueprint in our KEY of C major .

Tonic/ subdominant/ tonic

Cmaj7/Fmaj7/Cmaj7
Or
Amin7/Dmin7/Emin7
Or
Emin7/Fmaj7/Amin7

Let's see our second blueprint

Tonic/ dominant/ tonic

Cmaj7/G7/Cmaj7
Or
Amin7/Bmin7b5/Emin7
Or
Emin7/G7/Amin7
Or
Cmaj7/Bmin7b5/Amin7

Let's see our last blueprint

Subdominant /Dominant/tonic

Dmin7/G7/Cmaj7
Or
Fmaj7/Bmin7b5/Emin7
Or
Fmaj7/G7/Cmaj7
Or
Dmin7/Bmin7b5/Amin7

In conclusion of lesson 1 .

We established we are working in
12 tone equal temperament.

We are zooming into
Tonal music language

The music is based on 3 main functions .
Tonic
Subdominant
Dominant

We focus on the KEY of C major
Seeing how 7 chords of the KEY
Fit into our 3 functions.

We then use functional blueprints
To create our chord progressions song sections then entire song .

Stay tuned for lesson 2 coming soon.

 

Lesson 2 Chords.

There are 5 main type of Chords for each of the 12 notes in music .

If we take the note C , we can see an example of this.

Cmajor7....... C...E...G...B...
C7..................C...E...G...Bb.
Cminor7.........C..Eb..G..Bb.
Cmin7b5........C..Eb..Gb..Bb
Cdim7............C..Eb...Gb..Bbb(A

Let's look closer at this chords

Cmajor7 ..C ..E..G..B
C is root E is maj3rd G is 5th B is maj 7th
CEGB
1357

C7( dominant 7th)C.E.G.Bb.
C is root E is maj3rd G is fifth Bb is min7th
C.E.G.B
1.3.5.b7.

Cminor7 C.Eb.G.Bb.
C is root Eb is min3rd G is fifth Bb is min7th
C..Eb..G..Bb..
1..b3...5...b7

Cmin7b5 .C..Eb.Gb.Bb..
C is root Eb is min3rd Gb is flat 5 Bb is min7th

Cdim7 ..C..Eb..Gb..Bbb( A)
C is root Eb is min3rd Gb is flat 5 Bbb is double flat

This way of looking at the 5 types of chord back to back with each other we can see them compared from bright to dark , where each new chord is darker than the next.

How we decide which of them 5 types to use is dependent on our KEY we are in and which Function we are on.

Implicit in a Chords name is all of its " Inversions "

Let's now look at Cmaj7 CEGB and its inversions.

CEGB
EGBC
GBCE
BCEG

This is the chords inversions. ( flavors of the chord.

The next thing implicit in the chord name is called
Drop voicings. This includes Drop2,Drop3,Drop2&4

These are built right into EACH inversion .

Let's now look at Drop2 and what it means .

Drop2 means we create our inversions of the chord
CEGB
EGBC
GBCE
BCEG
Next we drop the 2nd highest note from the top ,
Down by an octave .

This is drop 2 ( notes shown low to high )

CEGB becomes G.C.E.B
EGBC becomes B.E.G.C
GBCE becomes C.G.B.E.
BCEG becomes E.B.C.G

You see our Drop 2 ( drop 2nd note from top )
the notes are spread out more giving us a wider sound for each inversion .

Even though we get a unique flavor for drop 2 voicings for each inversion of the initial chord,
The Cmajor7 chord retains its identity .

It always sounds like a C major7 . And it always Functions in the music the exact same
( no matter which type of voicing used.)

It's important that we attach the C major7 name to all of its variations
(just like with our spoken language, we attach an idea to several different sounding sentences)
Once familiar it does not seem overwhelming but simple and familiar to us .

All the Drop2,Drop3,Drop2&4 Voicings for EACH of the Voicings of our chord give us a lot of variety in how we can play a chord in a musical context such as playing a song .

( this is where we get to express the way we feel since each one has a unique flavor )

Let's now look at the Drop 3 voicing
( which is built right into the name Cmaj7 as well)

Drop3 means we drop the 3rd highest note down an octave ( for each voicing.)

First , we take C maj7 CEGB
Then we list out our inversions

CEGB
EGBC
GBCE
BCEG

The next step is to drop the 3rd highest note .

CEGB becomes E.C.E.B.
EGBC becomes G.E.B.C.
GBCE becomes B.G.C.E.
BCEG becomes C.B.E.G.

This gives us 4 new sets of flavors for the Cmaj7
As with the Drop2, Drop3 is built right into the
Name C major7 and we need to spend time playing and hearing this set of flavors .

Let's now look at Drop 2&4

Step 1 take Cmaj7 CEGB, list out our inversions

CEGB
EGBC
GBCE
BCEG

Next we drop the 2nd highest note and the 4th highest note as well ( we drop the root an octave too)

CEGB becomes C.G.E.B
EGBC becomes E.B.G.C.
GBCE becomes G.C.B.E
BCEG becomes B.E.C.G.

Now we have seen Cmaj7 and drop2,drop3,drop2&4
Voicings which are all Implicit in the name Cmaj7

Every chord name has these Drop voicings implicit in its name .

After we get used to these ones .we can also begin to mix togther parts of them into new configurations.

This shows us that when we see a chord name
Such as C major7 CEGB

It really means ANY combination of these notes .
And depending on the instrument it means from the lowest note all way to the highest note , any combination with the notes in different octave ranges , spread out and close togther.

It's important that we practice hearing all these and using these so that we can attach one name
Cmaj7 to all the possible variations .

Also it's important so that when we write or play music
We can in our imagination have all the variations in our mind to select which one we think will work the best to express the feelings inside of us at that moment .

( this is similar to how we speak our language we assemble the sentences based on how it will come across in that moment. Because there are so many ways to create a sentence that expresses the idea we have .we decide on the one we feel will he expressive of our inner experience. )





Please stay tuned for lesson 3 very soon .
Also please feel free to ask me anything for clarification.

 

Last edited: May 21, 2021

Welcome to the Music lesson 3.
In the First lesson we talked about Tonal music language Functional Harmony .

That at the deep level of meaning you have your three Functions

Tonic low dissonance
Subdominant medium dissonance
Dominant high dissonance

We group our 7 diatonic chords from our KEY into these 3 groups .

The Functions are organized by its dissonance level.
We then group all the chords together by Function .

The Function is relative to the KEY center.

For this lesson we are going to make our entry into Chromaticism. This means how all of our 12 notes enter into a KEY and as before we are going to look at the context of C major today .

Our Entry into Chromaticism begins with the Dominant Function , this is because the Dominant function is the highest tension level .
The Dominant function builds a high level of tension in order to resolve to the Tonic function.

Dominant/ Tonic

Is a music representation of the Hero in a story defeating the Villian .that satisfaction obtained by the reader of a good book or perhaps a great motion picture. When we create a lot of tension then resolve it , we are placing a exclamation point on the Tonic.
Its a stronger emphasis than to simply have the tonic by itself.

Imagine a motion picture which establishes the Hero of the story . Then the hero walks around her house, eats goes to bed and the film ends .
Nothing has happened!

This is the equivalent of having a Functional blueprint

Tonic/ Tonic

Yes ,we establish our hero. but there is no tension or buildup in the plot .

However,

Dominant/ Tonic

Creates maximum tension before resolving to our real exclamation point ( the victorious hero )

Now that we seen what a Dominant function is and why we want to have it, we now will look at the Dominant function in more depth.

KEY of C major

Diatonic Dominant Function

5.G7..GBDF
7.Bmin7b5...BDFA

These are our 2 diatonic Dominant function
chords in C major KEY
( CDEFGABC)

Now the Dominant Function is the first entry point in alterations and chromaticism.

We are going to look at all 12 notes in music
As it relates to the G7 dominant in Cmajor

Dominant / Tonic

G7/ Cmajor

The 12 notes are either shared between the 2 chords
( stay still)
Belong to the dominant function
( resolve to tonic)
Or belong to the Tonic
( get resolved to)

Let's begin with the chord tones of each .

G7 GBDF
Cmaj CEG

We want to understand how each note from G7
Resolves to the notes if C major( releases the tension)

GBDF to GCE

The G is a shared note is stays same .
The B moves up a Semitone to C
The F resolves down to E

This is called a leading tone .
) Most powerful resolution)
F is the strong dominant function note within the
G7 GBDF chord tones .

The F slides down to E of the Cmajor CEG

This leading tone resolution is the blueprint for our Chromaticism in the Dominant function .

As we see the other 12 notes enter in our Dominant function they are going to resolve by leading tone
In the same way as F/ E.

The F/ to E/ on its own is a example of playing 1 note per chord that perfectly outlines the chords in this context.

F/E

Dominant/ Tonic ( KEY of C major)

Dominant Function ( KEY of Cmajor

G7 GBDF

G is root
B is maj 3rd
D is 5th
F is minor7th

We now will look at all 12 notes and how they fit in

Dominant/Tonic ( C major KEY)

G7/ Cmajor

C is root of C major ( resolved to
C# is #11th of G7) C# to C
D is 5th of G7) or 9th of C major
D# is b13th of G7) D# to E
E is 3rd of Cmajor ( resolved to
F is 7th of G7) F to E
F# is #11th of Cmajor ( resolved to
G is root of G7) or 5th of Cmajor
G# is b9th of G7) G# to G
A is 9th of G7) or 6th of Cmajor
A# is #9th of G7) A# to A
B is 3rd of G7) or 7th of C major
C is root of C major .

First, we will look at which notes exist in both Functions ( these notes sit still and are functionally
Irrelevant. They ring out for both chords)

A is in both it sits still.
G is in both it sits still.
D is in both itbsits still.
B is in both it sots still

These notes which sit still if arevon the dominant chord will simply carry through and stay still when reaching the Tonic chord.

However these can be resolved to if the Dominant chord does not contain them.
( if the Dominant function does not use them
The Tonic chord can use them .)
More on this later .

Let's now look at direct leading tone resolutions
Just as we seen with our
F/ E .,

F is 7th of G7) resolves to E in Cmajor.
F is 7th of G7) resolves to F# #11th of Cmaj

G# is b9th of G7) G# resolves to G 5th of Cmaj
G# is b9th of G7) G# resolves to A 6th of Cmaj
A# is #9th of G7) A# resolves to A 6th of Cmaj
A# is #9th of G7) A# resolves to B 7th of Cmaj
C# is #11th.of.G7)C#.resolves to C root of C
C# is #11th.of.G7)C#.resolves to D 9th of Cmaj
D# is.b13th.ofG7).D#.resolves to E 3rd of Cmajor
D# is.b13th.of.G7).D#.resolves to D 9th of Cmaj

So we can now see that
G#,A#,C#,D#,

Are powerful Dominant function notes in the KEY of C major .( the F# is a powerful Tonic note )

This shows us how all 12 notes actually work in this context.

When we think about a

Dominant/ Tonic

We are thinking about how all the notes work in this context. ( then we get a lot of freedom of choice to express this functional blueprint)

Let's now look at this information from another perspective to help us understand it clearer.

KEY of C major

Dominant Function

G7/;(GBDF

G,B,D,F,A,C,,E
1, 3,5,7,9,11.13

We never use the natural 11th C ( in G7)
We always have a #11th on a major type chord.

Here are the alterations of the G7
Which we used above.

( this will list the notes we can use on the V7 dominant chord)

KEY of C major Dominant Function G7)GBDF

G...B...D....F....(G#..A...A#)..C#...(D#.E.)
1....3...5....7....b9....9...#9..#11...b13.13

Notice the 9th , we have flat 9th
We have natural 9th or we have #9th.

The 11th is always sharpened ( c# )
[Because the C is our Tonic ]

Notice the 13th.we.have.b13th.D#.or.natural.13th E

How these alterations manifest in our playing is that
We have 2 different scales we can play on the

G7 dominant chord ( the V7 chord )

The first scale is called the Altered scale.

G,G#,A#B,C#,D#,F,G

We have b9th , #9th ,#11th, b13th[ or b5th,#5th]

We do not use a natural 5th ( D)
We do not use a natural 9 ( A)
We do not use a natural 13 ( E)

The Altered scale is the first scale we have to use
On our V7 chord ( G7 ) in KEY of Cmajor)

The 2nd scale is called the

Dominant Diminished scale .

We follow a symmetrical pattern of

[ halfstep] [ wholestep]

G,G#,..A#.B,..C#D,...EF,..

This is a 8 note scale .

We have the natural 5th D
We have the natural 13th E ( don't use b13th
We have the b9th and #9th ( don't use nat 9th
We have the #11th C# ( dont use nat 11th

We can easily navigate our Dominant function
[V7 chord of any KEY ]
By understanding our 2 scale options

[Altered scale]
[Dominant Diminished scale]

The one we select is based on the notes inside and how they resolve to our Tonic.

It will not take long before you recognize the sound of each one and know which one to select .

But at first we want to think about how each note
Of a dominant chord resolves to our tonic function notes .

[KEY of C major]
Dominant / tonic

C#/C
C#/D
D#/D
D#/E
F/E
F/F#
G/F#
G#/A
G#/G
A#/A
A#/B
B/C

In Summary ,

We looked at the KEY of C major
7 chords get broken down into 3 functions

Tonic low dissonance
Subdominant medium dissonance
Dominant high dissonance

We looked at our Dominant function
Resolving to our Tonic function

Dominant/ Tonic

We looked at how all 12 notes work in this context.

4 accidentals belong to our dominant function
( KEY of C major ) dominant G7 ) GBDF has

G#,A#,C#,D#,....(b9,#9,....b5,#5)

Then 1 accidental belongs to our tonic function.

F# is #11 ( or #4) in Tonic ,Cmajor
[,this #11th is just as low tension as any notes in Cmajor more on this in later lesson ]

We looked at using the F to E leading tone
In G7/ Cmajor

As our blueprint for how the Altered notes work in our dominant function .
( tension to resolution)

Then we seen how each note in the Fominant finction actually resolves to Tonic.

Finally we seen that
All the Dominant function notes

Manifest in our music as 2 different scale options .

[ altered scale]
[ dominant diminished scale]

This information may take some time to fully digest , please take your time go through it as many times as needed and it will become familiar to you .
Please follow along with a instrument if possible and you can always reach me to ask questions for clarification.

 

Welcome to the music lesson 4.

Tonic Function .

The Tonic function is the center Focus of our KEY .
It is the center of focus for the other 2 functions.

The Tonic Function is very relaxed , has low level of dissonance and can be thought of as the hero of the story .

Let's look at the

[ KEY of C major .
CDEFGABC

1.Cmaj7...........Tonic Function
2.Dmin7
3.Emin7............Tonic Function
4.Fmaj7
5.G7
6.Amin7.............Tonic Function
7.Bmin7b5

The KEY of Cmajor means that Cmajor is our Tonic chord. ( center of focus for all the music )

We have 7 diatonic chords in this KEY

3 of the chords are grouped together as the

Tonic Function

I.Cmaj7 Imaj7
iii.Emin7 iiimin7
vi.Amin7 vimin7

Cmaj7 is CEGB
Emin7 is EGBD
Amin7 is ACEG

The Inversions of each chord

Cmaj7 CEGB

CEGB
EGBC
GBCE
BCEG

Emin7 EGBD

EGBD
GBDE
BDEG
DEGB

Amin7 ACEG

ACEG
CEGA
EGAC
GACE

We can take Cmaj7 CEGB

And see how Emin7 compares

CEGB
DEGB

Its only 1 note different the C moves up to D

CEGB...EGBC...GBCE...BCEG
DEGB...EGBD....GBDE..BDEG

We can compare now, Cmaj7 CEGB
To Amin7 ACEG

CEGB...EGBC...GBCE...BCEG
CEGA...EGAC...GACE...ACEG

Just as with the Emin7 , the Amin7 is only 1 note different the B moves down to A .

Now we can combine all the notes together

ACEGBD

[ thinking of Cmajor because our KEY of Cmaj]

A is 6th of Cmajor
B is maj7 of Cmajor
C is root of Cmaj
D is 9th of Cmajor
E is 3rd of Cmajor
G is 5th of C major

This is 6 out of 7 of our original notes.

We don't have the F , because the F belongs to the Subdominant and Dominant functions.

So taking our 6 diatonic notes
CEGBDA

These are the Tonic notes.

They all work in a Tonic function chord

[ in the KEY of Cmajor ]

They always feel and relaxed when played along with

CEG

You can stack them on top of the CEG
To create a Tonic sound , or you can make melodies licks, lines ,riffs , with them .

To start off you can use

CEG, EGC, GCE. In low register

Then in upper register place

D or A or B

Another option to begin with is create melody where

You play C,E,G on strong beats and the
D,A,B resolves to them

Example

1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4.
C....E....G....C...

[ strong beats are 1 and 3 ]
[ weak beats are 2 and 4]

1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4.
C.D.E....G.AC...

So you can use the main notes CEG

Then have the other notes move to resolve to CEG

D to C
D to E
A to G
B to C
B to A

You can also create " Diatonic enclousure"

C is landing note ....B to D to C
E is landing note ....G to D to E
G is langing note ....E to A to G

( using the A,B,D, to wrap around our CEG)

This starts to get into melodic decorations.

Let's now look at chord options for the

Tonic Function

Cmaj7 CEGB

Drop2 means drop the 2nd voice from top down an octave this creates wide sound

Cmaj7 CEGB , Drop2 Voicings

CEGB becomes Drop2 GCEB
EGBC becomes Drop2 BEGC
GBCE becomes Drop2 CGBE
BCEG becomes Drop2 EBCG

( now do that for Emin7 and Amin7)

We have for any chord Drop2,Drop3,Drop2&4
For each inversion as well as octave displacement

Let's look at how the bass line works .

We will be KEY C major
And functional blueprint of

Tonic/ tonic/ tonic/ tonic

[ we can plug in any of our 3 tonic chords ]

But let's choose 1 way to combine them for now

Cmaj7/ Emin7/Amin7/Cmaj7

The Bass line instrument works in a unique way because on the 1 count quarter note beats it outlines the root note of the chord we are on .

1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4.
C..........E..........A..........C.........

Now on the 4 beat we place a chromatic or diatonic leading tone ( like B to C, or E to F or F# to G)

This starts to create a forward momentum

1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4..
C.......D#E......A#A.....BC.......C#.

Next , the Bassline fills in the other Strong Beat
On the 3 beat, with a Chord tone

Let's use the 3rd ( second note) of our chord

Remember we have ,

Cmaj7/Emin7/Amin7/Cmaj7

CEGB,EGBD,ACEG,CEGB

So,

E is 3rd of Cmajor
G is 3rd of Eminor
C is 3rd of Aminor

Here is where we left off building our bassline,

1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4..
C.......D#E......A#A.....BC.......C#

Now adding the 3rd to each 3 beat

1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4..
C....ED#E...GA#A...C.BC....EC#.

Now for our last 2 beat we fill in a leading tone or chord tone.

1....2....3....4....1....2....3....4....
C....D....E....D#.E....F#.G....A#

1....2....3....4....1....2....3....4....
A....B....C....B....C...D....E...C#

Our strong beat 1 of the bass
Play the root of the chord,
Our weak beat 4 of the bass
Play a leading tone
Our strong beat 3 of the bass
Plays a chord tone
Our weak beat 2 plays a leading tone or
Scale tone or chord tone
( melodic contour here)

We we put this all together we get a quarter note melody which outlines our chord progression .

( you can further develop a baseline in different ways with steps ( halfstep or wholestep)
And with leaps ( from a min3rd all the way to octave)

Here is a bassline that only plays roots and 5ths .

[Remember we have ,

Cmaj7/Emin7/Amin7/Cmaj7

CEGB,EGBD,ACEG,CEGB]

1..2..3..4..1..2..3..4..1..2..3..4..1..2..3..4..
C..C..GD#E..B..B.A#A..A..E..B.C..G..C.C#

So we looked at some of how our bassline

Uses our Tonic/Tonic/Tonic/Tonic progression

Cmaj7/Emin7/Amin7/Cmaj7

CEGB,EGBD,ACEG,CEGB

We also seen how we can create melodies by using
Arpeggios inversions then

Using our 6 tonic notes in KEY of C major
C,D,E,G,A,B,

We combine the bassline , which chords on top using
The drop2 and drop3 and drop2&4 voicing for each inversion of a chord ,

 

Welcome to the Music lesson 5

Subdominant Function.

The subdominant function in Tonal music language is a medium tension level. Not home or relaxed like the Tonic function and not high level of tension like the Dominant function .The Subdominant function has a feeling of a journey traveling and creating motion without getting too extreme .

Let's take a look at the KEY of C major
CFEFGABC

1.Cmaj7 CEGB.................Tonic home
2 Dmin7 DFAC.....Subdominant journey away
3 Emin7 EGBD..................Tonic home
4 Fmaj7 FACE......Subdominant journey away
5 G7 GBDF............Dominant very tense villian
6 Amin7 ACEG..................Tonic home
7 Bmin7b5 BDFA.....Subdominant journey away

We have 2 diatonic Subdominant function chords in the key

2 Dmin7 DFAC....[iiminor7
4 Fmaj7 FACE.....[IVmaj7

The 2 Subdominant function chords also have a special properties that they both use the same notes in the KEY as the notes of their scales or
Upper extensions

2 Dmin7 DFACEGB Dmin13...DEFGABCD
4 Fmaj7 FACEGBD Fmaj13#11..FGABCDEF

These are the only 2 diatonic chords which have all the notes of the KEY in their upper extensions

If we look at Dmin13

D...F...A...C....E....G....B...
1....3...5...7....9...11..13...

The upper extensions of 9th,11th,13 are color tones.

These at character and flavor but without impacting the Dmin7 function of Subdominant.

If we take a look at Fmaj13#11

F...A...C...E...G....B....D...
1...3...5...7...9..#11..13..

The upper extensions of 9th,#11th,13th are color

As with the Dmin13 they add flavor without disturbing
The original Dmin7 finctiin of Subdominant.

No other chords in our Key besides these two chords
Have upper extensions which match the notes in the key itself .this is because the upper extensions cannot change the bottom portion 1357 of the chord and change its function .

Let's see the 1 Cmaj7 chord Tonic function

Cmaj13#11

C...E...G...B...D...F#.....A...
1....3...5...7....9..#11..13...

We can see our one chord Cmaj7 has the #11th
Upper extension .
This is because the natural F ( instead of F#.#11th)
Would outline a G7 GBDF dominant chord with its upper extensions . It wouldn't be adding color tones because it would change the dissonance by having the G7 dominant chord right inside the Tonic chord .

This is the reason why the two Subdominant
Finction chords DO have all of the keys notes .
Because combining the Cmajor and G7 together gives a medium tension, which is what a Subdominant has.

The diatonic chords establish our Functions

Then we expand our Functions to include

Non diatonic chords

The Subdominant function in the

KEY of C major

2.Dmin7
4.Fmaj7

Non diatonic Subdominant function chords

IVminor category

Fmin7
Fmin6
Fminmaj
Bb7
Dmin7b5
Abmaj7
Dbmaj7

#IVdim7

F7
Ab7
B7
D7

The non diatonic Subdominant chords are the same
Medium dissonance level as the diatonic chords

Let's take a closer look using the C major key

We will use the functional blueprint

Tonic/ Subdominant/Tonic
Cmaj7/Fmaj7/Cmaj7
Or
C6/Dmin7/Amin7
Or
G6/Fmin6/C6
Or
C6/Bb7/C6
Or
C6/Abmaj7/C6
Or
C6/F#dim7/C6
Or
C6/Dbmaj7/C6
Or
C6/Fminmaj/C6

With our functional blueprint
Of

Tonic/ Subdominant/ Tonic

All these different progressions outline.
It shows us that we always have a lot of flavors and options to choose from when writing, composing, or playing .

Its just like with our spoken Language .
You have an initial topic or idea
Then you could have 75 different sounding sentences with different words but all mean the same thing deep down at the level of meaning .

In tonal music language our functions are the deep level of meaning, and all the variety of chords we have to snap into a functuonal blueprint to create progressions are different ways to add color and flavor .

 

Welcome to the Music lesson 6

Non Diatonic Function chords
In Tonal Music Language.

We seen that we have 3 Functions
Tonic low dissonance
Subdominant medium dissonance
Dominant high dissonance

We group our 7 diatonic chords from our Key
Into these 3 groups

Tonic Function Chords
Imaj7 ( I6
iiimin7 ( v6
vimin7 ( I6

Subdominant Function Chords
iimin7 ( IV6
IVmaj7

Dominant Function Chords
V7
viimin7b5

We then use our Functions to create progressions and Song sections and then whole song .

Let's now look at our Non diatonic Function chords.

Let's use Roman numerals to see the symbol no matter the Key , but also look at it from the perspective of the KEY of C major .

Lets begin with our Tonic Function chords .

Imaj7 ( I6.......Cmaj7 ( C6 (CEGB( C6 CEGA
iiimin7 ( V6.....Emin7 ( G6. ( EGBD( G6 GBDE
vimin7 ( I6......Amin7 ( C6. ( ACEG( C6 CEGA
[ vimin6..........Amin6 ( ACEF#
[ viminmaj......Aminmaj ( ACEG#
Non diatonic Tonic Function
Vmaj7 .............Gmaj7 ( GBDF#
Viimin7............Bmin7 ( BDF#A
#Ivmin7b5......F#min7b5 ( F#ACE
II7.....................D7 ( DF#AC

Subdominant Function Chords
iimin7 (IV6....Dmin7...DFAC( F6 FACD
IVmaj7..(IV6..Fmaj7( F6 FACD

Non diatonic Subdominant Function Chords
IVmin7 Fmin7 .........F,Ab,C,Eb
IVmin6 Fmin6......... F,Ab,C,D
IVminmaj Fminmaj .F,Ab,C,E
bVII7 Bb7 ............... Bb,D,F,Ab
IImin7b5 Dmin7b5 ...D,F,Ab,C
bVImaj7 Abmaj7.......Ab,C,Eb,G
bIImaj7 Dbmaj7.........Db,F,Ab,C
#IVdim7 F#dim7.......F#,A,C,D#
IV7 F7.........F,A,C,Eb
bVI7 Ab7....Ab,C,Eb,Gb
VII7 B7........B,D#,F#,A
II7 D7 ..........DF#AC

Dominant Function Chords
V7 G7 ...........................GBDF
viimin7b5 Bmin7b5......BDFA

Non Diatonic Dominant Function chords

VIIdim7 Bdim7..............BDFG#
IIdim7. Ddim7...............DFG#B
IVdim7 Fdim7...............FG#BD
bVIdim7 G#dim7..........G#BDF
bII7. Db7. ....................Db,F,Ab,B
bIII7.Eb7.......................Eb,G,Bb,Db
IVmin7b5.Fmin7b5......F,Ab,B,Eb
Vmin7b5 Gmin7b5.......G,Bb,Db,F
bII6..Db6.......................Db,F,Ab,Bb

Now we have our Functions Fully expanded ,
Based on how we established them around a Key center .

Let's now take a look at the KEY of C major

The first Functional blueprint

Tonic/ Subdominant/ Tonic

( home, then journey away, then back home

Tonic/Subdominant/Tonic
Cmaj7/ Fmaj7/ Cmaj7
Or
Amin7/Dmin7/Amin7
Or
C6/Fmin6/C6
Or
G6/Bb7/C6
Or
Bmin7/F#dim7/F#min7b5
Or
G6/Abmaj7/Aminmaj
Or
D7/Dbmaj7/Cmaj7
Or
Emin7/Dmin7b5/C6

Let's look at our 2nd Functional blueprint

Tonic/ Dominant/ Tonic
Cmaj7/G7/Cmaj7
Or
Emin7/Bmin7b5/Amin7
Or
G6/Db6/C6
Or
Emin7/Eb7/Amin6
Or
F#min7b5/Fmin7b5/Emin7
Or
Bmin7/Bdim7/C6
Or
D7/Ddim7/C6
Or
G6/Gmin7b5/F#min7b5
Or
F#min7b5/Fdim7/Emin7

Lets look at our last finctional blueprint

Subdominant/Dominant/Tonic
Dmin7/G7/Cmaj7
Or
Fmaj7/Bmin7b5/Emin7
Or
F#dim7/Fdim7/Emin7
Or
Fmin6/Fmin7b5/F#min7b5
Or
Abmaj7/Gmin7b5/F#min7b5
Or
Dmin7b5/Db6/C6
Or
Dbmaj7/Fdim7/Amin6
Or
F7/Eb7/Bmin7
Or
Ab7/Gmin7b5/[Gmaj7/C]

 

I'm wondering why nobody liked these great posts. Maybe they use other ways.

 

A great interlude!

 

Welcome to music lesson 7

Expanding Functional blueprints .

We have 3 functional blueprints in tonal music .

1. Tonic / subdominant/ Tonic
2. Tonic/ Dominant/ Tonic
3.Subdominant/ Dominant/ Tonic


Each of them can be expanded as well .

Notice how they are 3 sections long .

But most common songs are in 4/ 4

This means we need to make the functional
Blueprint 4 sections long .

We can do this by expanding the function on each end of a functional blueprint.

Let's look at 1.

Tonic / subdominant/ tonic .

If we expanded the first function, we get .

Tonic/ Tonic / Subdom/ Tonic
Cmaj7/Amin7/Dmin7/Emin7
Or
Emin7/Cmaj7/Fmaj7/Amin7

Now we have a even four .

How about the end function ?

Tonic /Subdom/Tonic/Tonic
C6/ Fmaj7/ Emin7/Amin7
Or
Amin7/Dmin7/Emin7/C6

Let's look at the second functional blueprint now.

2. Tonic / Dominant/ Tonic .

First expanding the first function.

Tonic/Tonic/Dominant/Tonic
C6/C6/G7/C6
Or
Emin7/Amin7/Bmin7b5/[Cmaj6/9]
Or
Amin6/C6/Ddim7/G6

How about expanding the last function ?

Tonic/Dominant/Tonic/Tonic
C6/G7/C6/C6
Or
Emin7/Fdim7/G6/C6

Let's look at our last functional blueprint.

3.Subdominant/Dominant/tonic

First , expanding the first function.

Subdom/Subdom/Dominant/Tonic
Fmaj7/Dmin7/G7/Cmaj7
Or
Fmin7/Bb7/Bmin7b5/C6
Or
F#dim7/Dmin7/Bdim7/C6
Or
Abmaj7/Fminmaj/Fmin7b5/Emin7

Now let's expand our last function.

Subdom/Dominant/Tonic/Tonic
Dmin7/G7/C6/Amin7
Or
Fmaj7/G7/G6/C6
Or
F#dim7/Fdim7/Emin7/Amin6

 

Welcome to music lesson 8 .

Tonicization.

Tonicization means we apply our 3 functional blueprints to expanding other functions in our
KEY , besides the tonic function.

What this accomplishes is to further solidify
The emphasis of that function.
It further establishes the power of that function.

Let's first look at the key of C major .
Next, our 3rd functional blueprint.

3.Subdominant/ Dominant/ tonic
Now expanding our last function.
( plugging in our basic chords)
Subdom/Dominant/Tonic/Tonic
Dmin7/G7/Cmaj7/Amin7

Next, we will " turn it around "

This just means take the last two functions and place them in the front .

Tonic/Tonic/Subdom/Dom/
Cmaj7/Amin7/Dmin7/G7/

This exact progression, is the first example usage of tonicization.

We are going to replace Amin7 with A7

Cmaj7/A7/Dmin7/G7

Let's zoom into this portion

......[ A7/Dmin7].....

What is this ?

[Dominant/Tonic] of our Subdominant.

Amin7/Dmin7 works by
'Tonicizing' our Subdominant chord.

We create the powerful tension that releases on the Subdominant chord .

If we rearrange our progression

[A7/Dmin7] [G7/Cmaj7]

We have [Dominant/ tonic ] of Subdominant
( creating exclamation point on Subdominant landing chord Dmin7 .)
Then a [ Dominant/Tonic] of Tonic
( creating a exclamation point on Tonic landing
Chord Cmaj7.

Let's go back to our ( turn around ) now .

Except we are going to repeat it .

Cmaj7/A7/Dmin7/G7/Cmaj7/A7/Dmin7/G7

We can now swap our second Cmaj7 with another tonic chord Emin7 in order to get .....

C6/A7/Dmin7/G7/Emin7/A7/Dmin7/G7
(One of the top 5 most common song sections in tonal music functional harmony )


Tonicization creates a exclamation point on a Subdominant or dominant function by further emphasizing that function.

Let's look at the KEY of C major .

1.Cmaj7
2.Dmin7
3.Emin7
4.Fmaj7
5.G7
6 Amin7
7.Bmin7b5

We will now take our 3rd functional blueprint.

Subdominant/ Dominant/ tonic.

And apply this to each chord in the KEY.

1.Cmaj7 [ Dmin7/G7/C6]
2.Dmin7 [ Emin7b5/A7b9/Dmin7]
3.Emin7 [ F#min7b5/B7b9/Emin7]
4.Fmaj7 [ Gmin7/C7/Fmaj7]
5.G7 [ Amin7/ D7/ G7 ]
6.Amin7 [ Bmin7b5/E7b9/Amin7] *rel min
7.Bmin7b5 [C#min7b5/F#7b9/Bmin7b5]

The most common type of tonicization is of this type .
[ Subdominant/ dominant/ tonic]
Or
[ dominant/ tonic ]

Let's look at the most common ways you will encounter this used.

Cmaj7/ Gmin7/ C7/ Fmaj7

If we turn this around .
[Subdom/Dom/Tonic] / Tonic
Gmin7/ C7/ Fmaj7 / Cmaj7


This is simply tonicization of the 4th chord Subdominant function in C major.


/ Subdominant/ Tonic
Fmaj7 / Cmaj7

[Subdom/Dom/Tonic] / Tonic
Gmin7/C7/Fmaj7/ Cmaj7

Both of those are the same thing happening.

In the key of C major

Fmaj7 is Subdominant medium dissonance
Which resolves to the tonic home .

[ heros journey]

By tonicizing the Subdominant ,
We create a exclamation point right on the landing Subdominant

[ Gmin7/C7/ Fmaj7]

Then resolve to the tonic .

[Gmin7/C7/Fmaj7] Cmaj7


Let's add tonicization to our dominant function.


First, we start with
Our second functional blueprint in key of Cmajor

2 Tonic/ Dominant/ tonic

Cmaj7/G7/Cmaj7

Now add tonicization to our dominant function

[Subdom/Dom/Tonic] / Tonic
[ Amin7/D7/G7 ] Cmaj7

Now , we will swap out the Amin7 Subdominant chord of G7 , with its other diatonic Subdominant
Chord ( you'll see why .)


[ subdom/Dom/tonic] / [ tonic ]
Cmaj7 / D7 / G7 / Cmaj7

The tonicization of the dominant function in this way
Gives us the exclamation point of emphasizing the dominant but also by swapping the iimin7 subdom with the IVmaj Subdominant, gives us even more smooth movement in relationship to our tonic in the KEY of C major .

Example .

3rd functional blueprint in C major
3. Subdominant/ Dominant/ Tonic
Dmin7 / G7 / Cmaj7
Or
Fmaj7 / G7 / Cmaj7

 

Music lesson 9 .

Cadences in the KEY.

We will continue with the key of C major
To keep it easier to understand, but remember all this information works the same way no matter which key is your center focus .


Let's take our 3rd functional blueprint

3.Subdominant/ Dominant/ Tonic
Journey / villian / hero

This blueprint most closely matches great motion picture or novel narrative storytelling blueprint.

You have the journey ( medium tension (
Introduce the villian of the story ( high tension)
Then the hero defeats the villain
( release that tension )

3.Subdominant/ Dominant/ tonic .

We have this 3rd functional blueprint working for our three tonic chords in the key .

Subdom/Dom/Tonic
Dmin7/G7/Cmaj7

Subdom/Dom/Tonic
Bmin7b5/E7b9/Amin7

( the relative minor key to C major)


Subdom/Dom/Tonic
F#min7b5/B7b9/Emin7


These are the most common cadences
Because they emphasis the tonic function .


Dmin7/ G7/ Cmaj7

Is the major cadence

Bmin7b5/E7b9/Amin6

Is the relative minor cadence


F#min7b5/B7b9/Emin7

Is our side door cadence .


Tonic / Subdominant/ Tonic
F#min7b5/E7b9/Emin7
Or
F#min7b5/E7b9/Cmaj7
Or
Amin6/F#dim7/C6


We also have a backdoor cadence

Fmin7/Bb7/ Cmaj7

Subdom/subdom/Tonic
Fmin7/ Bb7/ C6

Let's now look closer at the key of C major

Relationship with its relative minor key .

A minor


A natural minor .......ABCDEFGA
A harmonic minor ..ABCDEFG#A
A melodic minor ....ABCDEF#G#

First looking at the

A harmonic minor ABCDEFG#

1.Aminmaj ACEG#
2.Bmin7b5 BDFA
3.Cmaj7#5 CEG#B
4.Dmin7 DFAC
5.E7...EG#BD ( V7 of Aminor
6.Fmaj7 FACE
7.G#dim7 G#BDF


The most common way that the A harmonic minor
Is used in tonal music language ( functional harmony

Is that when we have our Tonic function chord of a minor type ,

Amin7.... ACEG
Amin6.... ACEF#
Aminmaj ACEG#

We have its dominant V7 chord that resolves to it .

[Dominant/ Tonic ]
E7b9 / Aminmaj

All minor chords have the V7 of harmonic minor
Resolving to it .

This means the A harmonic minor scale
Is used over the E7b9 chord .

2nd functional blueprint
[ for A relative minor ]

1 Tonic / Dominant/ Tonic

Aminmaj/ E7b9/ Aminmaj

So we have this scale is used with the E7b9
[ the dominant chord that resolves to a minor chord tonic ]

E7b9
EFG#ABCDE

Next , let's look at our 3rd functional blueprint
For the relative minor key .( A minor )

3.Subdominant/ Dominant/ tonic .

Bmin7b5 / E7b9 / Aminmaj

Notice that the two chord for a minor cadence is a
Min7b5 chord Bmin7b5 .

This is how all minor cadences work .
[ Subdominant/ Dominant/Tonic ]

So lets now combine the Amin cadence with
Its relative C major cadence.

Bmin7b5/E7b9/Amin7/Dmin7/G7/Cmaj7


[Subdom/Dom/Tonic] [ Subdom/Dom/tonic]
.........Of Aminor ................of Cmajor ...........


This also means the harmonic minor can be used as the scale for the minor cadence .

3.Subdominant/Dominant/Tonic
[Bmin7b5/E7b9/Aminmaj]

Bmin7b5 .............BCDEFG#AB
E7b9 ...................EFG#ABCDE
Aminmaj..............ABCDEFG#A

The Harmonic minor is most commonly used as the chord and scale for the V7 of a minor chord .
However , it is also possible to use the harmonic minor scale for a full minor cadence

[ 3rd functional blueprint for Minor tonic]

Next, we can see how the A melodic minor works .

Our Relative minor chords can take 3 forms .

So KEY of C major .
( A relative minor that belongs with C major )

Amin7 ( from A natural minor )
ACEG
Aminmaj ( from A harmonic minor)
ACEG# .
Amin6 ( from A melodic minor )
ACEF#


The A melodic minor is used as the scale for the
A min6 chord ABCDEF#G#

When we DO use the Min6 tonic it changes how our
3rd functional blueprint ( minor cadence) works

Remember before , a minor cadence
Which entirely uses the A harmonic minor scale

Bmin7b5 / E7b9 / Aminmaj
A harmonic minor scale for each chord


Now, when we use the Amin6
( from A melodic minor)as a tonic ,

It changes how our minor cadence works.


Bmin7b5 / E7b9/ Amin6

We use the C major scale for Bmin7b5
BDEFGABC

We use the A harmonic minor scale for E7b9 still
EFG#ABCDE

We use the A melodic minor for the Amin6 tonic.

ABCDEF#G#


In summary .

The minor type of cadence
iimin7b5 / V7b9 / I minor

Has two types of cadence
[ 3rd functional blueprint]

[Subdominant/dominant/tonic]

This is because the relative minor takes on three possible chord forms .
Key of C major , A relative minor

Amin7........ ACEG
Amin6....... ACEF#
Aminmaj.....ACEG#

When we use the Amin7 type
Our cadence works like this
( 3rd functional blueprint for Minor )

Bmin7b5 / E7b9/ Amin7

Bmin7b5 BCDEFGAB ( A natural minor )
E7b9 EFG#ABCDE ( A harmonic minor
Amin7 ABCDEFGA ( A natural minor )



When we use the Aminmaj ,
That means we use the A harmonic minor scale for
Each chord in the cadence .
( 3rd functional blueprint for MINOR)

Bmin7b5 / E7b9/ Aminmaj
A harmonic minor for all chords

ABCDEFG#A


However , when we use the Amin6 type
For our minor cadence, this means we use

Bmin7b5/ E7b9 / Amin6

Bmin7b5 BCDEFGAB ( A natural minor )
E7b5 EFG#ABCDE ( A harmonic minor)
Amin6 ABCDEF#G# ( A melodic minor )


A melodic minor ABCDEF#G#

1.Aminmaj ACEG#, Amin6 ACEF#
2 Bmin7 BDF#A
3 Cmaj7#5 CEG#B
4 D7 DF#AC
5 E7 EG#BD
6 F#min7b5 F#ACE
7 G#min7b5 G#BDF#

 

Last edited: Jun 1, 2021