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HARMONIC CATEGORIES PART 2

March 1, 2019 By Jim Beckwith

In the last post I introduced the concept of harmonic

categories and used the key of C for an example. I also

used both chord and degree names to make it easier to

change keys. In order to understand this post you have to

have read the first post! Also if the idea of keys or

degree names is fuzzy to you, stop and read my book “Take

Control:for guitar” available on Amazon. Before we go

further I will list the 3 categories and their chords again,

for reference. ( Again this is the key of C).

Tonic-C major (I), E minor (iii), A minor (vi)

Subdominant- D minor (ii), F major (IV)

Dominant- G major (V), B diminished (viiº)

The terms tonic, subdominant, and dominant refer to the

harmonic function the chords perform in their respective

categories. Over the years, the way I’ve come to explain

this concept is with my “famous” field metaphor. Pay close

attention, it’s stuff like this that rakes in the big $.

 

(see the diagram below the explanation)

THE FIELD METAPHOR: Picture a key as being a big field, and

the fence closest to you is the Tonic fence. This area

contains the root chord (I-C) and the two related chords,

(iii-E minor and vi-A minor). These 3 chords are like home

base in the key, either the root chord C, or the 2 chords

closest in sound, E min. and A min. You can play all 3

of these chords and hear how similar they sound, there’s

not much movement between them sound-wise. That’s why you

can substitute these chords for one another, there’s not

that much difference in sound. Now on the far side of the key

“field”, visualize the opposite fence, that’s the Dominant

fence. This area contains the V chord (G or G7) and its’

related chord the B diminished (viiº). These 2 chords are

the most distant in sound from the Tonic chords. Play a

G to C or B dim. to C and hear the jump in sound, especially

compared with A min. to C (same category). Jumping from

Tonic to Dominant to Tonic is as much sonic distance as you

can cover in a key (and is called a cadence). These two

categories can completely define a key and the simplest

songs contain one chord from each category, generally

the I and the V, the most common members of their

categories. Songs like Jambalaya (C-G), only have 2 chords

because that’s all they need! The boundaries of the key are

set. Other I-V 2 chord songs are Tulsa Time and Achy Breaky

Heart (but those are in different keys). Finally, in the

middle of the key “field”, along with the daisies and cow

patties, are the Subdominant chords. These chords occupy the

middle ground in the key, further away harmonically from the

root than the Tonic chords, but not as far away as the dominant.

( see diagram below)

———————DOMINANT FENCE—————————-

(V -G and viiº-B dim.)

 

——————-MIDDLE OF THE FIELD———————-

(ii-D min. and IV-F maj.)

 

———————–TONIC FENCE———————————-

(I-C maj., iii-E min., and vi-A min.)

PRACTICAL USES: Like I said in the previous post, you can

substitute chords inside a category; if a song goes C-F-G, try

C-D min-G, or A min-F-G. This can add a lot of creativity. This

knowledge also helps me when I’m figuring out songs; a chord

will sound close, but not exactly correct. Often it turns out

to be another chord in the category. When I’m playing with

another guitarist or keyboard player, I can play different

chords against them inside the harmonic category (I can play

an A minor or E minor against their C major.) Whether I’m

composing, jamming, or figuring out songs, my knowledge of

harmonic categories gives me an edge.

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