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Yes, you're right that in many genres of music pianists and guitarists have to spontaneously come up with parts based only on chord symbols (and hopefully also listening to other members of the band). This is called comping. Bass players typically also have to do this too; even if the bassline is written out in that piece that isn't always the case (and if ...
7
Neither major nor minor need be light nor dark. During early days of keys (as opposed to modes) and through the baroque era, composers tended to write about half major and half minor key pieces. The classical era composers wrote mostly (maybe 75%) or so major key works but their minor key stuff tends to be more dramatic than sad.
One method of countering ...
7
I consider second inversions less stable, because to me they sound less stable. Not because I made calculations and got such and such numbers.
If there's people to whom second inversions give different feelings than they give me, then maybe those people might say that they don't consider seconds inversions less stable.
Theory describes, theory does not ...
6
You do it step by step, first inserting "midway" chords somewhere in between, and then if you want, even more intermediate chords between those. Step by step. If you want to go through all of the given original chords and aren't allowed to change them (though why wouldn't you if you're messing with the chords to begin with), there are only two guiding ...
6
Just a quick-fire answer, cos theory isn't my strong suit, but try this…
More 'mysterious', use a lot of 2nds - so your Gm features a lot of A.
More 'neutral', use 4ths - adding C
More 'sad or wistful' - Use minor 7s - so you feature F
You can push those right through as your chords change & it will hang onto that feel.
Depending on exactly what your ...
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Pianists and guitarists in these styles are expected to be able to play from chord names and bass lines. If you cannot find an Fm6 in a heartbeat then this means more practice. As for the comping style, this varies between players and genres and is up to you. On the guitar it may be just four downstrokes per bar, a funky cross-rhythm in the style of Nile ...
5
This is one of the most common misconceptions in aspiring musicians. Saying that because D♯ and E♭ (or any pair of "enharmonic" notes) sound the same, therefore you can choose either one is like saying that because "they're" and "there" sound the same, you can use either spelling. They have the same sound, but differing semantics.
There are ...
5
A couple other suggestions:
Blues tonality (Blues music tends to come across as less dark than just straight harmonic minor, at least if you do it right)
Temporary emphasis on the relative major (in A minor, C major)
Natural minor, as User Tetsujin already mentioned, but in general, there are other minor scales that sound less dark. To me, minor pentatonic ...
4
A lot of the answers so far seem to miss the point that you've been given a backing track. You're stuck with it. What does it contain? Backing tracks normally include the chords, bass line and rhythm, so you're not going to be able to change any of those. The most you can do is write a sprightly melody.
If I've misunderstood the nature of the backing ...
4
Off the top of my head, when I think of textbook descriptions, I don't remember that 1st and 2nd inversion and their treatment are stated in terms of a consonance measure.
My understanding is both are unstable simply because they aren't in root position.
If we consider...
I I6/3 IV
and
I V6/4 I6/3
...I don't think much attention is given to comparing ...
3
The second inversion appears as passing chord I-V64-I6 or as I64 as suspension of the dominant chord (GCE -> GBD) while the first inversion the 3rd will be a leading tone I6 - IV or V6 - I, and in the minor degrees it is the root of its related chord ii6=F =>IV, iii6 = G =>V, vi6=>C => I, vii6=D = ii or V34 unclompete, without root G).
3
Latin pop music is to some extent based on interlocking patterns in the rhythm section (piano, guitar, bass, 47,275 drums). The piano part is (in some styles) called a montuno (so is the loud parts of some pieces too). The montuno is generally two measures (or 8 beats depending on how the composer chose the notation) based on another pattern called the clave....
3
A chord progression is a list of chords. A chord's voicing is the arrangement of notes within that chord. But you seem to be asking about something else, the rhythmic element of 'comping' in various styles.
Yes, different comping styles for different musical styles. For a low-down blues you might simply play basic close-position chords 4-to-the-bar. In ...
3
I think the simple theory of these passing chords is they are secondary or temporary leading tone diminished seventh chords.
In the key of C major the leading tone is B and the fully diminished seventh chord built on that tone is B D F Ab. The leading tone chord resolves strongly to the tonic chords, so Bdim7 resolves to C major.
But you can precede any ...
3
It's mostly about voice leading. The idea is to connect up the notes between the chords so that individual voices have their own, hopefully pleasing, melodic movement. There is often some element of "mini-modulation" going on as well.
Your example : when I play it through with all those dim chords it doesn't make so much sense to me, but perhaps that is ...
3
The (I would guess) most useful is to find a bass line that connects the two (or more) chords being played. Play a chord (or more if they fit) that uses the interpolated bass note as the chord's lowest note (doesn't have to be the root); make sure that the other notes in the chord don't violate any (or at least not too many) voice leading rules (probably don'...
3
Purely my own ideas here - so do what you like with them!
There are usually some harmonics involved when listening to any played note. More audible on some instruments than others, not available in pure sine waves.
When the triad is in root position, i.e. C at the bottom of a C major chord, that note has its own harmonics - built from another C note, then ...
2
If you go with your idea of using the relative major, B♭ major, then another thing you can do is to use chords of d minor in preference to D major. It might sound backwards, using a minor chord instead of a major one to make your music sound less minor, but here's the thing: D major chords suggest the key g minor because it's the dominant of g minor, and ...
2
This was a fun challenge. So after fiddling with this for a while and adding a bassline that kind of changes the function of the chords I actually put it in A Minor.
Playing this on the piano, I basically played the listed chords in the right hand, with different notes in the root in my left, basically changing their function. So the chords on top are what ...
2
In Jazz usage "altered" refers to chords where the 5th or 9th (or both) are raised or lowered. Often a chord will have both raised and lowered notes simultaneously.
There are various ways to notate the alterations: either with +/- or #/♭
Examples: C7+5 C7#5 C7♭5 C7+5+9
The notation C(alt) refers to a chord with both raised and lowered 5th and 9th.
A ...
2
The term 'altered chord' is sometimes used to label an extended dominant 7th shape where only the 3rd and 7th remain unaltered. The 5th is both raised and lowered, likewise the 9th and 11th.
1
In classical theory, an "altered chord" usually refers to a chord that contains non-diatonic notes, which are chromatically raised or lowered by a semitone from the usual notes of the scale. This encompasses a wide variety of possible chords, and many would even speak of altering the root of a chord, if it is a non-diatonic note within the local key/scale. ...
1
not all alterations make a chord an "altered" chord ...
So which alterations don't make an altered chord?
The German Wiki-page is different from the English version:
It says altering the prime will be a different chord as the chord is named by the root note:
e.g. Bb in C is a borrowed chord.
Altering the 3rd will change the mode from major to minor and ...
1
In popular music they are typically considered interchangeable, so do whatever and likely no one will care.
In classical music, chords should always be named according to their function. Determining a chord's function requires looking at the chords before and after it. In other words, context is everything.
A "rule" of classical music is that dissonances ...
1
There are no rules to do it this way or that way. They are really almost exchangeable.
When I remember how I "discovered" the ♭VI chord - before this I used to play IV - iv - and compared with this "new" ♭VI-chord I found this one less boring, more interesting, as the other one was somehow corny. (Today probably both are ;)
Well, it must have been a gut ...
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The picture wikipedia shows is actually a root tone with the sixth and the seventh close together. So it seems not to be meant a C 7 13.
But I also never ever came across this notation. (In the final chord of a piece we can often hear a root 7 9 13 chord...)
In music, a seven six chord is a chord containing both factors a sixth and a seventh above the root,...
1
In the notation for chords in jazz, if a chord has 2 modifications, isn't it usual to write last the modification that's furthest from the root? If that's the case here, then your C 7 6 is really C 7 13, the 13 (the A) being a substitute for 5 (G). Typically in a chord of the 13th, the 13th would be voiced above the 7th.
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As others have mentioned, you can substitute any chord quality you like for anything, but since you've asked for a theoretical approach, here are some observations I've come to understand about this kind of substitution:
If you have a basic progression, you could substitute a major 6th chord for a major triad. You could do the same with an add9 chord for a ...
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Most importantly, avoid accented dissonance.
Next, I think harmony is going to be your friend here. The backing track's harmony is rather sparse and therefore somewhat ambiguous, so there's plenty of room for you to steer the mood with how you choose to harmonize the melodies.
I know that the relative major is Bb Major (harmonic), but that
doesn't ...
1
One suspension I can see is the A in b.2, which is technically a suspension, thanks to
that same A being anticipated at the end of b.1
the A's resolution G being anticipated at the end of b.2, which means that the non-chord note A resolves before the bass moves
However, the feeling I get from that bar is more of a chord which could be analysed as F/G (as ...
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