Chord rewrite rules

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Typical boogie woogie bassline on 12 bar blues progression in C, chord roots in red Play . Twelve bar boogie-woogie blues in C.png
Typical boogie woogie bassline on 12 bar blues progression in C, chord roots in red Play .

In music, a rewrite rule is a recursive generative grammar, which creates a chord progression from another.

Steedman (1984) [1] has proposed a set of recursive "rewrite rules" which generate all well-formed transformations of jazz, basic I–IV–I–V–I twelve-bar blues chord sequences, and, slightly modified, non-twelve-bar blues I–IV–V sequences ("rhythm changes").

The typical 12-bar blues progression can be notated

1   2   3   4     5   6   7   8    9   10  11  12 I / I / I / I // IV /IV / I / I // V / IV / I / I

where the top line numbers each bar, one slash indicates a bar line, two indicate both a bar line and a phrase ending and a Roman numeral indicates the chord function.

Important transformations include

Chord rewrite rules I: replacement or substitution of a chord by its dominant or subdominant Play . Chord rewrite rules I.png
Chord rewrite rules I: replacement or substitution of a chord by its dominant or subdominant Play .
1    2   3   4      5     6     7     8      9   10   11  12 I / IV / I / I7 // IV / VII7 / III7 / VI7 // II7 / V7 / I / I //
Chord rewrite rules II: use of chromatic passing chords Play . Chord rewrite rules II.png
Chord rewrite rules II: use of chromatic passing chords Play .
  ...7      8     9 ... ...III7 / III7 / II7...
  • and chord alterations such as minor chords, diminished sevenths, etc.

Sequences by fourth, rather than fifth, include Jimi Hendrix's version of "Hey Joe" and Deep Purple's "Hush":

   1            2     3   4        5           6     7   8       9           10    11  12 VI, III / VII, IV / I / I // VI, III / VII, IV / I / I // VI, III / VII, IV / I / I //

These often result in Aeolian harmony and lack perfect cadences (V–I). Middleton (1990) [2] suggests that both modal and fourth-oriented structures, rather than being, "distortions or surface transformations of Schenker's favoured V-I kernel, are more likely branches of a deeper principle, that of tonic/not-tonic differentiation."

For the notation, see Borrowed chord.

Related Research Articles

The 12-bar blues is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on the I, IV, and V chords of a key. Mastery of the blues and rhythm changes are "critical elements for building a jazz repertoire".

In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice era of Classical music to the 21st century. Chord progressions are the foundation of popular music styles, traditional music, as well as genres such as blues and jazz. In these genres, chord progressions are the defining feature on which melody and rhythm are built.

A secondary chord is an analytical label for a specific harmonic device that is prevalent in the tonal idiom of Western music beginning in the common practice period: the use of diatonic functions for tonicization.

In music, the submediant is the sixth degree of a diatonic scale. The submediant is named thus because it is halfway between the tonic and the subdominant or because its position below the tonic is symmetrical to that of the mediant above.

The Aeolian mode is a musical mode or, in modern usage, a diatonic scale also called the natural minor scale. On the white piano keys, it is the scale that starts with A. Its ascending interval form consists of a key note, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step. That means that, in A aeolian, you would play A, move up a whole step to B, move up a half step to C, then up a whole step to D, a whole step to E, a half step to F, a whole step to G, and a final whole step to a high A.

Coltrane changes are a harmonic progression variation using substitute chords over common jazz chord progressions. These substitution patterns were first demonstrated by jazz musician John Coltrane on the albums Bags & Trane and Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago. Coltrane continued his explorations on the 1960 album Giant Steps and expanded on the substitution cycle in his compositions "Giant Steps" and "Countdown", the latter of which is a reharmonized version of Eddie Vinson's "Tune Up". The Coltrane changes are a standard advanced harmonic substitution used in jazz improvisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chord substitution</span> Technique of using a chord in place of another in a progression of chords

In music theory, chord substitution is the technique of using a chord in place of another in a progression of chords, or a chord progression. Much of the European classical repertoire and the vast majority of blues, jazz and rock music songs are based on chord progressions. "A chord substitution occurs when a chord is replaced by another that is made to function like the original. Usually substituted chords possess two pitches in common with the triad that they are replacing."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andalusian cadence</span> Chord progression

The Andalusian cadence is a term adopted from flamenco music for a chord progression comprising four chords descending stepwise – a iv–III–II–I progression with respect to the Phrygian mode or i–VII–VI–V progression with respect to the Aeolian mode (minor). It is otherwise known as the minor descending tetrachord. Traceable back to the Renaissance, its effective sonorities made it one of the most popular progressions in classical music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Backdoor progression</span> Jazz chord progression

In jazz and jazz harmony, the chord progression from iv7 to VII7 to I (the tonic or "home" chord) has been nicknamed the backdoor progression or the backdoor ii-V, as described by jazz theorist and author Jerry Coker. This name derives from an assumption that the normal progression to the tonic, the ii-V-I turnaround (ii-V7 to I, see also authentic cadence) is, by inference, the "front door", a metaphor suggesting that this is the main route to the tonic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhythm changes</span> Common 32-bar chord progression in jazz

Rhythm changes are a common 32-bar chord progression in jazz, originating as the chord progression for George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm". The progression is in AABA form, with each A section based on repetitions of the ubiquitous I–vi–ii–V sequence (or variants such as iii–vi–ii–V), and the B section using a circle of fifths sequence based on III7–VI7–II7–V7, a progression which is sometimes given passing chords.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slash chord</span> A chord whose bass note is indicated by a slash

In music, especially modern popular music, a slash chord or slashed chord, also compound chord, is a chord whose bass note or inversion is indicated by the addition of a slash and the letter of the bass note after the root note letter. It does not indicate "or". For example, a C major chord (C) in second inversion is written C/G or C/G bass, which reads "C slash G", "C over G" or "C over a G bass". If E were the bass it would be written C/E or C/E bass, which is read "C slash E", "C over E" or C/E bass. Some chords may not otherwise be notated, such as A/A. Thus, a slash chord may also indicate the chord form or shape and an additional bass note.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turnaround (music)</span>

In jazz, a turnaround is a passage at the end of a section which leads to the next section. This next section is most often the repetition of the previous section or the entire piece or song.

The ii–V–I progression is a common cadential chord progression used in a wide variety of music genres, including jazz harmony. It is a succession of chords whose roots descend in fifths from the second degree (supertonic) to the fifth degree (dominant), and finally to the tonic. In a major key, the supertonic triad (ii) is minor, and in a minor key it is diminished. The dominant is, in its normal form, a major triad and commonly a dominant seventh chord. With the addition of chord alterations, substitutions, and extensions, limitless variations exist on this simple formula.

In music, harmonization is the chordal accompaniment to a line or melody: "Using chords and melodies together, making harmony by stacking scale tones as triads".

vi–ii–V–I Type of chord progression

In music, the vi–ii–V–I progression is a chord progression. A vi–ii–V–I progression in C major is shown below.

In music theory, Roman numeral analysis is a type of musical analysis in which chords are represented by Roman numerals. In some cases, Roman numerals denote scale degrees themselves. More commonly, however, they represent the chord whose root note is that scale degree. For instance, III denotes either the third scale degree or, more commonly, the chord built on it. Typically, uppercase Roman numerals are used to represent major chords, while lowercase Roman numerals are used to represent minor chords. However, some music theorists use upper-case Roman numerals for all chords, regardless of chord quality.

The I–V–vi–IV progression is a common chord progression popular across several genres of music. It involves the I, V, vi, and IV chords of any particular musical scale. For example, in the key of C major, this progression would be: C–G–Am–F. Rotations include:

The jazz minor scale or ascending melodic minor scale is a derivative of the melodic minor scale, except only the ascending form of the scale is used. As the name implies, it is primarily used in jazz. It may be derived from the major scale with a minor third, making it a synthetic scale, and features a dominant seventh chord on the fifth degree (V) like the harmonic minor scale. It can also be derived from the diatonic Dorian mode with a major seventh.

"Lady Bird" is a sixteen-bar jazz standard by Tadd Dameron. This "celebrated" composition, "one of the most performed in modern jazz", was written around 1939, and released in 1948. Featuring, "a suave, mellow theme," it is the origin of the Tadd Dameron turnaround (in C: CM7 E7 AM7 D7 CM7).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal road progression</span> Four-chord progression

The Royal Road progression (王道進行, ōdō shinkō), also known as the IVM7–V7–iii7–vi progression or koakuma chord progression (小悪魔コード進行, koakuma kōdo shinkō), is a common chord progression within contemporary Japanese pop music.

References

  1. Steedman M.J., "A Generative Grammar for Jazz Chord Sequences", Music Perception2 (1) (1984) 52–77.
  2. Middleton, Richard (1990). Studying Popular Music, p.198. ISBN   0-335-15275-9.