Quote:
Originally Posted by skateman247
when you write you chord progressions how do you make them really move and feel like they are going somewhere. the only things I really know about chord progressions is that:
1.) they move by root movement of 2nds,3rds and 4ths
2.) I know that you can double the P5th or the root ONLY
3.) I know that adding 7ths adds color to the chord and is more of a preference kinda thing.
4.) I know inversions are meant to make the voicing of the chords less "blocky" so they can flow together better
is there anything I am missing as far as the basics of chord progression and harmony are concerned???
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It's is not true that you can only double the root and 5th. It all depends on what function the chord has. In tonal harmony for example, the V chord contains the leading tone (scale degree 7) as its 3rd, which is a "tension tone" that must resolves to scale degree 1. In this case, the third of the chord should never be doubled since it would sound bad having two pitches doing the same resolution in parallel motion. In most other cases, doubling the third is perfectly fine, and in first inversion chords it's actually the preferred note to double. But this is for tonal harmony (like Bach, Mozart, Haydn kinda stuff). Not sure if that's what you're going for. In jazz tonal harmony, I doesn't really matter if voices resolve and all chords always have a 7th. But if you're writing modal harmony, the rules are even thinner. In modal harmony, 4ths, 5ths, maj2nds, min7ths and maj9ths are the preferred intervals for chord construction (although triadic chords still work fine obviously). I guess what it comes down to though is "does it sound good to me". That's more important than any rule or system. So do what sounds good to you regardless what I just said. Lol. But If you want your chords progressions to sound smoother, write out your chords in root position, then work out the horizontal aspect (voice leading) so that each voice moves as little as possible to get to the other chord. Inversions are the way to do this. Common tones, step-wise motion, and avoid two voices moving in parallel 5ths or octaves kuz it'll stick out! unless thats what youre going for, in which case, they work great!! haha. Hope this helps!!! Let me know if you got any other questions or if I missed something, I'll try and answer the best I can!
