Chords & Lines I

This is a page of some ideas for how you might work with progressions different from those that remain within the usual tonal relationships based on root motion in fourths or fifths (plagal and authentic relationships). Although you could practice the following material, it is not intended for that purpose. It is intended more as an example of other relationships you might explore, especially in the way melodic and harmonic motion can be related. You could try to compose or improvise a still more creative melody to float above the given harmonic progression than the ones suggested here, but you could also explore many totally different harmonic progressions.

In the following exercise, the harmonic movement uses plain minor triads moving through a root progression of ascending minor thirds. That is why there are only four triads in the harmonic sequence beginning on ‘D’. However, the progression can also begin on Eb or E, giving a sequence of four different minor triads. (If you begin on ‘F’ it will result in the very same four triads as below.) While each chord will include common tones with the chord(s) that come before and after, it will not be possible to find a single scale that accommodates all the four triads. You’ll see that the progression suggests a more chromatic context, despite the fact that all the chords are simple minor triads. So for improvising or composing a melody, it more or less necessitates regarding each chord change almost as if it were an unprepared modulation.

[My apology:The MIDI recording is exceptionally crude and I will soon record it live on a concert grand.]