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A chord progression is popularly considered a series of chords played in some temporal order. Chords often relate to each other in some phenomenological, tonally-coherent way—though this may not always be the case, especially when discussing more complex tonal music after 1840. Chord progressions are central to most modern European-influenced music. Generally speaking, a chord progression will invariably share some notes (assuming equal temperament), which provides linear (voice leading) continuity to the passage. In the common practice period, chord progressions Continue

Seventh chords may be thought of as the next natural step in composing tertian chords after triads. Seventh chords are constructed by adding a fourth note to a triad, at the interval of a third above the fifth of the chord. This creates the interval of a seventh above the root of the chord. There are various types of seventh chords depending on the quality of the original chord and the quality of the seventh added.Five common types of seventh Continue

A suspended chord, or “sus chord”, is a chord in which the third has been displaced by either of its dissonant neighbouring notes, forming intervals of a major second or (more commonly), a perfect fourth with the root. This results in two distinct chord types: the suspended second (sus2) and the suspended fourth (sus4). The chords, Csus2 and C sus4 consist of the notes C D G and C F G, respectively. Extended versions are also possible, such as the Continue

Parallel harmony is harmony that generally follows the melody, going up when the melody goes up and down when the melody goes down. Because parallel harmonies are not independent of the melody, they do not follow the rules of well-written counterpoint and are generally not considered to be as interesting as independent harmony parts. However, parallel harmonies are easier to play for many instruments (keyboard instruments, guitar, dobro guitar, violin, and cello, to name just a few). Parallel harmonies are Continue

Picturing a circle of fifths can help you identify key signatures, find related keys, and remember the order of sharps and flats in key signatures. The circle of fifths is a way to arrange keys to show how closely they are related to each other. The major key for each key signature is shown as a capital letter; the minor key as a small letter. In theory, one could continue around the circle adding flats or sharps (so that B Continue

Jazz Harmony is a highly sophisticated harmonic idiom that incorporates traditional harmony as well as non-traditional techniques. Similarities between jazz and traditional harmony include, notational techniques, many chord progressions, and many musical scales. Unlike traditional harmony, additional tensions are added to harmonic progressions. In jazz, chord construction is similar to traditional harmony but includes the wider use of seventh chords as well as chords containing compound intervals. Also, the principles of voice leading, the practice of smoothly moving individual notes Continue

In this site there are free resources to learn music theory, harmony, composing, music analysis, improvisation and many other music topics. Music theory is a field of study that involves an investigation of the many diverse elements of a music, including the development and methodology for analyzing, hearing, understanding, and composing music. While musicology may include any statement, belief, or conception of or about music, music theory is limited to discussions concerning synchronic (or diachronic) events of a specific composition Continue