Lesson video

Hello and welcome to today's music lesson.

I'm Ms. Mantle and I'm going to be your teacher for today.

Let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is, I can develop an idiomatic bass line and modulate a chord sequence into the relative minor key.

Remember that idiomatic in this context means in an appropriate style.

Let's look at some keywords for today.

Relative minor.

The minor chord or key that has the same key signature as a major key.

So for example, A minor compared to C major.

Tonic.

That's chord I, the home note and chord of a key and the note that the key is named after.

So in C major, chord I is C and the tonic is C.

Dominant.

The fifth note in a scale, or the chord based on that note, chord V.

Root position.

A chord in which the root note is the lowest note.

Chord inversion.

When the notes of a chord are reordered so that the root is not the lowest note.

Today's lesson on using chord vi and using the bass harmonically is in two parts.

Using chord vi, and using the bass harmonically.

Let's get started with part one.

Using mainly primary chords, that's chords I, IV, and V, is important in reinforcing the key.

If in a major key, the music feels strongly major, with no hint of minor tonality.

Composers can hint at a minor tonality, even when they're in a major key by using minor chords within the chord sequence.

In which bar does the tonality turn minor in this chord sequence? Have a listen.

(chord sequence music) What did you think? "It turns minor in bar five, halfway through it." Did you hear that? If not, maybe have another listen.

Using chord vi is an effective way of changing the tonality within a piece.

In C major, chord vi is A minor.

You can see the chords there.

And you can see that chord vi is A, and that's A minor.

Chord vi is known as the relative minor chord.

Relative keys use scales which have the same notes and key signature but a different tonic note and therefore a different feel.

The relative minor key is always three semitones below the major.

So the related minor key to C major is A minor.

Have a look on the keyboard there.

You go down from C to B, B flat and then A.

These two scales have the same notes but a different tonic note.

So you can see your C major scale, all the white notes on the keyboard, and the A minor scale, also all the white notes on the keyboard but starting on an A.

We have a look at that in notation.

There's your C major scale, then your A minor scale, and you can see the parallels between the two scales.

So C, D, E, F, G, A, and then the B down the octave.

This sequence starts in C major.

The use of primary chords strongly grounds the key to start.

Have a listen to this sequence.

(chord sequence music) At bar five, the chord sequence briefly moves to the relative minor by using chord vi.

Have a listen to that.

(chord sequence music) Did you hear chord vi? It also finishes with a perfect cadence, with the dominant chord, V, followed by the tonic chord, I, and therefore returning to the major key.

Chord vi is used in that example to create harmonic variety.

It changes from major to minor, briefly, then back to major.

To support the change to the relative minor, it helps to avoid chord I in bars four to seven so it doesn't sound too major.

Finishing with a perfect cadence, remember, that's chords V and I, helps reinforce the return to the original key after briefly visiting the relative minor key.

Let's do a check for understanding.

In C major, A minor is called the what minor.

Is it A, comparative? B, chordal? C, related? Or D, relative? Have a think.

Well done if you got D, relative.

A minor is the relative minor of C major.

What is the link between relative minor and major keys? Is it A, they start on the same note? B, they use all of the same notes? C, they use some of the same notes? Or D, they finish on the same note? Which of those is it? Well done if you got B.

They use all of the same notes.

Which chord is the relative minor chord in a major key? Is it chord ii, chord IV, chord vi, or chord vii? Well done if you got C.

That's chord vi.

In this lesson, we're going to be creating an eight-bar chord sequence that uses chord vi to briefly move to the relative minor.

Let's watch this video.

<v Teacher>This chord sequence</v> is going to start in the major key, briefly move to the minor key in bar five, and then end up back in the major key.

When working in the key of C major, so chord I is a C chord, our other primary chords are IV, which is F, and V, which is G.

Our relative minor chord is chord vi, which is an A minor chord because it starts on the sixth note of the scale.

And then our other secondary chords are ii, which is D minor, and iii, which is E minor.

Remember to avoid chord vii.

That's a tricky one to use well.

So don't use the chord that starts on B.

Don't use that one.

Okay, so, I'm going to start planning out my chord sequence.

Now, I want to start with chord I.

That's really typical.

That grounds in the key.

And I also want to finish in the last two bars with a perfect cadence, chord V and then chord I.

So a G chord and then a C chord.

Bar five is when I'm going to be in the relative minor.

So it's in bar five that I want to use chord vi, that A minor chord.

(piano chord ringing) And then what I'll do with the rest of the chords really is up to me.

Remember, I want to use mostly primary chords, but using two or three secondary chord is fine.

And I'm going to practice different patterns until I create an eight-bar pattern that I like.

I've already planned mine out, which is going to use two bars of chord I, a bar of chord IV, and then V.

And then in bar six, I'm going to use another minor secondary chord.

I'm going use chord ii.

So I've got this minor section of my chord sequence here.

That would look like this.

So it's C to begin, that's chord I.

Then again.

Then chord IV, that's F.

Chord V is G.

Relative minor in bar five.

So A minor chord.

Then chord ii.

Then finishing with a perfect cadence on V and I.

Now, you may well have noticed there, there was a lot of jumping between those chords.

So if you're happy using inversions, try and build some of those in to avoid having to move your hand too much around.

So if you watch my hand here, you will notice that the notes all stay quite close to each other because I'm going to use some inversions this time.

So there's C.

C again.

Now I'm finding the nearest version of the F chord.

Nearest version of the G chord.

Nearest version of the A minor chord.

Then I'm in bar six.

And then finishing on chord V and chord I.

So if you use inversions like that to keep it all close together, do just by changing the order of the notes.

And the final thing you might want to consider is whether you want to use a broken chord pattern.

So you might break up the notes of the chord and create a little pattern based on that that is a bit more interesting and developed than just playing block chords like I was there.

So I could use a sort of arpeggio pattern.

(piano music) Or I could use some pairs of notes.

(piano music) Or I could do something totally different.

(piano music) So it's up to you entirely what you do.

Try and come up with something a little bit original, and remember to use the same pattern in the different bars.

And then when I've decided what I'm going to do, I'm either going to record it in or I'm going to use notation software if I'm using that.

I'm going to notate in notes for my first eight bars in the treble clef.

I've finished notating that in.

So this is what it sounds like.

(piano music) (piano music continues) <v ->So the steps were</v> start the chord sequence on chord I, that's going to be C.

Use chord vi in bar five to create a minor feeling.

Avoid chord I in bars four to seven.

Finish with a perfect cadence.

So that's chord V to chord I in bar seven and eight.

Consider using a broken chord pattern to add interest.

Record or notate the chord sequence.

Which chord is best to set up a return to chord I? Is it chord ii, chord IV, chord V, or chord vi? Have a think.

Hope you got C, chord V.

Remember that's that perfect cadence, V to I.

So we're going to move on to Task A.

Creating an eight-bar chord sequence that starts in C major and briefly moves to the relative minor.

The success criteria for this is, start on chord I, that's the tonic.

Use chord vi in bar five to create a minor feel.

Avoid chord I in bars five to seven.

Finish with a perfect cadence, V to I, in bar seven and eight.

Consider using broken chords and inversions for interest.

Record or notate the chord sequence.

So pause this lesson video and have a go at creating your eight-bar chord sequence.

Hope you got on all right with that.

How does this chord sequence match the success criteria? How could the second half be made more effective? Have a listen to the chord sequence.

(chord sequence music) What did you think? So the sequence starts on the tonic chord and uses chord vi in bar five.

It would be more effective if it avoided chord I, that's the tonic, in bars five to seven.

This is because it moves straight back from chord vi, that's the relative minor chord, to the tonic, so it doesn't sound minor for very long.

It would also be more effective if the chord before the return to chord I was the dominant, that's chord V.

Let's move on to part two of our lesson.

Using the bass harmonically.

Bass lines are central to the harmony of a piece.

Why is that? Have a think.

"The bass determines what chord inversion is used, because bass is the lowest note." "It also strengthens and implies the harmony by emphasizing an important note in the chord, usually the root." Bass lines are normally written using the bass clef.

So the middle C found here on the treble clef is the same as this one in the bass clef.

It's the same note.

A typical bass line will be written in a lower octave.

We can work out the notes of the bass clef by counting down from middle C.

We can also use the following phrase to identify the notes in the spaces and lines.

So in the spaces, we could do All Cows Eat Grass.

And on the lines, we could think of Green Buses Drive Fast Always.

Those are just easy ways to help you remember what the notes are on the bass clef.

Let's do a check for understanding.

Which note is this? Do you get B? If so, well done.

And which note is this? That's an E.

When writing a bass line, we need to consider where to use root position chords.

Which chords in this chord sequence do you think should definitely be in root position? And remember that root position means you've got the tonic at the bottom of the chord.

So if you've got a C major chord, your C is at the bottom and in root position.

Take a look at this sequence.

I hope you got I, vi, and I.

The first and last chords should use root position to ground the key.

In this example, we move briefly to the relative minor in bar five, so using a root position chord here emphasizes this change.

Most other chords will use root position, but we can use some inversions for interest.

Watch this video to see how to do that.

<v Teacher>Now, I'm going to add a bass part</v> and I'm going to use that to help develop my harmony as well.

Now, there are a couple things I want to consider.

Firstly, there are some bars where I definitely want to use root position chords.

In the first bar, I want to make sure I'm using a root position chord.

And in the last bar, I want to do the same as well, because that's what helps it feel like it's really home and helps to really ground it in that key.

So my chord, I've got my first bar is a C chord.

So I'm going to be putting a C in bar one.

(piano chord ringing) And I want to do the same in bar eight as well where I've also got a C chord.

So I'm going to put a C in bar eight.

Remember, I'm using the bass clef.

Make sure that you're remembering the difference and drawing the right pictures in.

Obviously, if you're doing this on a DAW, you can just record the notes in rather than notating them like this.

I also want to use, in this instance, a root position chord in bar five.

This is where we go to the relative minor chord.

And here, because we're sort of suggesting this minor key, it will be more effective if we use a root position chord, so it will make it feel more strongly like it's in that minor key.

So in this case, it's an A minor chord so I'm going to put an A in the bottom of that chord there.

So that's a root position chord.

Now with my other chord, I can have some more flexibility.

I don't need to do them all as root position chords and I could use some inversions.

So I'm going to experiment with different patterns to see where I like the inversions and where I don't.

So let's look at bar two.

It's also a C chord.

And I could just use a root position chord, the same as the first one.

That would sound like this.

(piano music) But because it's the same chord playing twice, I think I'll use an inversion in the second bar so that it sounds, so that it changes and develops in bar two rather than just repeating the same thing.

So instead of a C, I might use an E in the bass.

(piano chord ringing) Let's see it from the start.

(piano music) I quite like the way that goes.

And then in my next bar here, I've got an F chord.

I could just use, again, a root position chord.

And that will work quite nicely because the F on the piano is right next to the E, so they'll be moving by conjunct movement, which always works effectively where it can in the bass line.

So I've now got C, E, and F.

So two root position chords and one that's an inversion.

(piano music) And again, I could either use a root position or an inversion in this next bar.

(piano chords ringing) It's a G chord.

(piano chord ringing) I'll maybe go for a G.

But what we now notice here, if we look at my bass notes, is we're jumping from a G up here, which is in the top space, all the way down to a low A.

So what I'll maybe do is I'll put this G down an octave (piano chord ringing) so that it's closer to that A so they're moving just one tone rather than jumping nearly an octave.

So I've got mostly root position chords so far.

I think what I might quite like is to use another root position in bar six.

That's a D minor chord.

But then in this second-last bar, I'm going to use an inversion.

So this is a G chord in this bar.

So if it was root position, I'd have a G in the bass, but I'm actually going to put a B in the bass, and that's because the B is really close to my final C.

They're right next to each other on the instrument, so when they're moving by small intervals like that, it will sound quite good.

Let's have a listen then to my bass line that mixes some inversions and some root position chords.

(piano music) (piano music continues) <v ->The bass part determines the chord inversion,</v> so you don't need to change the inversion in the chord track, as the bass plays the lowest note.

We can either copy the rhythm of the chords, or use a contrasting rhythm in the bass part.

Watch this video to see how that's done.

<v Teacher>Now I'm going to have a think about</v> the rhythm of my bass line.

So at the moment, it's playing these long, sustained notes and the chords are playing repeated quavers.

And there's a couple of ways I could go about this.

I could create a similar rhythm in the bass part to the chords, so I could use some faster quavers or crotchets perhaps.

That might sound like this.

(piano chord ringing) (piano music) And that's okay.

Or I could use a contrasting rhythm.

So I could use the faster notes in the chords and then longer, sustained notes in the bass part.

So I could keep it as semibreves like it is.

Or maybe I could try minims. (piano chord ringing) Let's have a listen to that.

(piano music) I definitely think that's more effective because it's not too busy.

It's not, oh, there's too much going on.

I could even experiment using some different kinds of long notes.

So I could use a dotted minim, followed by a crotchet for example.

(piano chord ringing) That would sound like this.

(piano music) And I think that might be the one I'd go for.

It's quite a nice mix of sustained notes and then slightly faster ones at the ends of the bar as well but it doesn't sound too busy.

It's not trying to do fast rhythms like the chords.

So, go through.

Create a rhythm for your bass part.

You might choose something really simple, like just long, sustained notes.

You might choose something different.

And whatever you do, use the same rhythm in each bar.

So just as I've used this dotted minim and crotchet in bar one here, I've used the same in bar two.

And I would use the same rhythm in each bar so that there's some consistency in the rhythm there.

<v ->Let's do check for understanding.

</v> In the first and last bars, what type of chord should be used to help anchor the music in the key? Is it A, an inversion? B, extended? C, root position? Or D, dissonant? What do you think? Well done if you got C, root position.

So let's move on to Task B.

You're going to be creating a bass part for your chord sequence.

The success criteria for this is using root position chords in bars one, five, and eight.

Use chord inversions by using chord tones, or notes that aren't the root note.

Choose either a similar or contrasting rhythm to the chord part.

And record your bass part or notate it using the bass clef.

Pause the video and have a go at creating a bass part for your chord sequence.

Let's analyze the bass notes to identify which bars use inversions.

Which bar that uses an inversion would be more effective with a root position chord? Have a look at the score and have a think.

So bar five uses an inversion but would be more effective in root position.

This is because it's briefly visiting the relative minor key, so a root position chord would make it more obviously minor.

So let's summarize today's lesson on using chord vi and using the bass harmonically.

Chord vi is the relative minor chord in a major key.

It can be used to briefly suggest minor tonality, adding complexity and interest to a chord sequence.

The bass part is crucial to harmony because it emphasizes key notes in each chord and determines chord inversions.

It is usually notated in bass clef.

Using the bass to emphasize root position chords helps to strengthen the harmony.

I hope you've enjoyed today's lesson.