Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to the fourth lesson of the unit "Fundamentals of Composition." I'm Mr. Farrell, and this lesson is called "Developing a Chord Sequence," where we're going to be learning how to make our chord sequences more musical and interesting.

Today's outcome.

I can develop a chord sequence using broken chords and chord inversions.

Let's look at some keywords.

Chord inversion, when the notes of a chord are reordered, so that the root is not the lowest note.

A triad is a standard 3-note chord, with notes a third apart.

A root note is the bottom note in a triad and the note the chord is named after.

For example, the note G in a G chord.

Root position is a chord in which the root note is the lowest note.

And a broken chord is when the notes of a chord are not all played at the same time, in contrast to a block chord.

In today's lesson, we have two learning cycles.

They are using chord inversions to develop a chord sequence and using broken chords to develop a chord sequence.

Let's make a start on using chord inversions to develop a chord sequence.

There are many different ways that composers can develop chord sequences.

Pause the video now and see if you can think of any.

Some answers you might have given include using broken chords, playing chords in different octaves, changing the harmonic rhythm of our chord sequence, or using chord inversions.

And we're gonna be looking at a couple of those possibilities today.

The most common chord form in Western classical styles is the triad chord.

These are chords with three notes.

Tri meaning three, spaced a third apart.

The root note, the 3rd and the 5th.

Let's listen to an example of a standard triad now.

(piano chord reverberates) So, what we just heard is a standard F major triad made up of the notes F, A, and C.

When the root note is the lowest note in a chord, we say that this chord is in root position.

So, if you've got an F chord, the lowest note should be F 'cause F is the root note of an F chord.

So, that's listen again.

So, that's standard F major triad in root position.

(piano chord reverberates) If the notes of a triad are rearranged so that the root note is no longer the lowest note, this becomes a chord inversion.

If we reorder these notes so that the middle note, the third becomes the lowest, this is called first inversion.

So, what we're seeing here is the same chord, F major, but with the notes rearranged.

So that instead of being F, A and C, the order of the notes is A, C and F.

The third on the bottom, then the 5th and the 1st on top.

Let's listen to what that sounds like.

(piano chord reverberates) If we make the 5th the lowest note, this is what's called a second inversion.

So it's the same principle with the first inversion, but instead of A being our lowest note, it's now C.

So, we have the three notes of the F major triad, but instead of F, A, C or A, C, F, it's now ordered, C, F, A.

The 5th, then the 1st, then the 3rd on top.

So, let's hear what a second inversion would sound like.

(piano chord reverberates) We are going to compare directly now in this next audio clip between the three different versions of an F major triad that we've just looked at.

Root position, first inversion, and second inversion.

As we listen, think about what similarities and differences you can hear in how each version of the chord sounds.

Let's hear it.

(soft solemn music) When playing a chord on the keyboard, we see that the notes in a root position chord are all evenly spaced.

Starting on the root, skipping the 2nd, playing the 3rd, skipping the 4th, and playing the 5th.

With a first inversion, because we start on the 3rd instead, the root note goes on top, creating a different spacing out of the notes with a larger gap between the 5th and the 1st as you can see there.

With a second inversion, the gap between the 5th and the root is there too.

But now we've got the 3rd on the top.

A quick check for understanding now.

What are the three notes in a triad chord called? We've got four options.

They are A, the root, B, the 3rd, C, the 4th, and D, the 5th.

And out of those four options, three of them will be correct.

So, choose carefully.

Pause the video and answer the question.

Okay, the answer is the root, the 3rd and the 5th are the three notes that make up a triad chord.

The 4th one being the odd one out there.

Next question, how do we create a chord inversion? Option A, adding or removing notes from the chord, B, moving the whole chord up or down an octave, or C, reordering the notes of the chord.

Pause the video and answer the question.

So, the answer is we create a chord inversion by reordering the notes of the chord.

So, option C was the correct answer there.

Using chord inversions can create interesting chord sequences without changing the underlying harmony of a piece of music.

We're going to compare now two versions of the same chord sequence.

We're gonna hear two audio clips.

The first one is of the sequence being played in root position only, and the second one includes inversions.

As you listen, think about what effect the inversions have on the chord sequence and what similarities and differences there are between both versions.

Let's listen now to the chord sequence in root position only.

(soft bright music) And now, we'll hear the same chord sequence, but this time, including inversions.

(soft bright music) Chord inversions sound more musically interesting and can be a lot more melodic than just using chords in root position all the time.

We've got an audio clip for you to listen to now.

It uses only chords, so the highest note of each chord becomes a melody.

As chord inversions are used, this changes the shape of the melody, making it a lot more melodic rather than disjunct.

Pause the video and listen to the audio clip now.

Using chord inversions and chord sequences can also be easier to play on a piano or keyboard as they can require smaller hand movements than simply jumping around in root position.

We're going to watch a video of a performer playing a chord sequence with only root position chords.

Notice how the performer has to move large distances between the chords.

(gentle solemn music) Our next video shows a chord sequence with inversions instead.

Notice that this version requires much less movement between the chords.

(gentle solemn music) Now, we've got a video about how to develop our original chord sequence by using chord inversions.

<v Instructor>Using inversions helps us</v> to develop a chord sequence and to make it sound more natural and more musical.

There are a couple of things to bear in mind when we're doing this.

First, don't try and use an inversion on every chord.

You definitely still want some of your chords in root position.

However, using some inversions can be really helpful.

The second thing, and this is a fundamental rule of when you're using inversions, is it works effectively when you find inversions that are close together on the piano.

So, what you're trying to do is minimize jumping between chords.

Minimize the distance on the piano between chords.

As an example, let's look at my first two chords.

I've got a C chord.

(piano chord reverberates) And I've got an F chord here as my second chord.

(piano chord reverberates) Now, there's a big jump between those on the piano.

(piano chord reverberates) I can make it more musical by using an inversion of the F chord.

And here's how I'd go about doing that.

Here's my C chord.

(piano chord reverberates) C, E, and G.

Now, the first thing to think is, are there any notes in that chord that are also in my F chord? And in this case, the C is in both chords.

The C chord has a C in it, and the F chord has a C in it.

So, I'm gonna keep that C where it is for my second chord.

Now, I need to think about the other notes in my F chord.

So, I've got C.

The other notes in my F chord are F and A.

And if we look at my C chord.

(piano chord reverberates) I'm gonna be looking for the closest F and the closest A to that chord.

So, there's an F here.

(piano chord reverberates) And there's an A here.

(piano chord reverberates) So, that's now an inversion of the F chord that is very close to my original C chord.

There's the F chord.

(piano chord reverberates) And the C chord.

(piano chord reverberates) So, that sounds much more effective than.

(piano chord reverberates) There's much less jumping around.

If I was to change the notation then, all I've done is move that high C (soft bright music) down to a lower C here.

So, we can see there now.

There's much less of a jump between them in terms of distance.

My third chord is a C chord again.

And that's again close to these ones.

So, my first three chords.

(piano chords reverberating) But then my 4th chord, this G chord here is a big leap away.

(piano chord reverberates) So, I'm gonna want to use an inversion for this one as well.

Let's follow the same process.

So, I've got my C chord, C, E, and G.

(piano chord reverberates) And the first thing to think is, are there any notes that that has in common with my G chord? And the obvious one is G.

That's in both chords.

So, I'm gonna keep that where it is.

And then, what are my other two notes in the G chord? Well, they're B and D.

And I want to find the closest B and D to this C chord.

So, I've got D there.

(piano chord reverberates) And a B there.

(piano chord reverberates) So, that's an inversion of the G chord that's really close in distance to that C chord.

(piano chords reverberating) So, what I've done there is I've kept the G and I've moved the D and the B down.

(soft bright music) And we can see now just looking at it, we can see these are all much closer.

There's a much smoother line when I go over them like that.

It's much less jumpy around.

So, then we just follow the process for the whole eight bars.

I already know what I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna move these notes down.

(bright lively music) And I'm gonna move some of these down.

(bright lively music) And we can see now just looking at this chord sequence here, there's much less jumping around because I've used some inversions there.

I'll show you all the way through.

(gentle solemn music) <v ->So, when developing our chord sequence,</v> we must remember to only use some inversions.

Don't use them on every chord.

Use inversions to minimize hand movement where suitable, and start and finish on a root position chord, helping to reinforce the key of our piece of music.

A quick check for understanding now.

What should composers do when using chord inversions? A, use chord inversions for as many chords as possible, B, use chord inversions for some chords, C, choose chord inversions that minimize the distance between chords, or D, choose chord inversions that maximize the distance between chords.

There could be multiple correct answers here.

So, pause the video and choose all that apply.

Okay, the answers are B and C.

Composers should use chord inversions for some chords and should choose chord inversions that minimize the distance between chords.

It's time now for a task.

Task A here is to develop your 8-bar chord sequence by using chord inversions.

To succeed in this task, we must keep the same chords in our chord sequence, but use inversions on some of them.

Use inversions to minimize hand movement between chords.

Start and finish on a root position chord and record the developed chord sequence using either notation software or a DAW.

Pause the video now and have a go at Task A.

All right, now that we've had a go at that task, we want to be able to analyze how effective our use of inversions is.

We're going to listen to an example audio clip, answering the question, "How could chord inversions be used more effectively in this sequence?" Let's listen.

(gentle solemn music) Now that we've heard the clip, pause the video and answer the question, "How could chord inversions be used more effectively in this sequence?" The sequence starts and finishes on a root position chord.

That's good, that's effective.

But bars 2 through 4 could use inversions more effectively.

This could be done by choosing inversions that are close to each other and don't require much hand movement.

Whereas the composer of this example has chosen three consecutive first inversion chords, which require too much jumping around.

Onto learning cycle number 2 now.

Using broken chords to develop a chord sequence.

We're going to listen to two chord sequences.

They use identical chords and inversions, but they are quite different.

Let's listen to them and see if we can spot the difference in how they're played.

Let's listen to example number 1.

(gentle solemn music) And now, let's listen to example number 2.

(gentle lively music) Having listened to them both, pause the video and see if you can answer the question, "What's the difference between both chord progressions?" So, the first example uses block chords.

Block chords are when the notes of a chord are all played at the same time.

Let's listen to that.

(gentle solemn music) The second example didn't use block chords.

It used broken chords where instead of the notes of a chord all being played at the same time, they're spread out, played individually, one at a time.

Let's hear that now.

(gentle lively music) There are endless patterns that we could use for broken chords.

A common approach is to use quavers that ascend through the chord.

So, let's listen now to a block chord.

(piano chord reverberates) And now we're going to hear what happens if we take the notes of that block chord and break them up, turn them into ascending quavers? (gentle lively music) We're going to listen to a different approach now where instead of using ascending quavers, we're instead using descending semiquavers.

Semiquavers being played twice as fast as quavers.

Let's hear that example now.

(bright lively music) One more example here involves starting with a block chord and then finishing with a descending and then ascending pattern.

Let's listen to that.

(bright lively music) Ultimately, all these examples of how to make broken chords are legitimate and effective.

You can choose and use any pattern you like within reason.

You still want it to sound as musical as possible, not just any old random order of notes.

A quick check for understanding now.

What is a broken chord? Is it A, a chord with all the notes played separately, B, a chord with the notes not played all together, or C, a chord with the notes played all together? Pause the video and answer the question.

The answer is B.

A broken chord is a chord with the notes not played all together.

When implementing a broken chord pattern to our chord sequences, our pattern should be the same for each chord in the sequence.

Let's listen to an example of a pattern that's been applied to two different chords.

Let's listen to chord number 1.

(bright lively music) And now, chord number two.

(bright lively music) So, we've heard how the shape and rhythm of the pattern stays the same across the different chords.

Only the notes of the chord change.

This creates a feeling of familiarity and consistency across the chords in our sequence.

We're going to watch a video now about creating a broken chord pattern for your chord sequence.

<v Instructor>Experimenting with different patterns</v> is really key to coming up with a broken chord pattern that works for your composition.

What we're gonna focus now on our first chord.

So, my first chord, as we can see here, is a C major chord in root position.

And it should be the same for you as well for your first chord.

So, C, E, and G.

(piano chord reverberates) And for a broken chord, we're gonna not play those notes all together.

So, we're gonna split them up a little bit.

Now, there's an infinite variety of different patterns we could create.

We could use quavers and we could do, for example, an ascending pattern using quavers.

(gentle rhythmic music) I could do the same but descending instead.

(gentle rhythmic music) I could do a mixture of ascending and descending.

(gentle rhythmic music) Or I could use some different rhythms, so it doesn't have to be quavers.

I could try using some semiquavers in there as well.

(lively rhythmic music) I could try using some dotted rhythms. (gentle rhythmic music) And I could also experiment with using some pairs of notes.

So, rather than playing every note individually, I could take two notes from the chord, and then use one note from the code as well.

So, I could take C and E.

(piano chord reverberates) And then G on its own.

(gentle rhythmic music) Something like that.

So, there's an infinite variety, an experiment with different patterns, making sure that you are using the notes in the same inversion.

So, my C chord is in root position with C at the bottom, so I'm just using C, E, and G.

I'm not, for example, going up to this C because that would change the inversion.

So, we're keeping the inversions the same as what we've already created.

I've come up with an idea that I like, which is this.

(gentle rhythmic music) So, I can either record that in if I'm using a do, which I'm gonna do now.

(tone clicking) (gentle rhythmic music) (piano chords reverberating) So, that's my notation for that there.

Or if I'm working using notation software, I'll just have to work out how we notate it.

I know it's quavers, I know it's starting on C, and I could write it in that way.

So, that would look something like this.

(piano chord reverberating) Let's have a quick listen.

(lively rhythmic music) So, that's my first bar of broken chords done, and that's the first step is to come up with a pattern based on that very first bar.

Nothing to do with the rest of the bars just yet.

<v ->Another video now.

</v> This time about how to copy that pattern across the chord sequence.

<v Instructor>The key with broken chords</v> is to use the same or very similar pattern for each chord.

If you're changing the pattern for each chord, it won't sound like an accompaniment.

It will sound more like a melody.

So, here we wanna make sure we're using a similar pattern in each bar.

The pattern I've got is a quaver pattern.

It starts on the lowest note, it ascends, and then it alternates between the top two notes of the chord.

So, we've got that there in that first bar.

And what I'm now gonna try and do is I'm just gonna copy it into my other bars, changing the pitches so that they work for the notes of each chord.

And it's really important that I try and keep the same versions that I've already used.

So, here I've got my F chord with a C at the bottom, so I'm gonna make sure that's what I'm using in that second bar there.

So, if I'm using notation software, I'll just copy it in.

And then, I'm gonna move the notes around so that I've got the correct notes for the bar.

So remember, it was C, F, and A.

So, I'm gonna move these Es up to F.

(piano chords reverberating) And I am gonna move these Gs up to A.

(piano chords reverberating) So, I've listened to the first two bars.

(lively rhythmic music) I'm gonna do the same for the next bar.

Now, that is the same notes as bar one, so I could actually just copy that in.

And then my 4th bar is a G code in first inversion.

It's B at the bottom, then D, then G.

B, D, and G.

So, I'm gonna copy the pattern in and then adjust the notes, so it's B and then D, and G.

So, B at the bottom.

(piano chord reverberates) D in the middle.

(piano chords reverberating) And G at the top.

That's already there.

Let's listen to my first four bars.

(lively rhythmic music) So you can see there, it sounds really effective now.

It's really developed through the use of those broken chords.

And I would follow that through to finish off my entire chord sequence.

I'll do that now and then I'll show you the end product when it's done.

So, I've gone through and I've finished off bars 5 to 8, copying my broken chord pattern in, making sure it's the same shape and the same rhythm, but changing the notes to match each chord.

Let's hear the whole thing.

(lively rhythmic music) <v ->So, broken chords can add rhythmic interest to a piece</v> without affecting the overall harmony, making them a really useful tool to develop a chord sequence.

Another check for understanding now.

Which is most effective when using broken chords in a chord sequence? Is it A, using a different rhythm or pattern for each chord, B, using a few different rhythms/patterns in the chord sequence, or C, using the same rhythm or pattern for each chord.

Pause the video and answer the question.

The answer is C.

The most effective strategy is to use the same rhythm or pattern for each chord in a chord sequence when using broken chords.

Time now for a task.

Task B is to adapt your chord sequence, this time by using broken chords.

Our success criteria are to keep the same chord sequence, including inversions.

To create a broken chord pattern for the first chord in your sequence.

And then to copy this pattern for each other chord in your sequence, changing the notes to fit each chord.

Pause the video.

Best of luck now with Task B.

All right, now that we've had a go at that task, we want to be able to analyze how effective our use of broken chords is.

We're going to listen to an audio clip, which uses broken chords.

And we're gonna think about how effective it is and how well it meets the success criteria of the task we've just done.

Let's listen now.

(lively rhythmic music) Now, that we've heard the clip, pause the video and answer the question, "How could the broken chord pattern be made more effective in this chord sequence?" This sequence would be more effective if a similar pattern and rhythm was used for each chord.

As it stands, the pattern rhythm of each broken chord currently changes in almost every bar, which isn't an effective way to go about using broken chords.

So, to summarize what we've covered today.

Chord inversions and broken chords can add interest to a chord sequence without changing the harmony of a piece of music.

Chord inversions change the root position triad, so that the root note is no longer the lowest note in the chord.

Using chord inversions can make chord sequences easier to play and sound more melodic.

Broken chords where the notes of a chord are not all played at the same time, can add rhythmic interest to a chord sequence.

That brings us to the end of today's lesson.

Hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you in the next one.