Rhythm, Harmony, and Melody properly explored part 9 (Quartal and quintal harmony)

So far in harmony, we've only learned the "stacking thirds" (or inverted sixths) method (tertian harmony). Today we're going to use fourths and fifths. Let's take the Cmajor scale:

C D E F G A B

We're going to stay diatonic. The generic fourths (the fourths that have not yet been designated as perfect, augmented, or diminished) of each note are:

F G A B C D E

We already know that Cmajor is the "natural" key, on sharps or flats, so we can assume that these notes are correct as is, they don't need to be sharpened or flattened. Let's take a look at what specific intervals we've created:

C to F, perfect fourth

D to G, perfect fourth

E to A, perfect fourth

F to B, augmented fourth

G to C, perfect fourth

A to D, perfect fourth

B to E, perfect fourth

Only one note in the major scale has an augmented fourth, all the rest are perfect. The fourth note (F in this case) has an augmented fourth. Think about it in modal terms: The fourth diatonic mode is Lydian, and Lydian includes a #4. Now let's add more fourths to create 3-note quartal chords:

B C D E F G A

So our 3-note quartal chords so far are:

C-F-B

D-G-C

E-A-D

F-B-E

G-C-F

A-D-G

B-E-A

These don't really resemble any chords we're very used to. More familiar chords will occur when we add more fourths. Still, through careful analyzation, you can create names for them:

I: maj7 sus4 (no 5)

ii: 7th sus4 (no 5)

iii: 7th sus4 (no 5)

IV: b5 maj7 (no 3rd)

V: 7th sus4 (no5)

vi: 7th sus4 (no 5)

vii0: 7th sus4 (no 5)

Now let's transcribe this into the key of G. G has an F#. So we have a simple 2-step process:

Step 1: turn all F's into F#'s.

Step 2: rearrange the chords to start on G.

Here's what happens when we do step 1.

C-F#-B

D-G-C

E-A-D

F#-B-E

G-C-F#

A-D-G

B-E-A

So we've actually ended up with the C Lydian scale, harmonized in fourths. C Lydian is "relative" to Gmajor. Recall that relative scales share the same notes. Now since we're not scale obsessed modal players (or at least I'm not), we're going to rearrange these chords into Gmajor:

I: G-C-F#

ii: A-D-G

iii: B-E-A

IV: C-F#-B

V: D-G-C

vi: E-A-D

vii0: F#-B-E

Through this sort of method, simply by remembering the sharps and flats of each key signature, we only need to harmonize one major scale and we can "transcribe" our result to all the others. So for another example, Dmajor (which has a C#):

I: D-G-C#

ii: E-A-D

iii: F#-B-E

IV: G-C#-F#

V: A-D-G

vi: B-E-A

vii0: C#-F-B

Now let's get back to Cmajor and add more fourths:

C-F-B-E These 4 note chords begin becoming more recognizable. This is a Cmajor11 (no 5th, no 9th) chord.

C-F-B-E-A This is a Cmajor13 (no 5th, no 9th) chord

C-F-B-E-A-D Cmajor13 (no 5th)

C-F-B-E-A-D-G fully voiced Cmajor13

Here are all the fully voiced quartal chords:

C-F-B-E-A-D-G

D-G-C-F-B-E-A

E-A-D-G-C-F-B

F-B-E-A-D-G-C

G-C-F-B-E-A-D

A-D-G-C-F-B-E

B-E-A-D-G-C-F

Now I'm going to quickly explain quintal harmony. You simply harmonize in 5ths rather than 3rds or 4ths.

C-G-D-A-E-B-F

D-A-E-B-F-C-G

E-B-F-C-G-D-A

F-C-G-D-A-E-B

G-D-A-E-B-F-C

A-E-B-F-C-G-D

B-F-C-G-D-A-E

Harmonic ambiguity

This was hinted at a few lessons ago. Some chords have the exact same notes as other chords. There are many ways to decide what the chord is, many things you can add to make it obvious, but in some cases less is more, and leaving the chord "ambiguous" can be interesting. Ambiguity is when you don't know and/or the listener can't tell what the chord is, so it can serve multiple different functions. Let's say we had a fully voiced 13 chord in the Cmajor scale. We haven't named the root note yet, but we know that it contains every note in the Cmajor scale. How can we name this chord? Well the most obvious is how it works in the progression. If it leads to a Cmajor chord, the 13 chord is probably G13, because the V leads to the I. If the 13 chord is followed by a Gmajor (or G7) and then a Cmajor, It is probably a Dminor13, or Fmajor13(#11), because the ii and IV lead to V. But is it D or F? Well the bass note can help us out. If the bass note is D, we can probably assume the chord is Dminor13, but it might also be Fmajor13(#11)/D. If the bass note is F, it could be Fmajor13(#11), or Dminor13 in first inversion. But we're still not completely sure...Let's look at how the chord is being voiced overal.

It could also be voiced as a "rootless" chord. If a guitar or piano or some other instrument within that range plays that 13 chord but leaves out the F, and an instrument such as a bass guitar or a stand-up bass plays the F, it implies that F is the root and the chord is an Fmajor13(#11). If the higher instrument plays all the notes but D, and the bass plays the D, it implies that the chord is a Dminor13.

Another thing that could help us out is the melody. Over this mysterious 13 chord, if the melody "targets" a certain note, that might be the root note. It could also be the 3rd, or less likely even the 3rd. This is another good technique for creating melody over chords, you could "target" the root or 3rd, and play various notes of rising tension leading into that target note. So for example if our melody over this strange chord was:

B, E, C, C#, D and then the chord changes to Gmajor or G7, then the mystery chord was likely a Dminor13 because it clearly resolves on D. Even an out-tone (a note outside of the scale, C#) was used to lead straight to D from a half step below.

Still, sometimes its fun to leave things ambiguous. If we don't know what the chord is, the possibilities are endless, you could treat the chord as anything and have it function in any way, and use different methods or scales to improvise or create melody over it. That's all for today.