Tag / minor chords

by Veronica Tan

Learning About Secondary Dominant Chords

Learning About Secondary Dominant Chords

Although the “secondary dominant chords” may sound intimidating, it’s a simple concept to grasp once you understand the formula behind it. In this blog post, we’ll discover what secondary dominant chords are, have a look at some song examples and learn how to make this technique our own.

This blog post aims to summarise the third part of our video ‘4 Chord Tricks The Beatles Knew (and you should too!)’’. Click here to watch the video for more details, explanations and examples.

What are Secondary Dominant Chords?

To examine what secondary dominants are, let’s have a look at “Something” by The Beatles. Halfway through the verse, there is a section where the chord progression goes from D7 to G. The relationship between D7 and G is what is known as a secondary dominant relationship.

For secondary dominance to occur, the following three conditions must be met:

  1. A dominant chord must always precede the target chord. Specifically, it must be a dominant seventh chord, which is characterised by Major chord with a flattened seventh on the top.
  2. The root of a secondary dominant chord must always be a perfect fifth above the target chord. For example, if the target chord is G, you must count up a perfect fifth, which is D. Hence, D7 is the secondary dominant of G.
  3. The secondary dominant must always directly precede the target chord. There must be no chord in between the secondary dominant and the target chord or else the effect of secondary dominance would be disrupted (or interpolated).

Click here to download a free PDF eBook with 3 great chord progressions to try in your next song, that you can use to experiment with secondary dominants on:

How to Make Secondary Dominants Our Own

Instead of starting the secondary dominant from the V chord, you could try starting from other chords in the key. For example, in the key of C, the vi chord is A Min. Counting a perfect fifth up from A, we get E. Hence, we could make a chord progression featuring E7 followed by A Min. This introduces a more melancholic sort of feel to a song, and can be quite interesting to use.

You can make a secondary dominant for any chord in the scale, except for the vii dim chord. The reasons involve esoteric music theory explanations that we won’t go into at the moment. However, as long as you stick to this rule, you’ll be able to come up with all sorts of secondary dominant combinations.

Conclusion: Learning About Secondary Dominant Chords

By incorporating dominant type chords that precede target chords, secondary dominants can create tension, anticipation, and captivating progressions. They add sophistication to regular diatonic chord progressions.

If you want to explore more sophisticated chord concepts in songwriting, click here for a playlist on how to adapt chord progressions from other songs in really creative ways.

This is only the third of four chord tricks we have for songwriters. Check out the full article for all 4 tips or check out the video here.

Level up your songwriting with five radically practical exercises used by professional songwriters around the world:

by Veronica Tan

Exploring Minor Line Clichés

Exploring Minor Line Clichés

Since we previously learnt about major line clichés in this article, we will now learn about its darker cousin – the minor line cliché. Among the topics we’ll discuss are what is a minor line cliché, examples of songs with minor line clichés, and how we can incorporate them into our songwriting.

This blog post aims to summarise the second part of our video ‘4 Chord Tricks The Beatles Knew (and you should too!)’’. Click here to watch the video for more details, explanations and examples.

What is a Minor Line Cliché?

Unlike its major counterpart, the minor line cliché commences with a minor chord, lending a melancholic foundation to the melody. For instance, in “Something” by The Beatles, the second half of the verse beautifully exemplifies this technique.

Starting from the A Min chord, we slide the highest note down a semitone, producing an intriguing chord known as A Min Maj 7. If we slide the highest note down a further semitone, then we get an A Min 7 chord.

As a result, we create a chord progression that has an incredibly wistful, emotive, and sophisticated sound.

Click below to download a free PDF containing major and minor line cliches in 2 positions:

Examples of Songs that Use Minor Line Clichés

  1. “Nothing” by Bruno Major

Bruno Major’s “Nothing” beautifully demonstrates the use of a minor line cliché in the bridge section of the song. The chords progress from A minor, descending chromatically to create a captivating melodic line that infuses the composition with a sense of yearning and emotional depth.

You can check out this video here to see me elaborate on that, and teach you how to use a minor line cliché in the bridge of a song

  1. “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles

Another Beatles classic, “Eleanor Rigby,” features a prominent minor line cliché. The verse melody begins with an A minor chord and descends chromatically to create an evocative melodic line. The melancholic tonality of the minor line cliché contributes to the haunting and introspective atmosphere of the song.

How to Incorporate Minor Line Clichés into Our Own Songwriting

To ensure that we don’t fall into the trap of merely mimicking techniques that we‘ve learnt from songs, we must try and add our own spin on the minor line cliché. Below are some techniques that you could use to customise your minor line cliché:

  1. Use alternative chords

Instead of starting your minor line cliché from A Min, try starting it on a different minor diatonic chord instead. A min is the vi chord of the key C Maj, but it’s important to remember that it’s not the only minor chord in the key. Chords ii and iii are also minors, and you could start your minor line cliché from either of them instead.

  1. Rethinking placement

Where you use the minor line cliché is also an important choice to make. For instance, if you introduce the minor line cliché at the beginning of your song, you set the tone for the emotional journey that lies ahead. Alternatively, explore the impact of incorporating the cliché into a distinct section of your song, such as the bridge.

Conclusion: Exploring Minor Line Clichés

The minor line cliché, with its hauntingly beautiful tonality, offers a captivating twist on its major counterpart, inviting artists to explore new depths of emotional expression. By skillfully adapting the minor line cliché to your unique artistic vision, you can infuse your songs with a timeless allure, crafting melodies that resonate with listeners on a profound level.

If you want to explore minor line clichés in more detail, click here for a playlist on how to adapt chord progressions from other songs in really creative ways.

This is only the second of four chord tricks we have for songwriters. Check out the full article for all 4 tips or check out the video here

Turn your inspiration into beautiful songs with step-by-step guidance through two professional songwriting methods. By the end of this course, not only will your tool belt be stocked; you’ll have a plan and a method for finishing your songs – all of them.

by Veronica Tan

Explaining Major Line Clichés

Explaining Major Line Clichés

There are many techniques we can use to spice up our chord progressions, and the one we’ll learn about today is major line clichés. Some of the topics that we’ll cover include what is a major line cliché, and how can we incorporate them into our songwriting.

This blog post aims to summarise the first part of our video ‘4 Chord Tricks The Beatles Knew (and you should too!)’’. Click here to watch the video for more details, explanations and examples.

What Is a Major Line Cliché?

A major line cliche is a chord progression technique that involves taking a major chord and shifting one note within the chord down by a semitone. This subtle movement creates a beautiful sequence of chords that enhances the emotional impact of a song. 

In the case of the song “Something” by The Beatles, the major line cliché is demonstrated in the opening chords: C Maj, C Maj 7, and C Dom 7. If you write out all the notes in these 3 chords, you’ll notice that the higher C in C Maj just gets lowered by a semitone for each successive chord.

Although these chords may appear complex on paper, they are easy to use once we understand how they are formed. This then enables us to form interesting and beautiful chord progressions to use in our songs.

Click here to download a free PDF which contains major and minor line cliches in 2 positions:

Examples of Songs that Use Major Line Clichés

  1. “Michelle” by The Beatles

Another iconic track by The Beatles, “Michelle,” features the major line cliche in a captivating manner. The song begins with a C Maj chord, followed by a descending movement of the highest note in semitones, resulting in C Maj 7 and C Dom 7 chords. This creates a harmonically rich and evocative sound that complements the song’s romantic atmosphere.

  1. “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer

The 90s hit “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer also incorporates a major line cliche. In this song, the progression starts with a G major chord, and the highest note is successively moved down by semitones, leading to G major 7 and G dominant 7 chords. This creates a melodic and enchanting quality that adds to the song’s memorable appeal.

How to Incorporate Major Line Clichés into Our Songwriting

Although learning about major line clichés via song examples is useful, we must also try to make them our own. Otherwise, we run the risk of merely mimicking songs, instead of learning from them and using them in our own ways.Here are a few ways we can make the major line clichés we’ve just learnt into our own:

  1. Key Changes

Experiment with transposing the chord progression to different keys, allowing you to explore new tonalities and thus evoke different emotions. For example, change a song in C Major to maybe D Major instead. The keys aren’t that far away from each other, but the change creates a different feel and sound to the ear. 

  1. Changing the Tempo or Time Signature

Altering the tempo or time signature of a major line cliche can also bring a fresh perspective to the progression and open up new creative avenues. 

  1. Change the Feel, Style or Groove

Explore playing the major line clichés you’ve learnt in different ways. This can allow you to discover song ideas you hadn’t thought of before. Maybe a slow chord progression might sound nice played upbeat instead or vice versa.By employing these strategies, you can transform the major line cliché into a tool that expresses your individuality and adds a personal touch to your songs.

Conclusion: Explaining Major Line Clichés

Major line cliches, exemplified in songs like “Something,” “Michelle,” and “Kiss Me,” are a testament to the enduring beauty of chord progressions in pop music. By understanding and embracing these techniques, you can add a touch of personality to your songwriting.

If you want to explore major line clichés in more detail, click here for a playlist on how to adapt chord progressions from other songs in really creative ways.

This is only the first of four chord tricks we have for songwriters. Check out the full article for all 4 tips or check out the video here

Level up your songwriting with five radically practical exercises used by professional songwriters around the world

by Veronica Tan

Chord Tricks to Learn from “Something” by The Beatles

Chord Tricks to Learn from “Something” by The Beatles

George Harrison’s song ‘Something’ (on The Beatles’ iconic 1969 album Abbey Road) contains 4 exquisite chord moves – once you know what they are and how to use them, you can use them in your own songwriting to create some of the same harmonic sophistication that characterizes so much of The Beatles’ music.

This blog post aims to summarise our video “4 Chord Tricks The Beatles Knew (and you should too!)’’. Click here to watch the video for more details, explanations and examples.

Tip #1: Major Line Cliché

The first chord move we encounter in “Something” is called a major line cliché. ‘Cliché’ here isn’t derogatory – it’s just the name that is used for it. To examine this tip, we’re going to be looking at the first verse of “Something”.

This technique involves taking a major chord and moving one note in the chord by semitones. For example, in the key of C, starting with C Maj, we can move the higher C note down by semitones. If you move it down once, you create a C Maj 7, and moving it down again creates a C Dom 7. 

This line cliché is great to use in your songwriting, but it’s important to try and change it in different ways so that we’re not just stuck in the reference song. Some things that you can try are as follows:

  • Change the tempo of the progression.
  • Change the key.
  • Change the time signature.
  • Change the feel/ groove/ style of the way that we’re playing.

Two more songs that use the major line cliché are “Michelle” by “The Beatles”, and “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer.

Click here to download the free PDF I created which contains major and minor line cliches in 2 positions:

Tip #2: Minor Line Cliché

The minor line cliché is exactly the same concept as the major line cliché, but instead of starting off on a major chord, we start off on a minor chord instead. This can be observed in the second half of the verse of “Something”.

Since we are In the key of C, we start off with the relative minor, which is A Min. If the higher A note is moved down by a semitone, you get an A Min Maj 7, and moving it down another semitone creates an A Min 7. This creates an incredibly wistful, emotive and sophisticated sound.

Again, it is important for us to discuss ways in which we can make this chord progression our own, instead of just mimicking the original. One neat trick is to start the minor line cliché with a chord that’s completely different to A Minor, but is still in the key of C. Examples of this are either the ii or iii chord, as they’re both minor in a major key.

Another great way to deal with this is to move the chord progression to a different part of your song. So, instead of putting it into the verse of “Something” like George Harrison, perhaps put it in the bridge instead.

A song that I love which also uses the minor line cliché, is “Nothing” by Bruno Major. You can check out this video here to see me elaborate on that, and teach you how to use a minor line cliché in the bridge of a song.

Tip #3: Secondary Dominants

Secondary dominants are chords that add complexity and interest to your progressions. In “Something,” we encounter a secondary dominant chord halfway through the verse. Here, D7 precedes the G, and thus the relationship between D7 and G is known as the secondary dominant relationship.

A secondary dominant can be summarised by 3 main characteristics:

  • It is always a Dom 7 chord. 
  • It is always a perfect fifth above the target chord. 
  • They always precede the target chord.

Note that you don’t always have to use the V chord as the target chord. You can even use the vi, ii or IV chords.

Tip #4: Magic Chord Modulation

We can observe what I call the magic chord modulation, by examining how we get to the new key in the key change that takes us into the bridge of “Something”.
 
This technique involves using a pivot chord, which belongs to both the original key and the key you want to transition to. In this case, the G major chord acts as the magic chord, functioning as the flat seven major chord in the new key of A major.

Although the flat seven major chord doesn’t actually belong to the key of A Major, it works because in any major key, we can swap out the seven diminished chord with the flat seven major chord. This means that we take the root of the diminished seventh chord and flatten it by a semitone, thus creating either a major chord or a dom 7 chord, depending on how you voice it.

You can also hear the magic chord modulation in “Natural Woman” by Carol King and Jerry Goffin, and made famous by Aretha Franklin.

Conclusion: Chord Tricks to Learn from “Something” by The Beatles

Now that you’ve learnt 4 different cool chord techniques from “Something” by The Beatles, it’s time to turn them into your own. Experiment with these techniques, adapt them to different keys and sections of your song, and watch as you bring a new level of depth and emotion to your chord progressions.

If you want to explore some of these musical concept in more detail, click here for a playlist on how to adapt chord progressions from other songs in really creative ways.

If you would like more details, examples and explanations, then click here to watch the full video. 

Turn your inspiration into beautiful songs with step-by-step guidance through two professional songwriting methods. By the end of this course, not only will your tool belt be stocked; you’ll have a plan and a method for finishing your songs – all of them.

by Keppie

Music Theory Fundamentals–Major, Minor, and Diminished Chords

A little bit of music theory goes a long way – in this video, I explain the difference between the major, minor, and diminished triads, and show you how to find them anywhere on the keyboard.

Ready to take your songwriting further?

JOIN US ON PATREON