Day 4 – Passing chords
Today, we explore chords which are as striking as they are ephemeral. Like the butterflies in your… song. (Don’t forget the video at the bottom!)
1. Suspended chords
Suspended chords are just what they sound like — unresolved sounds in midair. Suspended triads use the power chord but replace the 3rd of the chord, which normally gives it its major or minor colour, with the 2nd or the 4th degree of that chord.
If instead of C, E and G you play C, G and F, you get a sus4 chord — Csus4.
If you play C, G and D, you get a sus2 chord — Csus2.
To take a couple of other examples, Gsus4 would be G, C, and D (an inversion of Csus2 — same notes but in a different order — more about inversions in Day 5) and Dsus2 would be D, E and A.
(There are other suspended triads too, but the two above are a good start.)
Because we are so used to hearing major and minor triads, sus4 and sus2 chords are very often used in conjunction with the major or minor chords on the same root.
Child of the moon by the Rolling Stones opens on a Dsus4 chord and the hook alternates between D and Dsus4.
Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen does the same (at a different speed).
The hook of The Song Remains the Same by Led Zeppelin uses a melodic motif highlighting the movement from F# (the 3rd of D major) to A (the 5th) and back through G (the 4th in Dsus4).
Both sus2 and sus4 oscillate around the 3rd of the chord, which is its sensitive spot, and that is why this voice is often pulled up to the top (we’ll see how tomorrow). On top of that, the movement by half a step from the 4th to the major 3rd, as well as from the 2nd to the minor 3rd, make for great voice leading (more about that tomorrow).
In fact, sus4 and sus2 chords work well with both major AND minor chords on the same root. One of the best examples of that is John Lennon’s Happy Xmas (War is Over), which uses the sus2 and sus4 with both major and minor chords to create a number of melodic motifs repeated throughout the song.
Of course, it is also possible to use suspended chords without necessarily resolving them and the result can be a much more raw, tense sound.
In any case, it’s useful to know this type of passing chords to be able to introduce (dramatic) tension in your chord changes.
2. Symmetrical chords
These are chords that cut up the octave in equal parts so that each of their notes can be their root without changing the other notes.
The first of these chords is the augmented triad, containing a major 3rd and a sharp 5th. It is basically a major triad with a raised 5th degree.
For example, C+ (also written as Caug) is made up of C, E and G#. It contains two major third intervals and the interval from G# to C is also a major third.
That means that it splits the octave in three equal parts of 4 semitones each and that C+ is the same as E+ and G#+ because they all use the same three notes.
Oh Darling by the Beatles famously starts with an augmented chord. Coincidentally, “I’ll never make it alone” is probably a good description of the sound of this chord.
The augmented triad is usually a great substitute for the V chord, because it gives it an extra leading note.
For example, G+ has not only B but also D# resolving respectively to C and E in C major (the I chord). The resolution is even juicier if you use G7/5+ (G7/#5) in which both D# and F pull towards E.
Of course, that is just one possibility. Because G+ = B+ = D#+, it can also go to E or G# major (as their dominant).
And who’s to say it cannot move to a minor chord, a chord on the same root, etc.? You have to try it and see what works for you.
The other symmetrical chord is the diminished seventh chord.
It is different from the half-diminished chord which occurs naturally on the 7th degree of the major scale by just one note — the seventh that is actually a sixth.
Instead of B D F A (Bm7/b5 or B half-diminished), we use B D F and Ab to get the B diminished seventh chord — Bdim7 or B°7.
If we build it on C, we need C Eb Gb and A.
Like the augmented triad, the diminished seventh chord is a symmetrical chord, cutting the octave in 4 equal parts of 3 semitones each.
That means that the interval between each of its notes is a minor third (it’s made up of stacked minor thirds) and that Cdim7 = Ebdim7 = Gbdim7 = Adim7.
It also means that it can lead to practically any other minor or major triad!
You have to try it to believe it (or check out today’s video lesson), but the truth is that because its notes are so evenly spaced out, it usually has at least 2 leading notes to the next chord, which makes it a perfect passing chord.
Let’s not forget also that it contains not one, but 2 tritones (between the root and the flat 5th and between the minor 3rd and the “seventh”), which makes it particularly unstable, but also quite sweetly tense.
Let’s use B°7 as an example. We’ve already seen how well the B diminished triad moves to C major because of the leading notes B and F. Well, in B°7 we have a third leading note — Ab sliding down to G in C major!
So Bdim7 is a good substitute for G or Bdim, as well as good insert before any major chord a semitone above it.
But B°7 leads well to C minor too. Again, there are 3 leading notes, but instead of F moving down half a step to E, D moves half a step up to Eb.
That’s how you arrive at progressions like
C C#dim7 Dm
or
F F#°7 G G#°7 Am.
The diminished seventh chord is an excellent tool to introduce good voice leading to your chord progression, and we’ll talk about that in more detail tomorrow.
3. Homework
For now, I think you have enough new things to try out for your next song (fragment).
Insert or substitute a suspended, augmented and/or diminished seventh chord in your chord changes and listen to them blossom into breathtaking beauty.
Share your ideas (with or without sound) in the comments below.
See you tomorrow for the last day of the challenge (but not the last in your songwriter journey)!
And here’s your video for today:
