There is a device that gives music forward propulsion,
allows composers and songwriters to both repeat and vary their ideas at the same time,
and is the secret sauce to my favorite musical form: the sentence.
In this video we're going to talk about the harmonic sequence,
a technique that is so simple it's kind of ridiculous that it works so well.
I've got four examples from Yasunori Nishiki's amazing Octopath Traveler score,
including one that takes us from D major to Ebmaj7 effortlessly.
A sequence is when a musical statement or idea
is repeated and the entire repetition is shifted either up or down by a specific interval.
So to make a sequence of this phrase
we can copy paste the whole thing and then move it up a step, for example.
One repetition at a new pitch level is enough to make it a sequence,
but you can do as many repetitions as you like.
For example, we could take this motive and sequence it down by
step several times until we break for a cadence or moment of breath.
You can have a tonal sequence, which is like the examples we did so far
where we keep the shape of the line the same but adjust it to fit the key.
So here I'm moving up by thirds, but sometimes it's major thirds and sometimes it's minor thirds.
You can also have a real sequence where the entire repetition is transposed by the exact same amount.
So in this case if I sequence by a major third I have to take the whole thing up a major third.
A harmonic sequence is when we do the same thing but with chords.
In bar three of Olberic, the Warrior we have A minor going down a 4th to E minor.
Bar 4 repeats that exact same idea with a real sequence down a whole step, G minor to D minor.
The melody is also a real sequence.
The effect we get in the middle segment of this six bar theme is forward motion.
We get this rolling forward feeling that then gets broken by the cadential phrase in bar five.
In the B theme from Clearbrook by the Pristine
Waters we start with this basic idea on G minor to D.
To give the middle of this theme lift and energy he simply sequences
that exact same phrase up a whole step to A minor and E.
If you're ever writing something and you feel stuck, like you know you need some sort of
driving element in the middle to keep things going, this might be all you need. It works.
I want to mention real quick that harmonic sequences are one of the topics I touch
on in my new course Pillars of Composition which releases the same day as this video.
There are over 13 hours of content where I get into harmony, melody and form,
accompaniment and counterpoint, and it's 20% off for the first two weeks.
So check for the link in the description below.
OK back to harmonic sequences.
Another great way to use harmonic sequence is to incorporate the bass line.
For example in bar five of Ophilia, the Cleric (once again in the continuation
section of the sentence) Nishiki begins this chromatically descending bass line
where the bass note is always the third of the chord.
But it alternates from it being the major third and it being the minor third,
so we end up with this very bittersweet descent.
Once again the one bar idea is sequenced exactly,
this time down a whole step before it's broken by the cadence.
The harmonic sequence in Tressa, the Merchant sticks out a little more
obviously than the others, but it makes up for it by covering a much wider stretch of keys.
In the second half of the B theme we start out with what feels like
the second half of a long period form in D major.
But then suddenly we launch into this long circle of fifths sequence that touches on at
least four different keys until finally setting on an Ebmaj7 chord and then breaking for a cadence.
But something interesting about this one is that unlike the others it's not a real
sequence, which means that sometimes we have minor chords, sometimes dominant seven
or even major seven chords, and even the melodic material is less repetitive.
So even though that circle of fifths sound
kind of sticks out, this whole section feels very alive and active.
And from a practical standpoint the beautiful thing about a sequence like this
is you can keep it going for as long as you want it to.
So if you're scoring a cut scene or something and you need just a few more seconds out of your
theme, keep your sequence going and just break for a cadence once you've gotten enough time.
I've been talking about A themes and B themes and sentences and cadences,
and I actually made a video earlier this year with eight examples from Octopath Traveler's score,
including the four we heard here, that breaks down exactly how those cues are structured.
If you want to start writing longer more substantial pieces you will
definitely want to check out that video, which i'll put a card for right here.
And remember Pillars of Composition launches today so check out the link in the description.
Thanks for watching, I'll see you in the next one!