So there's a chord in total harmony that's a total impostor. This chord is such a sneaky
one, that it can drive you nuts when you're trying to find the key of a song that it's
used in. Not only that, but this chord poses as a function from the dominant region, when in fact
it's a subdominant. Or is it? "...If you're new to mDecks Music, we create music books and apps,
piano arrangements, and we discuss: improvisation, songwriting and sometimes... we take music theory
to strange and uncharted places. So subscribe and hit the bell, and join us for exclusive
access to our ever expanding library of music resources.." Take a listen to "Sweet Home Alabama"...
So, if I look at these three chords from the perspective of the key of G, all I'm really doing
is 5 4 1. Except we're not in the key of G at all. If we did see "Sweet Home Alabama" from the
perspective of the key of G, and we looked at the chord progression on our map, we would see
that it goes backwards counterclockwise around the circle of fifths. But we showed, that in tonal
harmony, progressions usually want to go clockwise around the map: subdominant, to dominant, to tonic.
But also, in our last video (on the plagal cadence,) we showed how in blues and in gospel, the plagal
cadence allows us to write progressions that do move counterclockwise. So, a V-IV-I can
also be a perfectly well formed progression. But listen to this. Listen to it again, If i play D C
G, and then return back to D -- our V chord -- it sounds perfectly resolved. Doesn't it?
How is it possible that the D --a V chord-- sounds like a target? It sounds like a home chord. This is
because traveling counterclockwise around the map is much weaker, as we mentioned in our last video.
The plagal cadence needs context. The tonic has to be clearly established before we can even talk
about a plagal cadence. But in this progression, there's never a V to 1. There's never a D to G.
On top of that, the melody never targets G. It actually targets the D note. And the licks and
lines are based on the D major pentatonic. (so like) listen to the... the melody of the chorus. It resolves
on that D right there. Everything points to that we're in the key of D. Okay, so maybe we should
change our perspective and look at this song as if we're in the key of D. Now the D is the one
the G is the IV and the C... is not in the key! There's a C# in the key of D major, but
not a C. So if we want to see this progression as being in the key of D, we have to interpret the C
chord as a borrowed chord from some other mode. A modal interchange chord. Now, I know
what you're probably thinking right now. "You're crazy. Why would you complicate something
so much? When we're in the key of G all these chords were available to us as diatonic chords. C
was just the IV. G was the one, and D was the V. Just a one four five, simple. And now you're trying
to explain this progression using a much more complicated point of view. Why does any of this
even matter?"... Let me give you two answers: First, the simplest explanation is not always the right one.
and secondly, looking at a chord progression from different perspectives might give us a better
insight of what tonality is all about. What is the tonic? and what is the subdominant? or
what is the dominant? and more importantly, how can we use these perspectives to find
better chords and progressions for our songs. Again, let's assume we're in the key of D major
D is the one, G is the four, and C is a modal interchange chord. Look at the map. Right there
in the dominant region, there's a C chord from the minor mode. In D minor (for example) the seventh
degree is a b7, and the chord on that b7 is a C major triad. So now the D - C - G progression
is a I - bVII - IV. We're still moving counterclockwise around the map
and, as we said before, this is a very valid way of traveling the map. It's still a weak progression to
establish D is the key, but once we introduce the melody targeting the note D, we can clearly hear D
as the tonic, even when we end on a long G chord the four as "Sweet Home Alabama"
does. It should be clear by now that moving counterclockwise around the circle sounds good,
but it doesn't help much in establishing the key. More context is needed in order to do so.
In these types of progressions the melody is essential, if we want to figure out what's
really going on harmonically. So, take this next example on top of the same exact chords,
and the same exact key. We're just going to change the melody a little bit.
So now I have something that's more in the key of G. Right?
It ends and targets G, so on top of this progression
it makes G sound like a resolution point, a home. Take a listen to this next example
by the Marshall Tucker Band... "can't you see
oh can't you see what that woman's been doing to me"...
This is a great illustration of how important this context that we're talking about is. It's
the same exact key using the same exact progressions and now, all signs
point to D as our home. The melody, the flute line,m how the progression starts and ends,
the guitar solos, the constant like D Dsus resolution. Every element
of this song points to us being in the key of D. Everything except well, at first glance anyways,
the chord progression. That is until you adopt the perspective of the C being the bVII
of the key and not the IV. What's interesting is that whether you see these two songs as either a
I - bVII - IV or a V - IV - I, we still get that counterclockwise movement around the map.
But what's really interesting, is that this C chord -- appearing at first glance as a IV
chord, while actually being a bVII -- is not at all what makes it an impostor chord!
To understand what really makes the bVII and imposter chord, we'll have to dive much deeper!