Increasing your chord palate (Part 2)

Yesterday, I discussed the problem of coming up with good chords to match a melody line. If a writer does not consider how a chosen chord will function against the chords around it, the resulting sound is often awkward.

I also mentioned that this problem occurs when writers do not have an understanding of what chords are actually at their disposal. In many cases, they actually believe there are only a few choices for a given situation. Let’s assume for the moment that a song is written in the key of C and the melody note is G. Many writers assume that they have to choose between C, G, and Emin in that situation.

The reality is that there are numerous chord choices that would work in that situation. The most common ones would be C (or CMaj7) and G7. However, Dmin7, Emin7 and Amin7 all work very well too. And while those are only the beginning of the possibilities, let’s talk about these minor chords some more.

If you think about it, Emin7 is obvious because it contains a G. So is Amin7 (the G is the 7th). The Dmin7 might throw you a bit because Dmin7 in its simplest form (D, F, A, C) does not contain a G. However, if you extend the chord, the G is actually the 11th. Chords sound really good when the melody note is NOT in the basic chord (1, 3, or 5). Try it–it works.

Now, as you expand your chord palate, you have the ability to plan better chord progressions. Just including all the minor 7th chords will really help. Remember that chords like to resolve down by a fifth. That means if you play a iii chord, look for a way to make the next melody note match a vi chord and then move to a ii chord, etc.

I know that this is a bit complex. I have written about this in more detail in these two lessons:

Introduction to chord substitutions – Part 1
Introduction to chord substitutions – Part 1

With time, you will start hearing and using better chord progressions naturally.