1
00:00:01,240 --> 00:00:05,320
Hi, I'm Pedro and today's 
episode is about creating 

2
00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:09,880
chromatic harmony in your music.
So this is a whole world in 

3
00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:14,440
itself, and used with taste, it 
can take your music to all sorts

4
00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:18,400
of places, especially if you are
the kind of composer that seeks 

5
00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,680
to introduce novelty and 
surprise in the music that you 

6
00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:24,280
make. 
But because it's such a big 

7
00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:28,080
subject to cover, I'll just give
you a taster for things you can 

8
00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:31,000
start using and experimenting 
with right away. 

9
00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:35,600
We'll be looking at some ways to
harmonize chromatic melody lines

10
00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:39,600
and also how you can create 
chromatic harmony using borrowed

11
00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:42,480
chords, secondary dominance, and
voice leading. 

12
00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:47,800
Ready Very briefly, chromatic 
harmony occurs when the used 

13
00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:51,480
chords or melody in a given 
passage contain notes that do 

14
00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:54,160
not belong to the tonality we 
are working with. 

15
00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:57,160
And that's it. 
If you are working in the key of

16
00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:01,840
C major and if an F# sneaks in, 
you are now creating a passage 

17
00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:04,280
with chromatic harmony or 
melody. 

18
00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,920
And as mentioned, we'll be 
looking at 2 scenarios that 

19
00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:11,480
you're likely to find. 
The 1st is when you already have

20
00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:15,040
a chromatic line that you want 
to harmonize, and the other one 

21
00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:18,760
is when you may or may not have 
a melody beforehand to be 

22
00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:21,440
harmonized. 
So scenario one. 

23
00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:26,400
In this next examples I included
pedal notes placed at the top 

24
00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:30,600
and the bottom, the F# and the B
respectively, and of course a 

25
00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:34,840
chromatic descending line from B
to F in the middle register. 

26
00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,640
This is the material we are 
working with before we start the

27
00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:56,440
harmonization process. 
I explored 2 ideas to harmonize 

28
00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:59,400
this setup. 
The first one was to use two 

29
00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:03,000
chords that when played 
alternately, would cover that 

30
00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,400
note from the descending 
chromatic line. 

31
00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:10,320
In this case I chose the B minor
7 and the E 9 sharp 11. 

32
00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,560
The last chord you hear is an E 
minor which could be the 

33
00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,320
tonality I would be going for in
the following section. 

34
00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:35,200
So to prepare the change, I 
tonicized it with AB altered 

35
00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:39,720
chord, and the second option I 
explored with this setup was to 

36
00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:43,960
simply double the descending 
chromatic line in major thirds. 

37
00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:48,160
And since I'm doing parallel 
motion, I decided to experiment 

38
00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,920
with adding an extra minor third
above the descending line to 

39
00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:55,320
thicken the harmony. 
All in all, it's just harmonic 

40
00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:59,160
planning using a major chord all
the way down while using the 

41
00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:02,360
same pedal note on the bass to 
keep the harmonic color grounded

42
00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:22,320
to that B. 
Now let's explore another way to

43
00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:26,120
create chromatic harmonies by 
mixing 2 key centers. 

44
00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:30,440
The idea is that when these two 
key centers are put together, 

45
00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:34,600
they can include the chromatic 
descending line from B to F. 

46
00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:39,760
In this case, I use D&E flat 
major keys, and I must say that 

47
00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,040
I went over the top as when you 
put the notes of both scales 

48
00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:46,440
together, including the common 
tones, of course you'll get the 

49
00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,880
full chromatic scale. 
As for the harmonization 

50
00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:54,000
process, I chose to have a chord
every two beats to follow the 

51
00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,960
descending chromatic line. 
I picked chords either from the 

52
00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:01,720
major or E flat major, but I did
something else as well. 

53
00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:06,040
Because we basically mash the 2 
scales together, we now can 

54
00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:10,040
create chord structures with 
notes from both keys while using

55
00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:12,960
their respective available 
chords as reference. 

56
00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:18,760
Let's say I have AD major chord.
I can change it to AD minor by 

57
00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:23,840
replacing the F# with the 
natural F from E flat major, or 

58
00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:28,360
the same D major chord with an A
flat, which would be like AD 

59
00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:32,720
major with an added sharp 11. 
This way you can have chords 

60
00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:36,400
that don't necessarily exist in 
either of the keys, but can be 

61
00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:38,800
very handy for the harmonization
process. 

62
00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,680
This type of interaction is also
interesting for polytunnel 

63
00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,320
contexts, but I'll leave that to
another time. 

64
00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:48,960
And with that said, let me show 
you what I did to harmonize the 

65
00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:52,880
same descending chromatic line. 
I ditched the pedal notes and 

66
00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,080
replaced it with a melody 
instead. 

67
00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,800
The only thing that I should add
is that the G flat 9 chord 

68
00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:19,160
before the E minor 9 is actually
the result of harmonic planning 

69
00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:23,040
from the E flat 9. 
The same chord basically moved a

70
00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,040
minor third up. 
It's just to say that this is 

71
00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,920
not a chord that stems from the 
result of mixing the chords of 

72
00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:33,720
two keys, although it could 
since I have the chromatic scale

73
00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:37,160
at my disposal. 
And of course, there are other 

74
00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,440
tools that you could use to 
harmonize this type of musical 

75
00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:42,480
contexts. 
As I mentioned in the beginning 

76
00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:46,080
of the video, this is a big 
subject and we are just touching

77
00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,640
the surface here. 
But very briefly, here are three

78
00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:53,080
other ways that are arguably 
more common to harmonize a 

79
00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:57,680
chromatic line using descending 
5th sequence with dominant 

80
00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:02,320
chords, alternating between 
major and diminished chords, or 

81
00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:09,440
with chromatic medians. 
All right, now let's proceed 

82
00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:13,880
with the second scenario where 
we have a melody or not and 

83
00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:17,160
create chromatic harmony in this
setup. 

84
00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:21,280
That is, in the key of E minor, 
I created a melody already 

85
00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:25,600
including some chromaticism, and
then I harmonized it by choosing

86
00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:29,600
target chords for every two bars
and thus leaving space to 

87
00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:33,600
tonicize these chords on a 
second pass using secondary 

88
00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,640
dominance and voice leading to 
introduce even more chromaticism

89
00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,960
in the key and generate more 
harmonic movement. 

90
00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:44,920
And remember, even if you don't 
have a melody, you can follow 

91
00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:49,320
the exact same process. 
Now regarding the target chords 

92
00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:53,040
themselves, I chose them taking 
in consideration the notes of 

93
00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,480
the melody of course. 
But I must say that in this 

94
00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:00,880
first harmonization pass, I used
a couple of borrowed chords from

95
00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:05,160
East melodic minor and from D 
major to better accommodate the 

96
00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,960
tone for the chromatic passages 
in the melody. 

97
00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:13,320
So the first chord I chose was 
the E minor 9, which you can 

98
00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,080
also look at it as being the 6th
degree of the G major key. 

99
00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:21,800
The second one was C major 9, 
the 4th degree of the same key. 

100
00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:26,200
And the next two other chords I 
picked were the C# hop 

101
00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:29,760
diminished with the natural 9, 
the 6th degree of E minor 

102
00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:34,720
melodic, and the B minor seven 
add 11, also the 6th degree, but

103
00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:38,280
from the key of D major. 
Here's what I have so far. 

104
00:08:06,500 --> 00:08:10,140
Now that I have a general 
harmonic direction, I started to

105
00:08:10,140 --> 00:08:13,700
workout which other chords I 
could use in between the target 

106
00:08:13,700 --> 00:08:16,960
chords. 
As I mentioned, I primarily used

107
00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:19,920
voice leading to help me connect
chords through chromatic 

108
00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,360
movement and also secondary 
dominance and other dominance 

109
00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:26,000
substitutions to guide the 
tonicization process. 

110
00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,880
In case you don't remember, the 
trick to ensure good voice 

111
00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:34,679
leading is to use common tones 
between chords as possible and 

112
00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,559
try to reduce the chord voices 
movement to half or whole step. 

113
00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:43,960
So basically what you do is to 
play with this aspect and use 

114
00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:47,560
these small gestures to add a 
bit of harmonic movement or 

115
00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:51,040
create little chord melodies if 
you prefer to look at it that 

116
00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:54,640
way, which will help you to 
prepare for and create smoother 

117
00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,160
passages from 1 chord to the 
other. 

118
00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:02,440
So in between E minor 9 and C 
major nine, the first two target

119
00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:07,560
chords I use the G# half 
diminished to lead me to G7 at 

120
00:09:07,560 --> 00:09:13,080
13, a secondary dominant, which 
I then altered to AG9 flat 13 

121
00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:16,160
and resolved to the target chord
C major 9. 

122
00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,040
Again. 
Remember that voice leading 

123
00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,120
justifies many of the chords 
that are being created 

124
00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:34,120
throughout this example. 
After the C major nine, I 

125
00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:38,800
proceeded with the F7 sharp 11, 
which I momentarily altered to 

126
00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:43,400
an F9 at 13 and back to create 
some harmonic movement right 

127
00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:48,360
before using the B7 altered to 
target the C# half diminished 

128
00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:52,200
the next target chord. 
Functionally, although it 

129
00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,440
approaches its target chord from
a step down, this is not a 

130
00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:58,920
typical backdoor dominant which 
would normally resolve to a 

131
00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:01,960
major chord. 
So again, the usage of this 

132
00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,840
chord is only justifiable due to
the voice leading to the next 

133
00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:16,080
chord. 
After this I chose the F# 

134
00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:19,600
altered that succeeds 
chromatically from the C# half 

135
00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:24,200
diminished and then its chord 
voices settle on AF sharp 7, 

136
00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:28,960
sharp five with a neon bass, a 
secondary dominant that resolves

137
00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:40,520
to the target chord B minor 7. 
What happens next is the result 

138
00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:44,480
of adding a chromatic melodic 
line above the chord structures.

139
00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:47,960
Meanwhile, I kept the pedal 
point on B in the base, 

140
00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:52,280
sustaining the harmonic tension 
as it approaches its resolution.

141
00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:56,280
So the harmonization process 
revolved around choosing as much

142
00:10:56,280 --> 00:11:00,000
as possible to have chord tones 
moving chromatically to the next

143
00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,480
chord tone and resolved to the 
target chord In a similar 

144
00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:06,040
manner. 
The produced chords after the B 

145
00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:12,560
minor 7 and over the B pedal 
notes are the F# minor 6C7 and 

146
00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:16,760
F# diminished 7. 
The target chord was the G major

147
00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:26,720
9. 
And for effect, here is the full

148
00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:29,480
example, this time with the 
melody included. 

149
00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:02,120
You could definitely develop 
this into another section as the

150
00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:06,440
G major 9 chord suggests, but my
challenge to you is that you 

151
00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:10,120
pick it up from here and maybe 
try it yourself using these 

152
00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:12,320
ideas. 
The tools are here. 

153
00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,440
Now it's your turn to explore 
and make them your own. 

154
00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:19,160
And what I really hope is that 
you come out inspired by this 

155
00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:24,040
episode and go make new music. 
Incidentally, and since I used a

156
00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:27,800
similar approach there regarding
target chords, the previous 

157
00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:31,000
episode is what you want to hear
next. 

158
00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:35,640
It deals with using common chord
progressions as target chords or

159
00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:39,440
guideposts if this approach 
sounded foreign to you during 

160
00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:43,160
this episode. 
And now I would like to take a 

161
00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:47,680
moment to share some good news. 
Feedspot has made a list 

162
00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:51,640
featuring the top 20 music 
theory and music composition 

163
00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:55,920
podcasts, and I'm very proud to 
announce that the Beyond Music 

164
00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:59,920
Theory podcast is in it. 
I would like to thank Feedspot 

165
00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:04,080
for shedding a light on music 
theory blogs and podcasts and in

166
00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,960
helping to divulge the work of 
the many talented educators out 

167
00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:11,120
there. 
And last but not least, my big 

168
00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,400
heartfelt thank you for being 
part of my audience. 

169
00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,520
All right, so we reached the end
of the episodes. 

170
00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:20,960
And if you want to learn more 
about harmonizing melodies or 

171
00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:23,960
creating chord progressions, 
check out the Beyond Music 

172
00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:27,680
Theory ebook or the online 
courses Creating Unique Chord 

173
00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:31,240
Progressions and Mastering the 
Art of Harmonizing Melodies. 

174
00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:33,840
All the links will be in the 
description below. 

175
00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:38,400
As always, don't forget to like 
and subscribe for more episodes 

176
00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,400
like this. 
Thanks for watching and until 

177
00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:41,920
next time.