Free Online Piano Lesson 8: Mixing It Up

Source:Internet    Posted by:Learntopianoonline.com   Date:2010-01-03   Click:

In this lesson we will progress further out from traditional harmony and take a look at a few examples of borrowed chords and introduce modulation.  Borrowed chords are chords that have been taken from the the parallel major or minor key.  So far we have studied only the relative minor of a major key.  The parallel minor of a major key has the same letter name, only minor.  For instance, the parallel minor of G major would be G minor.  In the same way, the parallel major of D minor would be D major.  So the borrowed chords for D minor would be the chords taken from the key of D Major.  If you've forgotten how to find out which chords belong to a key, it is relatively simple to figure it out if you know the key signature.  Once you've found the key signature (check back to previous lessons if you've forgotten how to do this) you can build a chord on each scale degree in thirds, using the key signature to determine whether the notes are naturals, sharps, or flats.  There are five chords most often borrowed from the parallel minor keys.  Try to find these on the piano.  ii° (diminished supertonic), ii°7 (diminished 7th supertonic), iv (minor subdominant), flat-vi (flatted submediant), vii°7 (diminished 7th leading tone).  The 7th chord, or leading tone, is diminished in both major and minor keys because the 7th is usually raised to provide a smooth transition from the leading tone to the tonic.  The most important borrowed chord from a parallel major key is the picardy 3rd.   The picardy third is usually used on the last chord of the phrase when the tonic chord is played.  If a piece was ended with a tonic chord of D minor, the picardy third might be used, changing the chord to D major instead of D minor.  To do this, you must raise the third of the chord one half-step from F-natural to F-sharp.  The picardy third is used to ensure a strong ending with a major chord instead of a minor chord.

Modulation  is another technique used to include tonal variation in a piece.  Modulation is when the key of a piece transitions into a closely related key.  Closely related keys are those which differ from a given key by one accidental.  There are five closely related keys for any given key.  In the key of "C," which has no sharps or flats, they are "A" (relative minor which shares the same key signature) "G," which has one sharp and its relative minor "E," and "F" which has one flat and its relative minor key of "D."  The key can shift in a variety of ways including a common chord, or a pivot chord.  Although we will not look at these techniques in depth, if you are interested in learning the mechanics of modulation or more information of any of the other subjects we have covered I suggest you take a look at one of the books located on the Books  page.  They are helpful in providing useful examples and contain a comprehensive guide to theory.