40 Basic Elements of Popular Music Harmony

©2010 m.mermikides@surrey.ac.uk

12-notes and the

Major, minor scale
Fundamentals cycle of 5ths The pull of 4-3 and Intervals &
construction.
All the keys 7-1 Accidentals
tones & semitones
Major & minor

Chord 6ths, 9ths, 11ths, Inversions and

Triad and 7th chord
Construction 13ths, sus and add Altered chords hybrid chords
construction
chords

Diatonicism
Diatonicism
Constructing Non-diatonic
Chords from Constructing Roman numeral
chords from a 7 note roman numeral
Scales chords from a 7 note analysis
minor scale (natural, analysis
major scale
harmonic, melodic

ii7 V7 I Secondary Tritone substitution

iiø V7 i Dominants Dominants
Basic Diatonic Cycle of
Voice leading and (& related ii chords) (& related ii chords)
cadences 5ths
5th cycle Cycle V Dotted brackets &
Brackets & arrows progressions arrows

Borrowing chords iv-I

Major and The bVII chord &
from parallel major iv-bVII - I
minor in iv-bVII - I Hybrid progressions
and minor (Aeolian ii-V)
parallel (Aeolian ii-V)
bVI-bVII-I

Other
common The IV- I cadence. Inversions and Modulation
Pedal Tones
devices Cycle IV progression basslines Pivotal and direct

Passing Diminished CESH

Blues I7 IV7
Stylistic Chords 4 types
(Non functioning Rhythm Changes
devices between I ii & ii iii i and other static
dominants) Form
either direction chord
Blues forms
and IV to I(2 inv.) embellishments

Modes of the major

Modes Harmonic minor Melodic minor
scale Modal interchange
mode 5 mode 1, 4 and 7
and their characters

Common How pentatonics are

Major and minor Pentatonic used melodically.
Pentatonics Major and minor
pentatonics. relationships with the Key area
and blues hexatonics
Neutrality. modes Minor over mjajor
Hexatonics

...minor pentatonic,
5, major, dom7 and
Non-diatonic use of blues, whole tone, Parallelism with
Parallelism other structures
parallel chords chromatic and other pedal tones
on...
scales