The Chord-Line
The chord line is another method for creating melodies by moving between notes belonging to specific groupings known as chords, swapping between the chord-line and the scale-line methods can be performed at any point in a melody
A chord is a cluster of three or more tones, placed one above another in the interval of a third. The lowest tone is the root and gives the chord its common name, i.e. a C Chord consists of the tones C, E, G
These notes constitute the chord of C and may appear in any order, C-E-G, C-G-E, E-C-G, etc
Fundamental Harmonic Principals
Each key comprises three families of chords, called respectively:
- Tonic Class
- Dominant Class
- Sub-Dominant Class
The Tonic class consists of two chords:
- The Tonic Chord or The One (I), which starts on the first step of the key (Tonic note), C-E-G
- The Six (VI), which starts on the sixth scale-step, A-C-E
The Dominant class consists of a cluster of chords, built around the fifth scale step (Dominant) These chords may consist of as many as five tone, the lowermost of which is often omitted:
- The Dominant Triad, or The Five (V), starts on the fifth step (Dominant) G-B-D
- The Dominant 7th, or the Five-Seven (V7), starts on the fifth and includes an additional interval G-B-D-F
- Without Root B-D-F
- The Dominant 9th, or the Five-Nine (V9), adds an additional interval onto V7, G-B-D-F-A
- Without Root B-D-F-A
Also within the Dominant class of chords is a triad which builds on the third scale step (III), however this is not seen as a ‘good’ chord and can generally be ignored in regards to melody
The Sub-Dominant Class consists of chords built around the second scale-step in the same manner as those in the Dominant class.
- The Second Dominant Triad (II), starts on the second step, D-F-A
- The Second Dominant Seventh Chord (II7), D-F-A-C
- Without Root F-A-C (IV)
- The Second Dominant Ninth Chord (II9), D-F-A-C-E
- Without Root, F-A-C-E (IV7)
There are a few primary rules which govern the movements of these chord classes:
- The chords of the Tonic may progress into any other chord of the same key
- The chords of the dominant class can progress into those of the Tonic class (ideally I, more rarely VI), progression into the Sub-Dominant is uncommon and generally not considered in melody creation
- The chords of the Sub-Dominant may follow into those of the Dominant class but may be followed by those of the Tonic
Using the Chord-Line
A melody may follow the line of any important Chord upwards or downwards with unlimited freedom
This means that the scale steps which appear in each of the principal chords may follow each other in accordance to the rules outlined above (Tonic -> Any Chord, Dominant -> Tonic, Sub Dominant -> Dominant)
However, at this point in time the chord line rule shall be used only for single wide leaps and once a wide leap is made an earlier progression should be used, i.e. scale line, repeated tones and narrow leaps.
Also note that after a wide leap it’s advised to turn back and progress in the opposite direction, however this may not always be immediately possible (turning against the current step) in this case it’s recommended to instead make the turn one beat later
When leaping to an active step, it’s best to approach the step in the direction opposite of it’s resolution:
- Leap upwards to steps 4 and 6
- Leap downwards to step 7
Leaping an entire octave is also acceptable, however after such a wide leap the melody should turn back immediately, as such it’s unwise to leap an octave up to step 7 or down to steps 4 or 6