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Parallelism

Some harmonic progressions include one chord type (usually a 5, major triad or dom7 chord)
that is moved in a 'block' to create non-diatonic progressions. Often this can be best explained
as the 'block' harmonisation of a scale - often pentatonic -(regardless of diatonicism)
Here are some examples.

MAJOR CHORDS on MINOR PENTATONIC


'Knock on Wood' Floyd/Cropper

˙˙ ™™ ˙˙ ™™ ˙˙ ™™
E G A B D B

˙˙ ™™™ nn œœj œœj ˙˙ ™™


n œœ œœ
˙˙ ™™
####
˙˙ ™ ˙˙ ™™ ‰ nœœœ
˙˙ ™™ ˙™ ˙™
‰ nœœ ‰ œœ ‰ œœœ
#
˙˙ ™™
& nœ œœ nœJ
nœ ˙™ œJ ˙™
Parallel Major chords on an E minor pentatonic scale

POWER CHORDS ON A MINOR BLUES SCALE

'Smoke on the Water' Deep Purple

G5 B¨5 C5 G5 B¨5 D¨5 C5 G5 B¨5 C5 B¨5 G5

b j ‰ œj ‰ œ ‰ j ‰ œj ‰ bœ œ Œ j ‰ œj ‰ œ ‰ œj ‰ j
b
& œœ œ œ œœ œ b œJ œ nœœ œ œ œ œœ ˙˙ ™™
Parallel Power chords (inverted root and 5th) outlining part of a G minor blues scale.

CHROMATIC PARALLEL MAJOR CHORDS


'I'm A Man' Steve Winwood

G F© F E

#### nw w
& nn w w #˙˙˙ n˙
nnn ˙˙˙ w
w
w
nw
w ˙
˙ n˙ w
w
Parallel major chords moving down chromatically
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DOMINANT CHORDS ON PENTATONIC

'Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band' (Chorus) - Beatles

G7 B¨7 C7 G7 C7

#
& nœ œ Œ bœœ œœ Œ bœ œ Œ nœ œ Œ
œœ œœ
bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
œœ œœ bœ œ n œœ œœ
Parallel dominant 7 chords on part of G minor pentatonic (G, Bb, C).

POWER CHORDS ON CHROMATIC and OTHER SCALES

'Enter Sandman' -Metallica

# E5 F5 E5 G5 E5 F©5 E5 F©5 G5 F©5 E5

& œ œ œ ‰ j
œ œ
n œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ n œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œ œ # œœ œ œœ œ œœ œœ œœ œœ b œ œ n œœ
>
Parallel 5th chords on implied modes. Bars 1-2: phrygian. Bar 3: aeolian mode. Bar 4: locrian/minor blues.

'Them Bones' - Alice in Chains

& b 78 œ œ œ bœ œ œ n œ œ œ œ ‰
D5 E¨5 E5 F5 D5 E¨5 E5 F5

œœ œœ œœ b œœ œœ œœ nn œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ bbœœ œœ œœ nn œœ œœ œœ œœ
œ œ œ bœ œ œ nœ œ œ œ
Parallel 5th chords on D, Eb, E, F chromatic notes.

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