Rock and Soul Harmonic Devices

©2011 m.mermikides@surrey.co.uk

Other than the diatonic, secondary dominant, modal, parallel and other
harmonic functions covered in the first half of this course there are other
common and effective techniques that ‘deviate’ from these theoretical
foundations. Here we look at the II chord, interpolated IV, III, VII and VI
chords, the Vsus9 and bVIIsus9 hybrid chords and sliding chords. Note
that most of this terminology is coined here so don’t expect to hear the terms
elsewhere. However you will find these devices used widely, and regardless
of how they are named (if at all) it is very instructive and useful to understand
and recognize them.

The ‘non-functioning’ II or II7 chord.

Although this may be seen as a V/V or V7/V there are times when it doesn’t
have this function, acting more as a momentary Lydian implication (an
example of modal interchange) – In these cases it is more appropriate to call
it a II (or II7) rather than V/V (or V7/V).

Examples:

You’re all I need to get by – Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell.

A B Dm6 A
A: I II iv6 I

School of Rock This use of II occurs in the following progression.

D E G D
D: I II IV I

Sometime a V/V is resolved – but with an intervening IV chord delaying the

resolution. eg. V/V IV V I. This device of delaying a resolution to V we can call
an interpolated IV for lack of a pre-existing term.

Here’s a real-life example from Beck - We Live Again

↓5th resolutions

Bb Gm C Eb F Bb
Bb: I vi V/V IV V I
[---ii V---]

We can think of the C chord as a V/V here, partly because of the preceding ii
chord, and partly because of the eventual resolution to the F. The difference
of this case from the II chord is subtle and a little subjective but it’s
instructive to understand the differentiation.

Resolution through chromatic ascent of III (or III7) and VII (or VII7)

In ‘standard’ diatonic harmony, major or dominant chords built on the 3rd or

7th degree of a major scale III have a secondary dominant function: V7/VI or
V7/III respectively.

↓5th :

C E(7) Am
I V/VI vi

↓5th :

C B(7) Em
I V/III iii

However there are many cases when these are used as approaches to IV and
I respectively, ascending a semitone, rather than descending a 5th.

↑min2nd

C E(7) F
I III(7) IV

↑min2nd

C B(7) C
I V7/III I

The III-IV (and III7-IV) resolution actually makes good harmonic sense: If we
take the key of C as an example. The non-diatonic III - or III7 – chord (E or
E7) introduces one non-diatonic note: the G#. This accidental resolves to an
A (the 3rd of the F(IV) chord) rather than the root of the VIm chord in its more
‘functional’ resolution. This resolution of the non-diatonic note has a
satisfying elegance, and is quite common in rock/pop tunes.

A couple of examples:

F A Bb I III IV (Imagine – John Lennon) or

G B7 C (Sitting on the Dock of Bay – Otis Redding)

The VII-I on the other hand has a more parallel feel, with the 2 non-diatonic
notes (the F# and D# of B in the key of C) both resolving upwards.
The VII/I - in combination with II – appears here:

Bb C A Bb I II VII I (We Live Again - Beck)

The VI chord

The VI chord is a non-diatonic triad that doesn’t always fall into a V/II
function. Since the VI chord isn’t a parallel minor or common modal
‘borrowed’ chord, what can it mean? One possible explanation is that it is
simply the replacement of the expected VI minor chord with a major chord
type. Indeed it seems to be used like a VIminor chord- C A instead of C Am
for example – as if it’s the I major of the relative minor key. Odd I know.
Whatever the explanation, the VI chord has a really distinctive and surprising
sound.
An example in a well-known tune is the ‘whistle section’ of Sitting on the
Dock of Bay – Otis Redding: A looping 4-bar section: 3 bars of G (I), one bar
E (VI).

Softening the V7-I

The V7 has a very implicit function in tonal harmony, the resolution to I is

particularly expected, which is due to:

1) The bass on the 5th degree (which ‘wants’ to resolve down a 5th)
2) The leading tone (7th degree) which ‘wants’ to resolve up.
3) The 4th degree of the scale that ‘wants’ to resolve down.
4) It contains a tritone interval (which ‘wants’ to be somehow resolved)

Sometimes we don’t want all of these devices – they might seem to twee and
obvious when used together. The tritone substitution - for example - drops
the first characteristic, and keeps the other three.
We could soften the cadence by removing the 4th degree (and thus the
tritone) leaving only item 1) and 2). This is a V-I cadence.
On the other hand if we do not include the leading tone (using the root
instead) we also erase the tritone dissonance, and only have items 1) and 3).
This is a Vsus7-I cadence.
Removing the leading tone and the 4th degree – also removes the tritone and
creates the relatively soft Vsus-I.
These degrees of softness of V-I resolution are useful and commonly used.

V7–I subV7 V-I Vsus7–I Vsus – I

Hard cadence   Soft cadence

The IV over V bass hybrid chord

There is another common - and very effective - device to create an
alternative cadence.
This involves taking the first item 1) from the list above and merging it with
the softer IV-I (plagal cadence). This involves a IV chord with a V bass. This
device of using a chord with a non-chord tone is known as a hybrid chord –
and there are many beautiful examples.
In this case we are taking the IV chord and putting a V root in the base,
So in the key of C this would be F/G.
The F/G chord (G, F, A, C) can be considered as a Vsus9 (without a 5th).
This idea can expanded for example the IV-I cadence can be elaborated as a
IVmaj7–I – by using the 7th form of the chord. An Fmaj7/G (G F A C E) can
also be considered a Gsus13 (with no 5th) a more ‘open’ and ‘colourful’
sound than Gsus9.
One final example (althought there are many more) is to use a minor iv-I
cadence – that we’ve seen before as a borrowing from the parallel minor, but
with the V degree in the root of the iv chord : Fm/G (G, F, Ab, C) which
creates a Gsus(b9) implication.
This technique is a simple way of creating cadences that have the sense of a
V7-I resolution but with more harmonic sophistication and ‘openness’.

Sliding Chords

We’ve looked at parallelism before, where one chord type is moved in a

usually systematic fashion creating moments of non-diatonicism (e.g. a
series of major chords moved in a minor pentatonic scale).
There is a special case of parallelism that is quite short and specific:
When two diatonic chords are the same type and a whole tone apart,
sometimes a chromatic non-diatonic passing chord of the same type can be
interpolated – which we can call a ‘sliding chord’ – underlines below.
E.g.

If I Ain’t Got You – Alicia Keys

G: Bm7 Bbm7 Am7 Gmaj7

IIIm7 bIIIm7 IIm7 Imaj7

Wind Cries Mary – Jimi Hendrix

F: Cadd9 Cbadd9 Bbadd9 Fadd9

Vadd9 bVadd9 IVadd9 Iadd9