Lullaby: A work in progress...

Today I'm going to post a small portion of a song I'm working on, so we can analyze its chord progression and discuss the lyrics. Who knows, it might compel me to finish it one of these days...

Anyway, here are the lyrics:

If you are near me and by my side

We'll shut out the cold and turn off the light 

so rest your head and close your eyes 

and I'll sing to you this lullaby 

The sun has faded from the sky

the moon is here to say goodnight 

But slow your heart its not goodbye

I'm right here now everything is all right

I'll never leave you in the dark 

if you need a light I will be your spark

till the light returns in the morn

I'll be right here to keep you safe and warm 

Now the time has come for you to go 

back inside your head where the dreams will glow 

and will light the world we soon will know 

with those dreams you had so long ago

Currently the form of this song is strophic, meaning that it consists of only verses. I used this form because I want the focus of the song to be in the dynamics in each verse, not the distinction between the verses and a possible chorus. This song is written in simple quadruple time.

Next let's look at the chord progressions used in the song: Key Signature: G Major

C       D/F#    G

C       D         G

C       B        Em

C       D         G

Using chord symbols:

IV    V       I

IV    V       I

IV    V/Vi    Vi

IV    V       I

So there's a lot of focus on the IV chord as it starts out each phrase, and each phrase is resolved with a V to I cadence. However, the interesting event occurs in the third part of the verse with the V/Vi chord. Note that B major is not in the key of G Major, and it is a secondary dominant to the Vi chord (Em). This gives the phrase stronger "pull" to the end of the line, and allows more emphasis to be placed on the lyrics in that section.

Alright, I'll post more original songs in the future, but this was meant to give an example of how secondary dominant chords can be used in a piece to provide an interesting variation to a similar chord progression.

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely, ZS

Time Signature and Different Types of Meter

Today we're going to talk about time in pieces of music. More specifically, the differences between different types of time signatures, and how they represent different forms of meter within a piece.

A Time Signature gives you two important piece of information when reading music:

1. How many beats are in a single measure
2. What note value constitutes one beat within a measure

By Beat, I mean the primary unit of rhythm in music. This beat can be heard through the use of instrumentation (such as the bass drum in a rock ballad, or an artificial bass affect in a electric song), and typically gives the piece it's structure. Let's look at an example:

The two numbers in red make up the time signature for a piece of music. The top number tells us that there will be 4 beats per measure, and the bottom note tells us that a quarter note equals 1 beat.


(Also note that the time signature is placed after the clef symbol, in this case, the treble clef)






So your standard measure of 4/4 time is going to look like this:



Now this is a simple example of how notes fit within the measure according to the beat. Remember that melody lines are not limited to only using the note values given by the time signature! There could be eighth-notes, half-notes, even triplets in this measure and it would still be considered 4/4 time as long as the sum of the note values used is equivalent to 4 quarter notes.

Here's an example of a song that uses 4/4 Time. (just so you can get a feel for it)

(Try to tap out the rhythm played by the piano. You'll notice that the measure are divided by taps of four)

So that's 4/4 time, but what if we change the top number? Lets now look at 3/4 time.

Because the top number in the time signature is 3, only three beats are allowed per measure. The bottom number is still 4, so the quarter-note still represents 1 beat.

Example of 3/4 time. (It's a waltz)

Lets now see what happens when we change the bottom note. (This is where things can get a bit confusing if you are unfamiliar with music notation)

Top Number: 6- there are going to be six beats per measure.


Bottom Number: 8- the eighth-note gets the beat.

So one simple complete measure would have 6 eighth-notes, each representing one beat of the measure.

Makes sense?
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Assuming that you have a firm grasp on time signatures, let's now talk about how time signatures divide pieces of music into either Simple or Compound meter.

If a piece of music is in simple meter, than the beat cannot be subdivided any further than indicated, and the "pulse" of the song falls on the beat. For example, the American Folk song Yankee Doodle is in simple meter because the melody falls on the beat within the 2/4 time it's played in.

If a piece of music is in compound meter, than the beat indicated by the time signature can be further simplified and defined by the "pulse" of the music. For example, the American Folk song When Johnny Comes Marching Home is considered to be in compound meter because the beat can be expressed as both 6/8 and having 2 beats with two subdivisions of 3.

Here are some examples of Simple and Compound meter:

Simple
2/4
3/4
4/4

Compound
6/8
9/8
12/8

Notice this pattern between the two forms of meter;

6 / 3 = 2 ---> Duple
9 / 3 = 3 ---> Triple
12 / 3 = 4 ---> Quadruple

These three numbers represent the basic beats that songs are composed of. If there are two pulses in a song, then it would be described as having a "Duple" feel. Likewise if there were three pulses as in a waltz it could have a "triple" feel. 

Lets look at a couple example of combining these terms with ones we learned earlier. 

3/4 = Simple triple: Simple division of the beat and there are three beats in the measure. 

6/8 = Compound duple: Subdivisions of the beat are present in the meter, and there are two subdivisions. 

12/8 = Compound quadruple: Subdivisions of the beat are present, and there are four subdivisions. 

2/4 = Simple duple: Simple division of the beat, and there are two beats in each measure. 

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If you guys have any questions about time signature, compound and simple, or distinguishing between duple, triple, and quadruple meter, then please leave comments below so I can answer them! 

I will be posting some examples of different forms of meter in a couple days, so stick around it this is still a little confusing! 

Sincerely, ZS

The Basic Elements of Triads

Today I'm going to start talking about chords, how to identify them, and give some examples of them in musical context.

What is a Chord? A chord is (simply put) any harmonic set of three or more notes. Harmonic. This word means that the notes interact with each other musically through the use of intervals. Now, these intervals can be major, minor, 3rd's, 4th's, etc, almost anything as long as there is more than one interval identified in the chord. Right now, we're going to discuss the simplest form of a chord: A triad.

Triads are the most frequently encountered chords because they are composed of three distinct notes, known as the Root, 3rd, and 5th. The triad gets its name by the root note of the chord. Let's look at an example.


Shown to the left is a C Major Triad. We know it's a triad because there are three notes, and more specifically because these notes are a 3rd apart. In every triad, the interval between consecutive notes will always be a 3rd.





So we know that the interval between (C) and (E) is a M3, and (E) to (G) is a m3. This combination, or a M3 on the bottom of the chord and a m3 on the top of the chord, is what defines a Major Triad.

Since we're going to get to know all four types of triads in this post, I going to list them and describe their qualities (interval wise), and then we'll go over each of them individually. Now don't get overwhelmed with this information, I'll explain each one in more detail when we get to it.

Major Triad: C

(m3)
(M3)

Minor Triad: Cm

(M3)
(m3)

Augmented Triad: C aug

(M3)
(M3)

Diminished Triad: C dim

(m3)
(m3)

Minor Triads

To the left is an example of a Cm triad. Notice that the relationship between the notes is are thirds, and the bottom interval is a Minor 3rd, while the top is a Major 3rd. The chords are going to sound "minor", or sad you'll notice in popular music. 

Augmented Triads

To the right is an example of a C augmented Triad. An augmented triad is characterized by having a Major 3rd on the bottom, and another Major 3rd on the top half of the chord. Notice that the relationship of the 5th with the root of the chord also changes as the 5th is raised up a semitone, creating an augmented 5th (Hence where the interval gets its name)

Diminished Triads

To the left is an example of a C diminished triad. Diminished triads are characterized by two minor 3rd's on top of each other. Again, because the 5th has now been lowered to create the m3rd need, the 5th interval has become diminished. 

So let's work through a couple more examples to really understand how to construct triads;

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What is the triad above?

(D augmented)

Why?

(Because the relationship between (D) to (F#) is a Major third, and the relationship between (F#) and (A#) is also a Major third)

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What is the triad above?

(Remember the Root of the chord gives its' name)

(B diminished)

Why?

((B) to (D) is a m3rd, and (D) to (F) is a m3rd)

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What is the triad above?

(Gm)

Why?

((G) to (Bb) is a m3rd, and (Bb) to (D) is a M3rd)

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So, to recap: Triads are three note chords composed off thirds. Depending on the quality of these chords, the triad can be major. minor, augmented, or diminished. And remember, the name of the triad (Note wise) is always given by the root of the chord (The bottom note for now). 

In a couple days I will post an example of some triads in my choral music, and then next week we will talk about triads in inversion, an then move on to more complicated chords. 

Thanks for reading, and if you have any more questions, feel free to comment below. 

Sincerely, ZS