In this chapter, we learned how the basic building blocks of songwriting can be combined in creative ways to make music that is more interesting and emotionally powerful.

Harmonic Tempo

Contrasts in harmonic tempo, the rate at which the chords change in a progression, can be used along with instrumentation and volume to control the emotional level of a section of music.

Expectations

Building up expectations and then breaking them is also a powerful technique. One of the most common forms of deception is setting up a strong cadence and then going to a chord other than the one that is acting as home base. This is called a deceptive cadence.

Harmonic Scope

Harmonic scope uses contrasts in the complexity and variety present in chords to control mood. Depending on how it is set up, the intensity of a section can be emphasized through an increase or decrease in harmonic scope.

Check for Understanding

Listen to the following excerpt from “Beautiful Now” by Zedd, a producer of electronic and house music.

“Beautiful Now” by Zedd

While many songs in this genre rely mostly on instrumentation and production (beat drops, filters, etc.) to achieve energy control, Zedd demonstrates a masterful use of chords and melody that further enhances these effects.

Discuss how Zedd uses harmonic tempo, deception, and harmonic scope to build up to the pre-chorus, which starts on the IV⁷ chord.

Show Answer

Harmonic tempo: The verse begins with chords changing every eight beats. As the pre-chorus approaches, the harmonic tempo begins to accelerate toward the IV⁷; the vi chord is four beats, and then the V and iii⁷ are two beats each.

Deception: After the vi chord descends to the iii⁶ and ii and goes back to the vi, we begin to hear the vi chord as the tonal center of the verse. † After the iii⁷ at the end of the second line, we expect the verse to repeat back to the ivi, but instead it uses a deceptive cadence going to a iIV⁷.

Harmonic scope: In order to make the deceptive cadence to the IV⁷ more effective, Zedd leaves out the IV chord in the verse. Many songwriters would not be able to resist the temptation of using a IV chord as the third chord in the progression, which would create a nice bass line connection (6 → 5 → 4), but Zedd substitutes the ii for the IV so that it is more surprising when we finally hear it.

† In the next chapter, you’ll learn how to think of progressions like this in “minor,” but this is not relevant to the present discussion.

4.4 Summary

Harmonic Tempo

Expectations

Harmonic Scope

“Beautiful Now” by Zedd