Book · Music
Beginner to Composer in 14 Days · Digital edition
Can You Hear Me Major Tom?
Day 5
The major key circle
Strong chord movements
Last lesson you learned that different chords belong to different keys and identified the chords that belong to the key that’s on your worksheet. Now you’re going to find out the strongest way to move between these chords, the best sequences to make your chords sound musical. This is where the major key circle comes in.
Wherever you start on this circle, move to the next chord (clockwise or anti-clockwise) to create the most natural sounding chord progression. Moving clockwise gives the impression of a sunrise, a feeling of opening. Moving anti-clockwise is more like a sunset, an ending.
Example: C major circle
Fill in the circle on your worksheet with the chords that belong to your chosen key.
- Use your RH to play the chords as whole notes, anticlockwise all the way around the circle. Start and finish with the root chord.
- Now use your LH.
- Now try playing the major scale written on your worksheet with your RH while you keep the LH chords going (whole notes). Play the scale with the finger pattern and as quarter notes, twice through. That’s ascending and descending, without pausing at the top or bottom, or hitting the same note twice. When you play the scale twice through like this, it gives you the perfect amount of time to cover all the chords on the major key circle with your LH - starting and finishing with the root chord.
- Practise this exercise until you can play it on a continuous loop with no mistakes, to a steady pulse like 60bpm or 120bpm. You know you’ve really got it down when you can play it and hold a conversation. Go on, give it a go.
Students always love this exercise. It’s satisfying to play, but more than that, it gives you a glimpse behind the composer’s curtain. It reveals the underlying chord movements, the enchanting alchemy that makes music sound musical.
Time to choose: It’s time to up the ante. Select a new rhythm for your LH chords as they move around the major key circle e.g. half notes like in the table below. Then select a new rhythm for your RH scale e.g. quarter notes, which you’ll continue to play using the finger pattern. There are quite a few different combinations that you could choose, so this should be interesting! Remember, change chord every four beats no matter what rhythms you’ve chosen. You could think of it like changing chord at the start of every bar. Practise until you can keep a steady pulse of 60bpm.
| LH Chord Rhythm | RH Scale Rhythm |
|---|---|
| Whole notes | Whole notes |
| Half notes | Half notes |
| Quarter notes | Quarter notes |
Now it’s time to start training your ear to hear which notes of the key sound best over your LH chords, which you’re going to play now as whole notes for one minute. Meanwhile, use your RH to improvise with any of the notes of your chosen key. You can use any rhythm you like for your RH notes, I want you to feel really free as you explore. Create short phrases. In music, a phrase is a short section that forms part of a bigger whole. You can liken it to a short section that forms part of a sentence, like in the example below. End each of your phrases with a chord tone, a note that is also in your LH chord, to help each phrase sound complete and rounded.
‘Music is your own experience,
Phrase 1
your thoughts,
Phrase 2
your wisdom.
Phrase 3
If you don’t live it,
Phrase 4
it won’t come out of your horn.’ - Charlie Parker
Phrase 5