Musical babbling

[velvetpage]

I started fiddling around with Londonderry Air (aka Danny Boy) on the piano a couple of days ago. I was using an arrangement for recorder, so it was written in an unsingable key, but it had chord names and the melody was almost exclusively in the soprano line so it was easy to play from.

I found myself changing some of the chords, though. The arrangement was chorded in Dm, and there were several spots where the music listed a minor chord and I wanted to use its major mode (mostly, the music would list Dm and I would want to play F.) When I listened to my internal version of the harmonies, I realized there were a comple of other spots I was unconsciously changing things; I was changing Gm for a C7 at a couple of points, and I cut out the Bb entirely, usually chording a Gm7 (written as Gm) transitioning to a C7, which together have all the same notes as the Bb (plus a couple) but give a feeling of progression that the Bb didn't have for me.

I found myself wondering which was the traditional chording pattern for this song. Is the minor modality more traditional amongst Irish arrangements, and the major more common amongst American arrangements? So I went looking for it, and found it in the key of C (much more singable than F) in my "How to Play From a Fake Book."

I didn't like the chording in the fake book either; it was too bare, the transitional chords called for by my musical memory were lacking, and it chose the major modalities a bit too consistently. Still, the bones of the harmony struck me as more similar to the harmonies used in the Sally Ann (which is where my internal version is coming from, with very different lyrics from the ones most people associate with this melody.) So I tried to graph the transitional chords into that key, and discovered that with a couple of minor changes, the American Fake Book version was the default version for me.

This version has it as the major modality, though I would add in some dominant 7ths - this is even barer than the fake book version, though keyed the same. This one also has the major chords in the spots where I expect them, and uses a Dsus4 to get the progression I was aiming for in one of my alternate transitional chords, but it uses a lot more IV chords (F) than I was using; the IV would be the Bb in the other key I was playing it in, and I liked the ii7 (that is, the Gm7) much better, especially paired with a transition to a V7 (C7).

I've never really compared chord structures like this on a melody I know very well. Of course, the way I used to play the piano, I would have been too scared of making a mistake to try; this new way requires the understanding that there are many right ways to do the same thing, and the goal is to find the ones I prefer and refine them, throwing in some of the others for interest.

Any insights from my pianist friends?

Comments

[pyat.livejournal.com]

I am not very musical, my love, but I love how enthusiastic you get about it. <3

[kores-rabbit.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed listening to you talk about this earlier today. You're a bit right about the not understanding from a technical point-of-view, but I generally got what you were talking about!

I also enjoyed listening to you play. It's like a free concert!

[robad.livejournal.com]

I can't speak much to the piano side of it all; but I've always found this site (Music Theory for Songwriters (http://chordmaps.com/)) had some interesting thoughts on the subject. Especially the progression maps for major scales; which are pretty cool for adding a bit of colour to a fairly bare bones list of chords.

(http://mugglinw.ipower.com/chordmaps/genmap.htm)

I've linked the generic one, but there is a specific one for each key here (http://mugglinw.ipower.com/chordmaps/chartmaps.htm)

Some text from his site:

How Were The Maps Developed?

When I was studying music theory in college, I was introduced to ideas pertaining to chords and chord flow. After leaving college, I was teaching piano to young students for a while. Searching for ways to make chord flow accessible to young minds, I began drawing diagrams that would allow a child to create strong progressions. It seemed best to put each chord at a visual location with arrows to direct the flow. I experimented with different variations before choosing what I now call the Simple Map. Years later, I added the secondary chords that make the Big Map look the way it does. A few adjustments were made to create the generic map.

I hope these pages, charts, and maps will help you understand chords and how they flow together. Enjoy writing music. Love and peace to all.

If not specifically helpful, hopefully you will find the link as interesting as I did. :)

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Wow. I'm going to have to work at reading that - visual learning is not my strongest suit and flowcharts often overload me on that level - but the website looks awesome and very useful. Thanks!

[amyura.livejournal.com]

I have never, ever heard a minor-key arrangement of this song. Ever. And I'm an Irish music FIEND.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Good, then it wasn't just me and the Sally Ann doing it wrong!

Charlotte Church's version explores the minor elements of the song, but finishes on the major chords. That's the only minor version I'm very familiar with, other than this one.