Chord Progressions Six

Introduction

In the last issue, we looked at creating arpeggios on the Bm - G - D - A progression. This time, we'll connect some of those chord tones with the notes in between them: these are called passing tones and they can make your music much more interesting, depending on where they fall in the measure--whether they fall on an accented beat or not.

A Simple Device to Unify Your Composition (or Improvisation)

If we make a descending scale on each chord, starting from the 5th of the chord and finishing at the Root, we have outlined (or kind of "unfolded") the chord. This makes a cool device for pulling everything together and giving your composition a unity. Let's take it chord-by-chord.

Bm Chord

Starting with the high F# on fret 9 of the melody string, we have:

9--8--7--6+-5 - where the 9, 7, and 5 frets are the chord tones, and the other frets are passing tones.

G Chord

7--6+-5--4--3 - where the 7, 5, and 3 frets are the chord tones, and the other frets are passing tones.

D Chord

4--3--2--1--0 - where the 4, 2, and open string are the chord tones, and the other frets are passing tones.

A Chord (Frets on the Middle String)

4--3--2--1--0 - where the 4, 2, and open string are the chord tones, and the other frets are passing tones.

Experiment!

See what you can cook up with these little lines. You'll have to fill in with the other supporting chord tones of each chord to make it sound full, but use your imagination as much as you can. Try some different rhythmic patterns, and hold some notes longer than others.

New Article on Modes

I slightly edited one of my DulciTheory articles and linked it from the home page of my web site:

Modes

This might help get you thinking along some of these chord-tones-vs-passing-tones lines, and I think it is a good way to approach the multi-modal system on your DAD dulcimer. Good Luck (Skill?), and let me know if you if any of this works for you.