Campo Harmônico da Escala Maior Natural I - Tríades

Hey guys from Cifra Club, I'm Felipe Lobo and in this class we're going to start talking about a topic that can really help you if you have difficulty listening to songs or want to better understand the logic behind the formation of chords and how they combine into a coherent sequence. We are now going to talk about the harmonic field in the natural major scale. This subject is also very important in the study of improvisation and musical composition, because it helps us understand the relationships between melody and harmony, as well as being one of the bases for us to understand the tonal system, which is the main form of organization of musical structures here in our Western culture.

We are going to divide this subject into three classes, so that we can see the content step by step and be able to do the exercises in the handouts to understand each part well. But it is important that you are well aware of some subjects that serve as a basis for us to follow this class well. So, I recommend seeing the previous classes of our course first, especially three classes in particular, which are interval classes, chord formation classes and classes on the natural major scale.

Well, like this class, all other classes in the course also have a special backpack. You can download it, the pochila is a PDF file, which has a link in the description of each video. So let's try to understand a little better how this harmonic field thing works.

Harmonic field is a set of chords formed from the notes of the same scale. So, with a scale with seven notes, we will have at least seven different chords and they will all harmonize very well with melodies made with that same scale. We will now listen to an example where we will hear a guitar playing the seven triad chords formed from the C major scale and my guitar will play this same C major scale but in a melodic way, that is, as if it were a solo, one note after another.

And we will take the opportunity to pay attention to the sound resulting from this exercise. And let's see if the notes match up correctly. Whether the solo will go well with the chords.

Or if there will be a note that will sound a bit dissonant. Let's listen. As we can hear, the chords harmonize the melodies made with this scale very well.

This happens because there are also no notes within the chords that do not come from the same scale. So we can say that it's as if the scale were the mother of the chords. That's why chords also receive melodies.

Now we will hear a new example, where we have a new sequence of chords also made, with the notes of the C major scale, but now they come in a different sequence from the natural order of the scale. So I'm going to play, as I did in the previous example, the scale melodically and then I'm going to start improvising a freer solo, but always using only the notes from the C major scale. Let's see if the solo will continue to combine well with the chords in this context of the new sequence that we created.

Just look. Basically, we created a different sequence for those same chords and applied a rhythm. So, it even seems like we made a new song, because we made the sequence less predictable and more organic.

And she starts to sweat more like a song than an exercise. If we create a melody pattern, based on this improvisation that I am doing here in my solo, we will have a new musical composition. So, for those of you who are trying to become a composer, try your creativity by studying the harmonic field and its possibilities.

It will be a great start for you. Well, now we will understand how the notes of the scale form the chords within the harmonic field. We will continue using the C major scale as a model.

Watch. Each note on the scale corresponds to a numerical degree that we will represent with Roman numerals. This is important because this way we can think about the scale in a more generic way and apply the same reasoning to any key, not just a tone of C major.

Well, the seventh degree of the scale is especially important and is also called sensitive. This name is due to a sound sensation that we have when we hear the seventh degree of the scale. Repair well.

Whenever we get to the seventh degree here, we have that urge to finish playing the scale and reach the note of do again. This expectation that this note creates is what makes her name sensitive. This will be important later on when we talk about the effect that each chord has within the harmonic field.

Now look, each note in the scale will be the root of a chord, right? This will result in seven different trias that belong to the key of D major. To complete each triad, we will follow the same procedure that we saw in the class on chord formation.

We will overlap intervals of thirds starting from the root of each chord. Well, we will only use the notes from a specific scale. Therefore, this overlap will result in different types of chords, sometimes major, sometimes minor or diminished.

Follow this process with me. The note C will be the first fundamental here that will give rise to the first chord of our harmonic field. On this note, we also place the note E, which will be the major tense of C, and the note G, which is a minor tense of E and will result in a perfect fifth in relation to C.

Well, this is the actress of C major, C E and G. It is the first chord of our harmonic field. In the second degree of the harmonic field, we have the note D as the fundamental note.

Regarding the note D, we still put the note F, and the note A. So, the F will be a minor third of D, and the A will be a perfect fifth of D. D, F, A.

These three notes result in notaries of Dm, which will be the chord of the second degree of our harmonic field. In the third degree, we start with the note E. And on this note, we will place the note G, which will be the minor third of E, and the note B, which will be the perfect fifth of the note E.

These three notes will result in the E minor chord. E, G, C. So, the E minor is the third chord here of the natural C major harmonic field.

In the fourth degree, we start with the note F, which will be the root of our chord. Over F, we still put the note A, which is a higher tense of F, and the note C. which will be the perfect fifth of the chord.

Fa, la, to. These three notes form an actress of F major, which is the chord of the fourth degree of our harmonic field of C major. In the fifth degree, we start with the note G, which will be the root of the fifth degree chord.

Over this note, we place the note B, which is the major third of the chord, and then the note D, which will be the perfect fifth of the chord. These three notes form a G major chord, which will be the fifth degree chord of our natural C major harmonic field. In sixth grade, we will start with the grade A.

On top of the A, we also add the grade C, which will be the minor third of A, and then the note E, which will be the perfect fifth of A. So we have A, C, E. These three notes form a triage of A minor, which will be the triage of sixth degree of our natural C major harmonic field.

And to finish our harmonic field here, we will have on the seventh degree of the C major scale, a chord that starts on the note C. Remember that this note is also called sensitive within the scale. Well, over C we put the note D, C, D, which will be the minor tense of C, and the note F.

F is also a minor third in relation to D. And when we overlap two minor third intervals in sequence, we have a resulting interval of a fifth of a minute. We can notice that this is a slightly tense interval, which leaves the sound dissonant.

So this seventh degree chord is peculiar within the harmonic field. because it will be the only tiny triad we will have in this context. Now, the cool thing here is that we have arrived at a rule, a kind of formula that we can even learn by heart to quickly find the chords in the harmonic field of the natural major scale in any key.

So, look, our little formula will be as follows. in any shade. In the harmonic field of the natural major scale, we have, in the first degree of this harmonic field, a major chord.

In the second degree, one tone ahead of the first, we will have a minor chord. And in the third degree it's the same thing, one tone ahead of the second, a minor chord. The fourth degree is just a half tone above the third degree and will be a larger string.

In the fifth degree, which is one tone above the fourth, we have another major tria. The sixth degree that is one tone ahead of the fifth degree will give a minor tria. And the seventh degree, which is one tone above the sixth degree, will be a diminished triad.

Or, if we prefer to call it a minor tria with a diminished fifth, that is also correct. So, to recap, our formula looks like this. Biggest, smallest, smallest, biggest, biggest, smallest, and minor with a fifth of a minute.

Well, it turns out that in each different key we will need to use different sharps or obemoles to keep the intervallic structure of the scale always the same. Let's recap the structure of the natural major scale here. Tone tom, semitone, tone tom tom, semitone.

This structure has to be the same for us to maintain the sound of the scale in any key. So look, let's use the example here of the tone of G major to find out what our harmonic field looks like in another key. Well, in natural G major, we will have a G major atrium here in the first degree of our field.

The second degree will be minor, A minor. The third minor degree Well, the fourth degree, which is just half a step above the third, will be a major chord. From the major, within the key of G major.

The fifth degree, one tone ahead of the fourth, will give D major. The sixth degree, one more tone forward, will be E minor. And the seventh degree of this harmonic field will be the F sharp minor with a fifth of It is important for us to understand that the sharp comes here on the note F so that we maintain the semitone of the scale between the seventh degree and the first degree.

If we didn't put F as a sharp, the semitone would go down to the C of the degree. So, the sharp serves to keep the scale the same, simply. To recap, G major harmonic field.

Sun. La minor. Cm, Cm, Dm, Em and I do the tenths of the minor with a fifth of a minute.

Another example for us to better understand this topic. Let's see what the natural F major harmonic field looks like. See, we're going to start with an F major chord, which is the chord of the first degree, a tonic chord.

One tone ahead of the first degree, we have another minor chord on the second degree, it will be G minor. One more tone ahead, here we have the third degree with another minor chord, which will be A minor. Now, we know that the fourth degree has to be just half a step ahead of the third, so we will have to use a Bm in the B note, creating the Bb major chord, which will be our fourth degree chord.

The fifth degree, which will be one tone ahead of the fourth, will be C. One tone ahead of it we have the sixth degree, which will be the Dm chord. One more tone ahead we have the seventh degree chord, which will be Em, with a diminished fifth.

Well, this chord can be done like this. closing an F major chord again. So, in order for us to better keep this formula, we can think about the following.

The major chords are on the first, fourth and fifth degrees. Minor chords are on the second, third and sixth degrees. And on the seventh degree, we have a single different chord there, which will be this minor chord with a diminished fifth, ok?

And that's it, now it's important that you take the booklet and do the exercises that I prepared to work on this part of the material, ok? Well, guys, now we're going to analyze a song to understand how the harmonic field is applied within a repertoire, right? I chose a well-known song from Rock Nacional here, because it is made only with chords from the harmonic field of the major scale in triad format, without any exceptions.

It's the infinite highway music of Ovaí engineers. You can access the lesson for this song through the link that is also here in the video description. Let's go?

So to start, I'm going to show a piece of the song so we can pay attention, trying to really notice the chords, the color of the chords that we'll then analyze and see how the harmonic field was used in this song. Let's go. You make me run too far from the risks of this highway You make me run behind the horizon of this highway No one stops near the silence of the desert, deserted highway We are alone and none of us Knows exactly where it will end But we don't need to know for me So cool, we're going to analyze it part by part to understand what each string represents within this song.

In the introduction you will see that the song starts with the A major chord which is precisely the first degree chord, because the song is in the key of A major. So this chord is the first atonic degree of the song. Then we have C sharp minor.

As we saw, the third degree of the harmonic field will always be a minor chord. Here's the proof. Then we have D major, which is just a little higher than C sharp, that is, the fourth degree chord, a major chord.

And even the E major, and plays the role of the fifth degree of music. It's interesting that, whenever we reach the fifth degree, we have a feeling that the music is going to return to the first degree again. We will talk more about this in the next classes.

Then the first part begins, which has a slightly simpler harmony. We leave the tonic again here, first degree, A major, we go to the third minor degree, which is the sweet tenido minor, And then we jump straight to mi, the fifth degree. He repeats two compás in a row.

So we only took the fourth grade of the story to sing the first part. And then, in the second part of the song, we will have something a little more different. We start with the D major chord.

Yes, it gives a feeling of change, like, in the atmosphere of the music. Because we start straight away by going to the fourth degree of music. But we don't need to know where we're going.

Soon after there is E, which is the fifth degree again. But now, instead of going back to the first degree, which would be the most obvious, the most expected, the music goes to the easy minor tone. The easiest tenido minor within the harmonic field of A major will be the sixth degree.

As we saw in class, the sixth degree always gives a minor chord. But we don't need to know where we're going. We just need to go.

Which is a really cool effect for a change instead of using the first degree of wall. Using the sixth degree looks cool. Then, at the end of this part, we have a little break using these chords here.

It's A major again, I've done it here on the fifth fret, C tenido minor again, third degree, and then there's a little stop here again on the minor sixth degree. To close, fourth degree and fifth degree so we can go back to the introduction. Then fourth, then fifth, and a half these two chords prepare for the song to go back to the tonic again.

nice. So we saw that this is a song that is a good example of how we can create a song, a song using just this simple environment, which is the harmonic field of the major scale with triple chords. The music leaves nothing to be desired and is really complete.

We see that these are chords that already allow us to make very interesting sounds. Well guys, this was our first class on the harmonic field of the natural major scale, where we saw how to form the harmonic field using only triad chords. Triadis are widely used in popular music and you can find examples of songs made with this type of harmony, both in rock, country music and pop music in general.

Try to learn some songs from the pop repertoire in a major key and identify the chords with the harmonic field. As we are dealing with a subject that is deep in our knowledge of music theory, it is important that you know how to self-evaluate, that is, attending the class simply may not be enough to assimilate all the knowledge. So try to be demanding with yourself and study this content thoroughly, always trying to identify the occurrence of this subject in the songs you play.

If necessary, watch the class in parts to give yourself time to digest the information and be sure to print the booklet and do the exercises, okay? In the next class, we will see the harmonic field formed with tetra chords. I hope you enjoyed.

If you have any questions or suggestions, just comment below the video.