Crafting the Sonic Canvas: Building Chords and Harmonic Progressions in Electronic Music

This chapter delves into the fundamental building blocks of musical harmony – chords and progressions – specifically tailored for the landscape of electronic music production. While the principles of harmony are universal, their application in electronic genres often involves unique considerations regarding sound design, rhythmic interplay, and the creation of specific moods and energy levels. Mastering these concepts will unlock a vast palette of emotional expression and sonic richness in your tracks.

1. The Foundation: Understanding Chords

At its core, a chord is a combination of three or more notes played simultaneously, creating a unified harmonic sound. Chords are typically built upon scales, and understanding the relationship between scales and chords is the first step in crafting compelling harmony.

1.1 Intervals: The Building Blocks of Chords

Before constructing chords, we must understand intervals – the distance between two notes. Intervals are measured in semitones and have specific names (e.g., minor second, major third, perfect fifth). These names describe the quality and size of the interval, which in turn dictates the quality of the chords built upon them. In electronic music, experimenting with both consonant (pleasing) and dissonant (tense) intervals is crucial for creating interest and emotional impact.

1.2 Triads: The Essential Three-Note Chords

The most basic type of chord is the triad, consisting of three notes: the root, the third, and the fifth. The quality of the third (major or minor) and the fifth (perfect, diminished, or augmented) determines the type of triad:

• Major Triad: Root + Major Third + Perfect Fifth (e.g., C-E-G). Often perceived as happy or bright.
• Minor Triad: Root + Minor Third + Perfect Fifth (e.g., C-E♭-G). Often perceived as sad or melancholic.
• Diminished Triad: Root + Minor Third + Diminished Fifth (e.g., C-E♭-G♭). Creates tension and can sound dissonant or mysterious.
• Augmented Triad: Root + Major Third + Augmented Fifth (e.g., C-E-G♯). Creates tension and can sound spatially expansive or unresolved.

In electronic music, these basic triads form the backbone of many harmonic ideas, often layered with other sounds or manipulated with effects.

1.3 Seventh Chords and Beyond: Adding Color and Complexity

Adding a fourth note, the seventh, to a triad creates a seventh chord. These chords introduce more harmonic color and complexity and are widely used in electronic music for their richer textures. Common seventh chord types include:

• Major Seventh (Maj7): Major Triad + Major Seventh (e.g., C-E-G-B). Smooth and often dreamy or sophisticated.
• Minor Seventh (m7): Minor Triad + Minor Seventh (e.g., C-E♭-G-B♭). Mellow and often used in chill or deep house.
• Dominant Seventh (7): Major Triad + Minor Seventh (e.g., C-E-G-B♭). Creates strong tension and has a pull towards resolution, essential in many harmonic progressions.
• Half-Diminished Seventh (m7b5): Diminished Triad + Minor Seventh (e.g., C-E♭-G♭-B♭). Tense and often used in jazz-influenced electronic genres or for creating dramatic moments.
• Diminished Seventh (dim7): Diminished Triad + Diminished Seventh (e.g., C-E♭-G♭-B♭♭ (A)). Highly dissonant and useful for creating extreme tension or chromatic movement.

Beyond seventh chords, you can add further extensions like ninths, eleventh, and thirteenths, derived from the scale. These extended chords introduce even more complex voicings and can create lush, atmospheric, or jazzy textures often found in genres like future bass or ambient electronic music.

1.4 Suspended Chords: Delaying Resolution

Suspended chords (sus chords) replace the third of a triad with either a major second (sus2) or a perfect fourth (sus4). This removes the major/minor quality and creates a feeling of suspension, as the ear anticipates the resolution of the suspended note back to the third. Sus chords are excellent for adding a floating or unresolved quality to progressions, building anticipation before resolving to a major or minor chord.

1.5 Chord Inversions: Shaping the Harmonic Texture

Chord inversions occur when a note other than the root is the lowest note in the chord. Inversions change the sonic character of a chord without changing its fundamental harmony.

• Root Position: The root is the lowest note.
• First Inversion: The third is the lowest note.
• Second Inversion: The fifth is the lowest note.
• Third Inversion: The seventh is the lowest note¹ (for seventh chords).

Using inversions is crucial in electronic music for creating smooth voice leading (the smooth movement of individual notes between chords) and for shaping the bassline, even if the bassline isn’t playing the root of every chord. This adds depth and flow to your harmonic progressions.

2. Weaving the Tapestry: Constructing Harmonic Progressions

A harmonic progression is a series of chords played in sequence. The way chords follow each other creates musical movement, tension, and release, forming the emotional backbone of a track.

2.1 Diatonic Harmony: Chords Within a Key

Diatonic harmony utilizes only the chords built from the notes of a specific scale (key). Each degree of the scale has a corresponding diatonic chord. In a major key, the diatonic triads are typically:

• I: Major
• ii: Minor
• iii: Minor
• IV: Major
• V: Major
• vi: Minor
• vii°: Diminished

And the diatonic seventh chords are:

• Imaj7
• ii m7
• iii m7
• IVmaj7
• V7
• vi m7
• vii m7b5

Understanding diatonic harmony provides a solid framework for creating consonant and predictable progressions that establish a clear tonal center. Many popular electronic music progressions are diatonic.

2.2 Common Harmonic Progressions in Electronic Music

Certain chord progressions have become staples in various electronic music genres due to their emotional impact and effectiveness on the dance floor. Examples include:

• I-V-vi-IV: A ubiquitous progression found in many pop and electronic tracks, often creating a sense of longing or introspection.
• ii-V-I: Borrowed from jazz, this progression provides a strong sense of resolution and is common in house and more harmonically complex electronic music.
• vi-IV-I-V: Another popular progression, offering a balance of melancholy (vi) and uplift (I, V).
• Minor Key Progressions: Progressions in minor keys (e.g., i-VI-VII, i-iv-v) are prevalent in genres like techno, drum and bass, and dubstep, contributing to darker or more intense moods.

Analyzing your favorite electronic tracks to identify the chord progressions used can be an excellent way to learn and find inspiration.

2.3 Beyond Diatonicism: Adding Color and Interest

While diatonic harmony is foundational, venturing beyond the confines of a single key can add significant color and interest to your progressions.

• Borrowed Chords (Modal Interchange): Incorporating chords from parallel keys (a major key and its parallel minor, for example) can introduce unexpected emotional shifts. Borrowing chords like the ♭III, iv, or ♭VI from the parallel minor into a major key progression can add a touch of melancholy or drama.
• Modes: Exploring musical modes other than the standard major and minor scales (Ionian and Aeolian) can unlock distinct harmonic flavors. Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, and Locrian modes each have unique intervallic structures and associated moods, offering fresh harmonic possibilities for electronic music.
• Chromaticism: Using notes and chords outside the diatonic scale temporarily can create tension and pull the harmony in unexpected directions.

2.4 Voice Leading: Smooth Transitions Between Chords

Good voice leading focuses on the smooth movement of individual notes (or “voices”) from one chord to the next. By minimizing large leaps in the individual lines, you create a more connected and less disjointed sound. This is particularly important when arranging chords across different synths or layers in your electronic track. Using chord inversions is a key technique for achieving smooth voice leading.

2.5 Rhythmic Harmony: The Pulse of the Progression

In electronic music, the rhythm and timing of chord changes are just as crucial as the chords themselves.

• Chord Stabs: Short, percussive chord hits are a hallmark of many electronic genres, providing rhythmic drive and harmonic punctuation.
• Pads and Sustained Chords: Long, evolving pad sounds can create atmosphere and provide a harmonic bed for other elements.
• Arpeggios: Playing the notes of a chord in sequence rather than simultaneously can create rhythmic patterns and melodic interest while outlining the harmony. Arpeggiators are powerful tools in electronic music production for generating complex rhythmic and melodic patterns from chords.
• Sidechain Compression: Using sidechain compression on pads or sustained chords triggered by the kick drum creates a pumping rhythmic effect that is highly characteristic of electronic music.

2.6 Creating Tension and Release

Effective harmonic progressions utilize tension and release to create emotional arcs and keep the listener engaged.

• Dissonance: Employing dissonant intervals or chords creates tension that craves resolution.
• Dominant Function: Dominant chords (especially the V7) have a strong pull towards the tonic (I), providing a natural sense of resolution.
• Suspension and Anticipation: Sus chords and delayed resolutions build anticipation.
• Harmonic Rhythm: The rate at which chords change influences the sense of movement and tension. Faster harmonic rhythm can increase energy, while slower harmonic rhythm can create a more spacious or introspective feel.

3. Implementation in the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)

Translating harmonic concepts into a finished electronic track involves utilizing the tools within your DAW.

3.1 MIDI Programming: Bringing Chords to Life

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is the standard for communicating musical information in a DAW. You will program your chord progressions using MIDI clips, specifying the notes, their duration, and velocity. Understanding how to edit and manipulate MIDI is essential for creating precise and expressive harmonic performances.

3.2 Utilizing Virtual Instruments and Synthesizers

The sound design of your chords is paramount in electronic music. Experiment with different virtual instruments and synthesizers to find the right timbres to complement your harmonic ideas. Pads, stabs, plucked sounds, and arpeggiated textures all contribute to the overall harmonic landscape.

3.3 Effects Processing: Shaping the Harmonic Sound

Effects play a vital role in shaping the sound of your chords and progressions in electronic music. Reverb and delay can create space and atmosphere, while distortion and saturation can add warmth and grit. Filtering can sculpt the tonal character of chords over time, and modulation effects like chorus or flanger can add movement and interest. Sidechain compression, as mentioned earlier, is a key effect for integrating harmony rhythmically with other elements.

Conclusion

Building compelling chords and harmonic progressions in electronic music is a journey of understanding fundamental theory and creatively applying it within the context of electronic sound design and rhythmic structures. By exploring intervals, different chord types, common and less common progressions, voice leading, and rhythmic considerations, you can craft harmony that is both musically engaging and emotionally resonant, elevating your electronic productions to new heights. Experimentation and listening critically to the harmony in your favorite tracks are key to developing your own unique harmonic voice.