Electronic Music Theory: Parallel Harmony in the House w/ Pat Cupo

One giant perk I get from working at Dubspot is that I am surrounded by people who, like myself, are constantly digging for good music whether it’s in record shops, the internet, or themselves. More than that, these people have a deep rooted need to share that music with others (lucky me). A genre of music that I’ve finally learned to appreciate during my time here is house. When I listen to it, I always notice two things: 1) Man, it’s funky and 2) they’re really into “parallel harmony”. Using the same guidelines from my previous post, though slightly altered and rearranged, I’d like to show you what gives house it’s signature sound apart from the driving drum beat, percussion parts, and tempo.

Disclaimer: Keep in mind that this technique can be used in any genre of music, and not all house tracks utilize it. So if you’re into writing “minimal-deep-tech-step”, then feel free to try this stuff out on your tracks. On the flip side, if you produce house, don’t feel obligated to use it. Trust your ears and write what makes you feel good.

1a) Create a singable line that supports the tonic note.

For this example I’m going to write in the key of D Minor. I’ll start by getting the D Natural Minor scale in my ears (btw, I say “natural minor” because there’s more than one kind of minor scale):

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

D Minor Scale

Now I want to create a singable line – a.k.a. melody – using the notes from that scale. There’s tons of ways to write good melodies, but the first that everyone should learn is to sing your melody out loud. Yes, use your voice – it’s OK. Sing a line using the notes of the scale you’ve choosen and then do your best to write down what you were singing. Here’s part of the melody I’ve started:

Step 1a – Melody

1b) The next to last note must move by 2nd, Perfect 4th, or Perfect 5th to the last note.

You might recall this guideline from my previous tutorial as it applied to chord progressions. The same thing applies to good melody writing. Actually, this is as good a time as any to tell you the truth about chords – they came from melodies. Imagine three people singing three different but related melodies. Now, freeze them in time and what do you hear? You hear a chord. The point is that the rules from writing simultaneous melodies, which is known as “counterpoint”, carried over into writing chord progressions. Here’s my melody where the next to last note will go up a second (notice that the MIDI has been hi-lighted):

Step 1b

1c) Begin and end on the same note.

Again here’s another guideline that we saw in the previous tutorial. It’s a good thing to reinforce the tonic and beginning and ending on the same note does just that. Here’s the melody in it’s entirety:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Step 1c

2) Use only one type of chord, major or minor only, and apply it to each note of the melody.

Did you know that there are 222 types (structures, qualities) of chords in a 12 note system? That’s a lot to choose from so it’s a good idea when you’re learning to compose to limit yourself from the start. Now – Pick one: major or minor? Since 99.9% of electronic music is in a minor key, I’ll go with the minor chord.

Take that chord that you picked and apply it to every note you wrote in your melody. Use the notes in the melody as the roots of the chords to keep things simple. Here’s what my melody looks and sounds like:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Step 2

Hear the difference? Does this type of harmony sound familiar? How would you describe this progression? I would say that it’s a little jarring at first, but my ears quickly get used to it. This is what parallel harmony sounds like – it’s one chord structure being transposed (shifted) from one place to another. Now let’s test your ears. In the following audio example, I’ve changed one of the chords from my track to a major chord. Press play, close your eyes, and see if you can hear the major chord pop out at you:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Step 2 – Wrong Chord

Hear it? If you didn’t, try again. There should be one chord that does not sound like the others. In the following picture you can check your answer (it’s hi-lighted):

Parallel Harmony in Action

I have a little confession to make – the melody I wrote is not mine. Like I mentioned above, I am lucky to be surrounded by people who introduce me to good music, and one production duo that I’ve been introduce to within the past year is Sepalcure. Their new self-titled album just came out on Hotflush Recordings (like yesterday for me as I write this) and I noticed some use of parallel harmony in their tracks. The melody I showed you comes from their track “Pencil Pimp” and comes in at the 0:28 mark. Chek it out (interesting video too):

So now you have another way to use harmony, one that starts from where it all started – melody. If you want to go further back in time to find parallel harmony, a good place to start is with french composers like Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. Coming up soon we’ll start getting into some rhythmic topics that will help you build better beats.

Unravel electronic music’s origins, build your chops, learn the language and theory, and make and play music the way you want. Students will develop a deeper understanding of the roots and lineage of a variety of electronic and dance music, strengthen their keyboard skills, and learn valuable music theory skills, deepening their creative practice and facilitating effective collaborations with musical partners.

What’s Included:

Essential Music Foundations Level 1: Pads & Rhythmic Theory
Essential Music Foundations Level 2: Keys & Melodic Theory
Essential Music Foundations Level 1: Electronic Music Appreciation

This course exceeded my expectations. I went through everything I needed to have a solid knowledge of basic music theory.
- Jonathan Crespo, Miami

EMF has been an amazing experience! I didn’t realize I was going to learn so much about electronic music history, something my generation missed.
- Yianno Koumi, United Kingdom

Our music production program is custom-tailored to fit your musical style. You can choose from several Digital Audio Workstations including Ableton Live, Logic Pro, or Propellerhead’s Reason.

After completing this program, you will leave with 4 completed tracks (EP), a remix entered in an active contest, a scored commercial to widen your scope, and the Dubspot Producer’s Certificate in Ableton Live.

What’s Included:

Ableton Live Level 1: Shake Hands with Live
Ableton Live Level 2: Completing Your First Track
Ableton Live Level 3: Production Essentials
Ableton Live Level 4: Sound Design & Instrumentation
Ableton Live Level 5: Advanced Composition & Production
Ableton Live Level 6: Taking Your EP Global

“So far the experience through Dubspot is incredible, and I can’t wait to go through the next levels. It’s just getting better each week, and I can not wait to start putting an EP together, not just being able to put a successful track together!” - Dan Carter, United Kingdom

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

Share|

Slam
11/22/2011

I love those music theory tutorials.
Please don’t stop making them !

Michael hatsis
11/22/2011

All around great tutorial. Learned a bunch. Keep the theory stuff comming!

Dennis DeSantis
11/22/2011

Nice tutorial, Pat.

Another tip for easily creating parallel harmony is to use “chord generation” tools like Ableton Live’s Chord MIDI effect. Since these tools simply add one or more notes at a fixed interval from the played note, the generated chords will always be parallel to one another.

Dubspot

music foundations, ableton live, dubspot homepage, featured, production