Trnsition or passing chords

Ashley D\'Silva · From: Perth , Australia

Although I have been playing for about 5 years I still have trouble understanding the basics behind playing / selecting to play passing chords.

Is there some basic understanding behind this? All I seem to play are notes around the chaords in the same bar position.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks from "Down Under in Perth"

Ashley

Joe Butcher · From: Dallas,Texas, USA

Heres a few ideas.

In a I to IV progression try these ideas.

play a V minor before you go to the IV

or

Play a 1 dom7 before going to the IV

or

if you are playing the 1 in an open position (ie: 3rd fret, key of G) try half-pedaling your "a" pedal just before going to the IV.

In a V to I progression try playing a II- before the V, or even before the 1.

Those are basic ideas but when you apply them you will realize you've heard them a million times.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Well, it's a complex topic. The general idea is to create motion and interest in the chord progression - the passing chords need to create tension that naturally wants to resolve to the next chord in the progression.

One way to do this is to smoothly move one or more voices in a chord to create that tension. I really like this when I want a smooth melodic transition from one chord to the next.

For example, sometimes just moving one note in a chord does it. For example, in the key of C, going from Cmaj to C#dim creates a natural tension to resolve to Dmin. The C#dim differs from Cmaj by only a single note - C moves to C# - and then the whole thing can naturally move to Dmin. One can continue up through Ddim to either Emin or the 2nd inversion of Cmaj, and it all sounds very smooth on a C-Dmin-Emin or C-Dmin-C progression, with the bass note leading the melody chromatically from C to C# to D to D# to E. A lot of modern jazz piano and guitar playing uses various kinds of moving voices like this to get a strong chord-melody flavor. Naturally, a lot of these ideas came originally from the classical music masters.

The examples Joe gave can be done with pretty simple smooth changes - for example going from I to IV with a v (min) passing chord can be done in the key of C via Cmaj (2nd inv - G C E) to Gmin (G Bb D) to Fmaj (F A C). One could add a passing Cmin (2nd inv - G C Eb) between Cmaj and Gmin, and a passing Gdim (G Bb Db) between Gmin and Fmaj to create even further chord motion, for a total Cmaj-Cmin-Gmin-Gdim-Fmaj phrase. Or the example going from I to IV with Idom7 passing can be done in C via Cmaj7 (C E G B) to C7(C E G Bb) to F (2nd inv - C F A). These are just some basic ideas. In practice, it's not always easy on guitar because the fingerings to get smooth voicing transitions are sometimes difficult. On steel, it's a matter of having and knowing how to make the right pedal and lever changes as well as bar movements and/or slants to get the moving voices. I have a lot of work to do on this myself. But to me, interesting and complex moving voices are a key feature of the instrument.

Of course, there are lots of approaches to passing chords. This can get as complex as you like, and people have analyzed and published lots about it. I tend to find useful books on this written for piano and guitar. Two I found useful early on were "Chords and Progressions for Jazz and Popular Guitar" by Arnie Berle (Amsco) and "Guitar Fingerboard Harmony" by Ed McGuire (Mel Bay).

{edited to fix an error}

Ashley D\'Silva · From: Perth , Australia

Joe and Dave, thanks for the heads up. your responses have certainly given me some food for thougt.

Thanks again.

Ashley

Josh Yenne · From: Sonoma California

Nice.. I'll read Dave response as he's always got good things to say...

Funny... I always tell students this instrument WILL teach you chord subs....

Like the first comment... play a minor 5 or a dominant 1...

well if we are in the key of G... hmmm... play that D minor on say.. the first fret with A pedal right?

Yup... D minor for sure!

Or you could do the dominant one.. by... doing that.. um... "A" pedal on fret one .... which is definitely a G dominant.... and .. well definitely the SAME exact spot. Smile

Mike Neer · From: NJ

One thing you might want to look into and gain an understanding of is the use of "secondary dominant" chords, which help to pivot away from and back to the target chord.

This is particularly useful in situations where you are playing over a static chord and need some kind of motion. Motion doesn't usually happen if you are only playing the chord tones of the chord of the moment, but when you add secondary dominants to the mix, it creates a sense of motion.

It's really important to listen carefully to what piano players are doing when they play chord changes.
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Larry Allen · From: Kapaa, Kauai,Hawaii

Learn your chord scales..C Dm Em F etc.. Very Happy

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Josh Yenne · From: Sonoma California

Yes, I think the OP was more sort of asking about really sexy leading chords with tons of tension like augmented chords and diminished chords, etc. and the way we can milk them on the pedal steel.

At least that’s how I took it

But yes the secondary dominant thing is Exceedingly helpful. To anyone confused essentially one way to look at it is you can put the dominant of any chord. Literally major or minor that you were going to. You can put the dominant five chord of that chord before it leading to it

It’s often explained an incredibly complicated ways to basically say a very simple concept. Which I’ve literally started to think almost feels like a conspiracy by music schools and such.

The amount of students I get in that are absolutely baffled about, and have wasted so much time on, modes is almost infuriating to me at this point. The amount of times I’ve had to basically break it down and get them to stop, thinking so much and explain to them “if you are playing the major scale over this major scale progression, and you are framing the chords by hitting a chord tone on the downbeat of the change, and then playing inside of that scale you are playing the modes by definition whether you want to or not 😂 “

The amount of times I’ve had to say “yes technically here you are playing D, Dorian F, frygian, G mixolydian C Ionian. But screw it doesn’t matter it’s just C major“

When that student is just trying to grasp how to play over a simple folk song, and someone has convinced them, they have to memorize all these new positions because you have to know that on the four chord Frigon, there is a sharp for note in that scale and mixolydian, a flat, seven blah blah blah such a terrible way to look at it, and so confusing for people

Fred Treece · From: California, USA

Josh-
If there is an easier way for a novice to really grasp what people who know their music theory (and don’t have to think about it anymore) are trying to explain, I have not seen it. And I’ve been looking and studying for a loooong time now. It’s just up to the student, really, how deep they want to go and how thorough they want to be on their musical journey. The simple/easy way does not exist, mainly because the learning process is different for everyone, and no single teaching process will work for everyone.

I think this concept of using a secondary dominant as a passing (or leading) chord has been explained very well in an introductory way here. The other passing chord ideas that have been mentioned are valid too. Glad somebody mentioned chord scales. Talk about a rabbit hole though…

Tom Spaulding · From: Tennessee, USA

Here's a link to a blog post that covers some info about this: Chord Cadences

Tim Toberer · From: Nebraska, USA

Jim Pollard · From: Cedar Park, Texas, USA

I've recently been introduced to the idea of diminished chords as passing chords. Diminished chords also repeat every three frets. So with a little planning you can set yourself up with the most convenient location. If you were heading for a pedals up G chord a nearby diminished chord would be to move your bar down to the second fret and raising your E's. The effect being to keep your root note the same but lowering your third and fifth notes by a half step. Now that you're playing that diminished chord let it go while sliding to the third fret. Now try that with the raised E diminished chords at the 5th, 8th, and 11th frets. Experiment forever.

Fred Treece · From: California, USA

The problem for me was that I didn’t just want to know What chord works when leading into another, I had to know Why and How. I think this is what Josh Yenne is getting at with the comments in his post regarding theoretical complexity. Maybe knowing why or how something works isn’t as important for everyone, but for me it was the key that unlocked the door to everything I was hearing other musicians doing in what sounded like effortless improvisation, chordal or single-note wise.

Taking the example given in an earlier response, playing Dm over a G chord before G changes to C. Hey, cool. That sounds good. Mission accomplished.

Not so fast. Not for me anyway.

You don’t have to be a music theory giant to know that D is the 5 of a G triad. But why D minor? What are the relationships of the notes in a Dm triad to G major? How do I play that and when is the best time to throw it into the change to C? That’s the science that I had to know.

I’m not going to waste anyone’s time here, including my own, trying to spell it all out. Especially because it’s all been done countless times before, and I’m pretty sure the interest in this post was down to near 0% about 3 paragraphs ago.

But just wanted to mention two books that answered just about every chord theory question I ever had - Chord Chemistry and Modern Chord Progressions, by Ted Greene. They are guitar-centric, so everything made sense to my guitarded brain. Easily transferable information to pedal steel, although the exact chord voicings may not be easily duplicated. If you play guitar, get those books and start getting it.

Fred Treece · From: California, USA

Regarding secondary dominants, the ii chord of a stationary I chord also generates some interest in an otherwise dull situation.
|G / / / | G / Am / | G / / / | etc.
Also
| G / / / | G / Am D7 | G / / / | etc.

Am is the 5m of D7.
All 3 notes of the Am triad are included in a D9 chord.
Take that down the rabbit hole.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Very complex topic indeed and a great question. This is one of those things where some theory cannot be discounted. Passing chords or transitions, many times make the entire mood of a song.

Sometimes formal chord spellings or names are not the answer, it could be one note added to a chord or subtracted. It breaks or makes tension. Its very hard to describe here in writing as many of these things you have to hear for them to make sense.

I would suggest locating a local established Guitar or Piano player and sit with them for an hour. Just to talk about passing/transition chords and/or notes. You will find that they have a boat load of options they use . They can play and execute what they do, you can hear whats taking place. Its not difficult or hard but its part of the journey to step out of the box.

IF you lived close to me you would be welcome to my home any time , no charge either ! Smile

When I taught, these are some of the things we discussed, how to get from point A to point B.

Great question and topic

best

tp
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