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March 28, 2024, 08:22:47 AM

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The Genesis Chord

Started by Gazeuse, February 20, 2004, 07:53:44 PM

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Gazeuse

Here is a quick recap for those who care...

Before the board went phut, there was a thread in GD (Then GB) about John Cage's 4'33" in which I said that I'd rather listen to that than the work of the serial composers (Serial composers being those that view all notes as equal, creating tone rows of each degree of the scale and deriving all material from that, rather than using chords and harmony). The reason being that having been bought up with Western Diatonic music, my ear was attuned to the various rules that apply when making such music nice. By making each note 'equal' in serial (Or twelve tone music) the various ways in which tension can be built up and released in diatonic music, become void creating chaotic sounds which can't be understood by an audience, other than creating unsettling or horrific feelings.

There followed a discussion where I was trying to put forward that, like other art forms, there are certain 'rules' that needed to be kept to to make music in this style 'understandable' to an audience.

One rule which you will never find broken in western diatonic music is the anticipation of a resolution. I gave the example of the suspended fourth in the key of D (G) resolving to the major third (F#) while the G was still sounding. I made a rash statement that such a chord (D, F#, G, A) would never be found in a piece of music that you love.

Ambient Sheep (Confound him!!!) immediately came back with an example of this, in the right key and not only that, but from an album which I've loved for a long time...Wind And Wuthering by Genesis.

Well, I've finally dug out my vinyl copy of the album, fired up my old radiogram and had a good listen to the bit of music in question.

Firstly, I was wrong to say that D, F#, G, A is inherently wrong. Like many things, it's a matter of context. The chord following (Gmajor - G, B, D) is a resolution of the previous discord. A better illustration of my point would be to add a C to the resolution chord of G which follows. That is the suspension of the fourth while the B is the anticipated resolution of it and surely, noone can find that pleasant.

In fact, thinking about it, the G, F# sounding together is quite like a trill between those two notes which would have been a quite respectable ornament for a perfect cadence since Bach's time.

So there you go. That really made me think and I'm grateful to you all (Especially Sheepy) for that...I'm off to clash a few more anticipated resolutions to see what happens.