{"id":396,"date":"2011-05-10T11:37:05","date_gmt":"2011-05-10T11:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.krammer.nl\/blog\/en\/?p=396"},"modified":"2018-11-22T19:20:24","modified_gmt":"2018-11-22T19:20:24","slug":"reharmonisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.krammer.nl\/blog\/en\/reharmonisation\/","title":{"rendered":"Reharmonisation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"new\"<\/a>Reharmonisation<\/em> means changing the chords of a song, for example when you are making an arrangement. It is quite common in jazz and far less common in pop music. A lot of reharmonisation techniques will result in a jazzy sound.<\/p>\n

In reharmonizing you have an enormous range of possibilities. If you have limited experience in this field, you might be overwhelmed by that. Therefore, I have made a list of techniques you might use to find new chords. The techniques go from rather easy to increasingly complex. <\/p>\n

All examples below are based on the following chords:
\n |   C   |   F   |   DM   |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Technique 1. Put additions in the chords<\/h3>\n

Enrich the chords by adding notes to the triads, for example a seventh or a ninth:
\n |   C9  |   F^  |   DM7   |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nYou might also create harmonies with five notes:
\n |   C^9  |   F96  |   DM79  |   G76  |   C96  |<\/quote>
\nEspecially in the dominant seventh chord a lot of extensions are possible. Instead of a ninth you might choose a <9<\/q>, <10<\/q> of >11<\/q>:
\n |   C   |   F   |   DM   |   G7<9  |   C   |<\/quote><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Technique 2. Change the third or fifth of the chord<\/h3>\n

Instead of adding notes to the harmonies, you might move the notes of the triad. For example, change the third into an sus4<\/q>:
\n |   C   |   F   |   DM   |   G7sus4  |   C   |<\/quote>
\nYou might change the fifth to a flat fifth:
\n |   C   |   F   |   DM<5  |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nOr you might change it to a sharp fifth:
\n |   C   |   F   |   DM   |   G7>5  |   C   |<\/quote><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Technique 3. Put in a chord that leads to an existing chord<\/h3>\n

In these chords F<\/q> is sounding before DM<\/q>, though this chord does not really ‘lead’ to DM<\/q>, according to the circle of fifth. However, the chord AM<\/q> does lead to DM<\/q>. Therefore, it might be a good option to replace the F<\/q> by AM<\/q>:
\n |   C   |   AM   |   DM   |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nAnother option is to replace F<\/q> by A7<\/q>, because that chords leads to DM<\/q> as well:
\n |   C   |   A7   |   DM   |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nIn the same manner, you might replace DM<\/q> with D7<\/q>, because it leads to G<\/q>:
\n |   C   |   F   |   D7   |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nAnother way to describe this technique is: go back<\/em> one step in the circle of fifth, starting from one of the existing chords.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Technique 4. Put in a chord that follows from an existing chord<\/h3>\n

Like mentioned above, F<\/q> is before DM<\/q>, though it doesn’t lead to that harmony. A chord that you might expect after F<\/q> is B@<\/q>. Thus, you might replace DM<\/q> by B@<\/q>:
\n |   C   |   F   |   B@  |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nAnother way to describe this technique is: go on<\/em> one step in the circle of fifth, starting from one of the existing chords.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Technique 5. Replace an existing chord by two chords<\/h3>\n

Instead of replace a chord by another one, you might insert a chord. You might make up the inserted chord with one of the techniques mentioned above. Inserting a chord creates a lot of possibilities. Here are some ideas.<\/p>\n

You might replace C<\/q> by C<\/q> and C7<\/q>, because the latter harmony leads to F<\/q>:
\n |   C   C7   |   F   |   DM   |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nYou might replace C<\/q> by Csus4<\/q> en C<\/q>, because Csus4<\/q> resolves to C<\/q>:
\n |   Csus4   C   |   F   |   DM   |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nIf you do the above, it will sound nice if you do the same on F<\/q>, creating some symmetry in the harmonies:
\n |   Csus4   C   |   Fsus4 F   |   DM   |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nA chord that leads to C<\/q> as well is GM<\/q>. Therefore you might replace C<\/q> by GM<\/q> en C<\/q>. A minor chord GM<\/q> will sound more interesting than a major chord G<\/q>, because then the chords are the scale degrees II and V for F<\/q>:
\n |   GM   C   |   F   |   DM   |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nYou might replace F<\/q> by F<\/q> en B@<\/q>, because the former leads to the latter in the circle of fifth:
\n |   C   |   F   B@   |   DM   |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nYou might replace DM<\/q> by AM<\/q> and DM<\/q>, because AM<\/q> leads to DM<\/q>:
\n |   C   |   F   |   AM   DM   |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nOr you might replace DM<\/q> by A7<\/q> and DM<\/q>:
\n |   C   |   F   |   A7   DM   |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nIn the same manner, you might replace G7<\/q> by D7<\/q> and G7<\/q>:
\n |   C   |   F   |   DM   |   D7   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nIf you have already replaced DM<\/q> by D7<\/q>, you might replace G7<\/q> by DM7<\/q> and G7<\/q>:
\n |   C   |   F   |   D7   |   DM   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nAn option that is used a lot is to replace the dominant chord on the scale degree V (G7<\/q> in this example) by a sus4<\/q> chord and its resolution:
\n |   C   |   F   |   DM   |   G7sus4   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nFinally, the last chord C<\/q> might be replaced in the same manner by a sus4<\/q> chord plus resolution:
\n |   C   |   F   |   DM   |   G7   |   Csus4   C   |<\/quote><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Split several chords<\/h3>\n

If you have split the chords on one spot, you might continue to do that, zo the harmonic speed will be constant. If you insert a dominant chord before each chord, we get the following harmonies:
\n |   C   C7   |   F   A7   |   DM   D7   |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nUsing all these dominant chords, the harmonies get a real drive, creating a kind of bluesy feel.<\/p>\n

Instead of dominant chords, you might insert harmonies that fit in the key:
\n |   C   C^  |   F   AM7   |   DM   DM7   |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nThe atmosphere of these chords is definitely sweeter than the previous example.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Technique 6. Tritone substitution<\/h3>\n

Now we get to the difficult part. A tritone substitution is replace a dominant chord by (more or less) the same chord a tritone lower. (A tritone<\/em> is a sharp fourth, literally it means three whole tones.)<\/p>\n

You might replace G7<\/q> by a chord a tritone lower, that is D@7<\/q>:
\n |   C   |   F   |   DM   |   D@7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nTritone substitutions sound good when there are sufficient jazzy extensions in the chords:
\n |   C^9  |   F796  |   DM79  |   D@79  |   C69  |<\/quote><\/p>\n

Combining techniques<\/h3>\n

All above techniques may be combined, of course. You might put and extensions to a chord (technique 1) and at the same to make it sus4<\/q> (technique 2):
\n |   C   |   F   |   DM   |   G79sus4  |   C   |<\/quote>
\nYou might replace a chord (technique 3 or 4) and directly apply a tritone substitution (technique 6):
\n |   C   |   E@7   |   DM   |   G7   |   C   |<\/quote>
\nIn the example above, we have replaced F<\/q> by the dominant of DM<\/q>, that is A7<\/q>. Subsequently, we have applied tritone substitution on F<\/q>, resulting in a E@7.<\/p>\n

Think up harmonies that fit the melody<\/h3>\n

In all examples in the post, we didn’t take into account any melody. If you’re working on a real song, the chords you make up may be incompatible with the melody. In that case you have to look for other possibilities of course (or change the melody).<\/p>\n\n