I think that there's another element that you left out of your thought provoking discussion on harmony. When you look at the basso continuo or a whole partimento, you notice notes written on a clef read within the passage of music. Music occurs in time (even rubato), hence note durations and measure lines. Harmonic rhythm--the way that the harmony moves through time is just as important as the tension/release of the individual notes. When you look at how pedal points operate in time--they create suspension and tension within the context of the meter. Rhythm and pulse are just as important in classical music as they are in jazz. Unfortunately, rhythm and pulse are often the MOST overlooked aspects of music, regardless of genre. Even music that operates "out of time" still has a pulse. Bass is important, but so is the rhythm and pulse. Just a thought.
I understand your point; and thank you for this video. One of my favorite sayings is, "Two things can be true at the same time." In my view, bass progression AND chords drive harmonic movement. The tension/dissonance in chords such as Dominant Sevenths and Diminished chords is a big part of harmonic movement, of tension and release. AND bass movement drives harmonic progression, too, as you said. Both equally important. Like harmony and melody; both are equally important, and one "suggests" the other. Uh oh, lol, did I just open the door to a friendly debate on THAT subject, now?? ;) Peace and love, DJ
I agree. The repeated D note in the last bar proves this too as the bass note is not moving but the harmonic progression is. Therefore the chords are driving the harmony. I think the example shows the bass notes drive the communication with the performer but all the notes of the chord drive the harmonic movement. Thanks for the video Robin, really great to ponder and dissect music from different viewpoints :)
I play bass with a guitarist and pianist in a Friday-night worship service. There is a song we do regularly that the guitarist changes because she's uncomfortable playing inverted chords and suspended chords. The result is jarring to my ears and no bass run I play helps it sound better. You are definitely correct. She needs to follow the notes in the inverted chord. Worse, is that she replaces the suspended IV chord with Dominant 7. It drives me crazy.
The progression is I, V(1st Inversion), vi7, IV(Suspended 2nd) and the bass notes move the progression. It's a recurring phrase in the intro and between the sections. I think she's also changing the vi7. lol.
Yes inversions in the bass can be confusing for composers too. It's quite common to hear people attempt to make music where every chord has a bass note in 1st inversion (or worse 2nd inversion). Very unsatisfying to listen to.
A bass note is part of a chord, as is a melody note and resultantly, it is a chord progression, not a bass progression. Take the following notes: C, A, D, G. Listening to such a bass line in the absence of anything else, one would naturally think C, Am. Dm, G. However, C, A7, D7, G7 is fairly common as well. Having a strong jazz background, I have a fondness for Cm7, Am7b5, Dm7b5, G7b9, a dramatically different progression and mood, but one that still dictates the same bass line. A chord progression must comply with a melody first, then bass notes are selected as part of the entire chord. A D bass note under an F triad creates a Dm7 chord and the listener hears Dm7 for that moment, just as the listener hears Cma7 if the leading melody instrument plays a B. Chords and chord progressions are heard in their entirety, just because a progression can be implied by a single note does not mean the entire progression is driven by the bass. A static pedal tone held through multiple chord changes disproves this idea.
i do not get it! What do you want to present and talk so boring about? i stopped after 3.16 minutes. Please try to get it yourself and then start again…..
