Lesson - 57 : Comparison of Chords of Major Vs Harmonic Minor Scales

Having understood the different chords/triads available in both Major Scale and in Harmonic Minor Scale, let us compare them.

The following table is made to have a comprehensive idea of triads of both the Major and Harmonic Minor Scales..!




You can notice from the above table that, only in cases of the Dominant traids and the Leading Note triads, both the chords type matches..!

Remember this point!

Because in case of modulations from a Major Scale to Minor Scale or vice versa, this is one chord, like a railway junction, where both can merge or both can separate after joining...!

All these may look baffling a little bit…for the first timer….!

But, you can appreciate its basically a simple mathematics and simple logics to arrive at them…!

What I am expecting from you initially, is to appreciate the various names of chords of Major scale and Minor scale and their relative characteristics etc.

Also, Try to play these chords in a broken sequence of notes and feel the difference of the major, minor, diminished and augmented chords.

Broken sequence, I mean playing the notes of the chord individually;

for example, play the Chord of C-Major as C, E, and G separately in sequence (we call it broken chords in WCM) and also play them together as C-E-G as a normal chord is played.

When you play a chord, unless you have very sharp ears, the sound of certain notes may get drowned also.

So practice in both way to appreciate the notes and Chord formed by the notes..!

We have made a reasonable starting with our brief encounters with chords like name and their nature etc.

This itself can give you a lot of proud moment since you have known a lot of jargons by now…!

You can be genuinely happy about that …!

But our searches and researches for the knowledge have to go on….!

Lesson - 56 : Chords of a Harmonic Minor Scale

In the previous lesson we saw the formation of chords/triads on various notes of a typical Major Scale.

Applying the same method, let us tabulate the triads that can be formed on a Harmonic Minor Scale.

In our case we will talk about the A-Harmonic Minor scale as our reference.

The notes forming the scale of A-Harmonic Minor are A-B-C-D-E-F-G# - A

(remember the leading note is sharpened in harmonic Minor).

The table of triads formation for A-Harmonic Minor scale will be as follows :




So, we can generalize from this table that, in a Harmonic Minor scale,

· the triads on Tonic and Sub-Dominant are Minor Chords,

· the triads on Dominant and Sub-Mediant are Major Chords,

· triads on Supertonic and Leading note are Diminished Chords

· and finally the triad on the Mediant is Augmented Chord.

Totally, we have 2 Minor chords, 2 Major chords, 2 Diminished chords and 1 Augmented chord in a Harmonic Minor scale.

The above is applicable to any Harmonic Minor scales formed on Sharps or Flats also.

Lesson - 55 : Chords of a Major Scale - Quick Start

Let us proceed with the study of different chords, (the triads as we normally know them for a three notes chords), that are coming on any Major Scale.

As decided earlier we will take C-Major as our example scale for our study.

The triads are formed by the adding of 1st , 3rd, and 5th notes together on any given note.

The notes of C-Major are C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C.

So the 7 triads that can be formed on the notes of C-Major are as follows :

Triad on C – the Tonic ------------------ C-E-G
Triad on D – the Super Tonic ---------- D-F-A
Triad on E – the Mediant --------------- E-G-B
Triad on F – the Sub-Dominant ------- F-A-C
Triad on G – the Dominant ------------- G-B-D
Triad on A – the Sub-Mediant --------- A-C-E
Triad on B – the Leading note --------- B-D-F

Now in order to name these chords, we should know the nature of intervals in between 1st & 3rd as well as 3rd & 5th .

Let us tabulate these intervals and hence the name of Chords derived as follows:



From the above table, we can summarise, for our easy remembering that, in a Major scale,

· the triads (chords of 3 notes) on the Tonic , Sub-Dominant and Dominant are Major Chords;

· the triads on Supertonic, Mediant, Sub-Mediant etc are Minor Chords;

· the triad formed on leading note is a Diminished Chord.

So 3 Major Chords, 3 Minor Chords, 1 Diminished chord are there in any Major Scale.

The above is applicable to any Major scale, be it on Sharps or on Flats…!

For example,

the triad on Dominant of G Major scale will be D - F# - A which is a Major chord…

(….must be major chord as per our generalisation above…!)

Another example, the triad on leading note of E-Major will be D# - F# - A , which is a Diminished Chord

(…yes….must be diminished chord… )

So, remembering the notes sequence of a Major Scale, we can easily write the chords formation and specify the characteristics of such triads based on the location of base note from Tonic.

Lesson - 54 : Chords - The Gateway to Harmony

Let us start with our first encounter with Chords!

As I promised, I always want to make the matter simpler….!

One step in that direction is to use only the scale of C-Major or A-Minor in our preliminary discussions …. !

For simplicity sake….. because……… as you know, these scales use only pure white notes and do not involve “accidentals” such as sharps and flats…!(of course you know, A-minor Scale anyhow will use the sharp in leading note ….!)

Once the basics are understood, you can apply the same principle to any Major scales or Minor scales with flats or sharps…!

Another problem is of our internet posting which has constraints of tabulating and picture embedding…etc.

So, I may adopt the method of explaining the vertical chords with horizontal writing and you have to bear with that…! You can re-write them in a scoresheet and study further…!

For example the Chord of C which is C, E, G which are coming one over another, I may write as C-E-G and so on. …!

(Of course, I will use the tabulation of rows and columns also to give better effect, wherever possible)

What is a Chord …?

Many of you who have heard that terms from various musical discussions or otherwise, immediately associate the Guitar and strumming of its strings with the name Chords …!

OK…. You have some idea…!

But I want to explain the definition of Chords in general term as “Playing more than one note at a time in any instrument ........ or......... Singing more than one note at a time! “

In general, as per WCM, Considering a particular scale, taking any note as the first note, basic Chords are formed when the notes of First, Third and Fifth are played together.

For example, in case of C-Major, considering the note D, the chords are formed when we play the notes D-F-A together.

The point to be noted is, these notes shall be the part of the scale we are considering…! (for example in case of G-Major, it will be D-F#-A, since G-Major is using F#, as we know)

Such Chord formed by 3 notes of ( 1st+3rd+5th ) is called a Triad….!

Hereafter, we will continue our discussions on Chords formed by three notes only, which are all triads..!

Now, as usual, naming conventions is what we shall know about….!

Similar to the interval names, the name of Chords also have two important ingredients…!

First one is the letter….( like C, D etc)…! This is selected as the letter on which the Chord construction starts. …! For example, in case of Chord formed by notes D-F-A, we select the letter D, which is the note on which the other two notes F and A are added to form the chord !

Second one is title, which expresses its quality … like, major, minor, augmented, diminished etc…. (which are similar to the name of the intervals)…!

But, you might have already noticed, a triad is formed with two intervals built one over another…

ie…interval between 1st and 3rd notes and the interval between 3rd and 5th notes!

So both the intervals put together determine the name of the chord…!

For naming of traids, the following conventions are followed :




In case of our Triad example D-F-A,

the interval between D and F is .....Minor..
and the interval between F and A is .....Major…!

So the chord is to be named as D-Minor…!

(The above example itself gives the hint to you, that a Major scale can have certain Minor Chords also and vice versa….)

So, now onwards be careful in realizing the terms like Major Scale, Major Interval and Major Chords etc…

we are talking about three entirely different entities…!

The collection of three notes together forming chord…can be done on any note taking that as starting note…!

So naturally, any scale which has 7 notes can have corresponding 7 chords/ triads also…! Isn’t it..!

We can name those seven Triads of Major scale as well as Minor Scale… In our next session…!

In the meanwhile, you can also have a try on that…. taking the C-Major and A-Minor as our model scales…! And as usual my request to you is, to play and feel those chords…!

Lesson - 53 : Inversion of Intervals

Now one more new concept we will learn and that is the Inversion of Intervals…

Many of you know that, in mathematics, any degree of angle can be expressed as the Complimentary of 180 degree also.

Same way, here also the interval measured in one direction can be complimented in the other direction backward (from the same base note) and that’s simple called inversion.

For example remember the Middle C.

If we measure the interval to a note G which is placed above in the Stave (meaning, in the key board you will travel upward to right from Middle C to locate this G..) the interval is Perfect 5th as we know that.

Suppose if we want measure the interval for G which is placed below the middle C in the stave, which will be coming in the Bass Clef..(meaning, you will travel downward to left from middle C to locate this G..), the interval if measure this will be Perfect 4th!

Keeping the C at center, the interval of C to G upwards – Perfect 5th. The inversion of this interval is C to G downwards is Perfect 4th.

Like this we may locate any inversion of intervals.

But there is a simple mathematical solution to that.

Any interval if you invert it, you have to deduct the interval number from 9, and the quality or name of the interval will be inverted as follows :



So Simple…!

For example C to D is a Major 2nd.

Its inversion ( C to D located in reverse direction) will be Minor (9-2 =7) so Minor 7th.

(You check it through semitone methods also).

Some more examples to explain :



And so on…….!

So with the above understandings and methodlogies, we can more or less master the intervals of any notes.

And Chords are built up of two or more intervals !

We will see about the Chords in our next session

Lesson - 52 : Refresh Knowledge on Intervals

Let us recall and reinforce some of our earlier understandings on Intervals.

(Please Refer to Lesson 22 ) (and other previous related lessons as you required!)

Intervals measure the distance between two notes and also the name given to them indicates the quality of interval.

We saw that Major Scale has the Perfect Intervals for 4th and 5th and all other intervals w.r.t. Tonic are Major intervals.

In case of Harmonic Minor Scale, the 3rd and 6th intervals are Minor and all other intervals are same as Major scale.

Then we also learnt the method of finding the intervals of any note to a note above it, this was measuring the number of semitones they were separated and based on the table we can name the intervals.

The reference table is reproduced below again :

In order to get any interval between any two notes, based on the difference of how many Semitones they are separated the following table can be used : (bracketed names are theoretical possibilities only, though sometimes may not have direct relevance in case of WCM)



Alternative way to calculate any interval is,

- assume the Major scale on the base note and
- measure the relative distance of the Major scale interval and
- adjust for the variations to get the final correct intervals.

For example, if we have to find the intervals between F and B, remember the scale of F major,
and we know in F-Major we get B-flat as the fourth note to give the Perfect 4th interval.

But in our case, we need the interval of B which is a semitone higher.

So the interval has to be Augmented 4th.

(To check it, if you measure the actual semitones separation based on the Keyboard visualization, this comes to 6 semitone; as per the above table, this is called the Augmented 4th since F and B is separated by 4 letters alphabetically, it cannot be 5th.)

So interval measurement ability is one pre-requisite skill while naming the chords etc.

So have some practice on that.

Aim is that even if we could not tell mentally, check leisurely using the keyboard figure and verify from the table and confirm yourself.

With time passing, you can do that mentally and quickly also.

Our aim is to understand the concept and not writing some exams now..!

So don’t worry about any complexity initially. In fact everything is simple mathematics of addition or subtraction !

Certain other basic formulae you shall remember are :




In nut shell, the path of semitone wise progress is

(Diminished---Minor---Major---Augmented) or
(Diminished---Perfect---Augmented)

In our next session we will see a new Concept "Inversion" of intervals.

Lesson-51: Harmony - The Basic Composing Tool - Part-2

So, to recapitulate once again, each of the vertically integrated notes in a harmonised music (e.g. four part or three part harmony) form the Chords….!

So please visualize the composing a song as a composing of chords structured one after another…!

What you are composing is not a single line song, but you are composing the whole orchestrations simultaneously…!

Though conceptually it looks simple, to compose in that fashion, you need a tremendous knowledge and control of complete concept of WCM.

Usually, in our film composing, what the composer forms the melody with his harmonium etc is (the first level composing to get approval from Director/Producer) the single line composing.

But while writing for orchestration, it will be the harmony writing of balance parts (three or four or multiple parts of harmony as required)!

IR writes such hundreds of notes forming chords and harmony in a flat half an hour approximately….!

Absolutely unbelievable speed……!

Each individual instrumentalists copy their parts separately while he goes on composing…..and so when composing is over, the full song is ready for rehearsal….!

You may feel that the simulatensous composing of multilines is complicated, but if you understand the basic principles and rules of chords and part writing based on Harmony, atleast the framework is very clear and starightforward…!

So what I am trying to make you visualise is a Top-Down approach of a song composing….!

To compose you shall follow Harmony Part writing…!

Part writing consists of forming Chords in succession !

Single Chord formation consist of writing notes vertically in the inter-related way.

That inter relation (in vertical direction) is all about the individual notes and the Chemistry / Physics/ Mathematics…of their INTERVALS….!

So, the fundamental learning block is “Interval”…and their quality…!

Now you can appreciate, why we were so much elaborating and stressing about the Intervals, while learning Major and Minor scales, in our earlier lessons …!

So, we will reinforce our knowledge of intervals, then learn the concept of chords and then the very minimum basics of Harmony writing…! In that order….!

I want to create some interest in you regarding Harmony subject, by requesting you to visualize the subject as a strategic key to unravel the mystery of composing a song in WCM way……which is the IR’s way…!

Listing and explaining of various rules of harmony is beyond the scope of my present effort…!

(A simple way to say that is “beyond my knowledge and capabilities”….! )

Becasue, The subject is so vast and amazing…to make anybody puzzled….

But our aim is, as usual, to understand the basics, concepts…in the mathematical way ….. and in a simple way….!

That will help you to appreciate the IR’s effort in a better manner…!

And who knows…one day some of you will get into the subject so deep to become a composer in future……!

To carry on the torch of IR…into another generation….!

Lesson-50: Harmony - The Basic Composing Tool - Part-1

We are back to WCM track….!

I would request you to just revise the Lesson-3 once again, where I tried to answer about the basic question of What is harmony ?


As said earlier, Harmony is the multi-line concept of music, but we must remember these multi-lines are integrated vertically also, note by note.

This vertical connection is what the Chord concept is all about !

Let us go into some simpler understanding…!

While listening to any IR song, you can listen, visualize, and feel the various voices and instruments all are complimenting each other, so beautifully !

Now, you will be wondering, if a single line song composing needs so much pains taking effort, how much will be the efforts to be made in composing each of the instruments that are accompanying the voice…?!

Your query of worry is true to some extent, in that, most of the composers see the various accompanying lines of instruments as a separate entity and struggle to compose them.

Even after synchronising them, the outcome of combined song+instruments may be either successful or unsuccessful depending upon the experience and ingenuity of the composer in composing and getting the output.

So, these old time MDs (or generally MDs not using WCM-Harmony as basic tool of orchestration) used to claim credit for orchestration and usage of 40 instruments songs, 60 instruments, 100 instruments etc etc….!

That is Not the case with IR…..!

The Complexity OR the Simplicity, in whatever way you look at it, its one and same for IR…!

Whether two instruments passage or 20 instruments passage, for IR’s composing, it’s fundamentally based on Harmony (which usually viewed as Four Part Harmony in WCM ! .......meaning in a lay man term, a four line integrated music…!)

For less than four, the principle and effort is same and you only hide the not-required-now parts !

For more than four, you either multiply some parts or take the clue from any one part and further develop that…!

The point here is, when you compose, all the lines of voices and instruments are to be seen as integrated item and not as a separate individual lines !

We can enjoy the SPB voice separately, the Violins separately, the Bass Guitar separately, etc….!

But in reality, all the notes of these are interconnected ….every moment of it…!

So next time when you enjoy a song of IR, visualize it as an integrated system of lines !