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Is it possible to hear the chord implication from merely the melody?

1K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  19thCSoul 
#1 ·
For this nice short tune, there are some arpeggios and the chord implication is very clear. However, there are also some non-arpeggios melody in which I find the chord implication difficult to identify.

What I can hear is:
I - V7 - vi - ? - ii - ? - V - I

Can anyone tell me what you can hear for the two unknown chord implications?
 

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#2 · (Edited)
I listened to it, and it all sounds like it could be charted as discreet chord changes. You're having problems identifying the chords when they change quickly.

I hear I - V7 - vi - I (or iii-V7) -ii - (V-I -vi) - V - I. It's in triple time, so there can be a chord change on every measure of 3 beats, or faster, on every beat, where we see 3 chords go by real fast.

This is a two-voice piece, and to make a triad you must have 3 tones. This works for each 3/4 measure, where there can be a note on every beat, making 3 notes of a triad.

Where the chord changes on every beat, there are only 2 tones, so the situation must remain, technically speaking, ambiguous. For example, A-C could be interpreted as A minor, or as an incomplete F major, etc. It's probably best to see these parts as voice movement, or as chorally ambiguous.
 
#3 ·
That sums it up nicely :tiphat: I'd just add that root movement is quite important in establishing our sense of harmonic change, so your choice of bass note is quite important - do you place the root or elsewhere in the harmony? It took me a while to figure that out in music theory class :p
 
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