Music Theory Comprehensive Complete: Parts 16, 17, & 18

Composers push diatonic rules toward total chromaticism, moving beyond keys and traditional modulations. The lecture traces this shift from Bach and the romantic era to 20th-century chromaticism and Schoenberg's rule-making.

Explore chromatic descending fifth sequences that extend diatonic patterns with chromatic color. Learn how secondary dominants pull you from the key and back, making theory a colorful journey.

Explore Mozart's string quartet in D minor, examining chromatic sequences. Analyze how viola, cello, and violin convey chromaticism through a descending pattern, and discuss alto clef basics and treble transposition.

Name each chord per measure. Then map to roman numerals as chromatic motion unfolds, recognizing a7, d7, g7, c7, f7, B-flat major, and augmented-six chords german french italian.

An in-depth analysis of the string quartet in D minor, third movement, tracing chromatic secondary dominants and an augmented sixth leading to the dominant.

Explore chromatic sequences by substituting dominant seventh or diminished harmonies and embellishing with chromatic passing tones; note bass lines often follow root harmony, though it's not always easy.

Explore the lament bass, a descending chromatic bass line anchored by a fourth, often used to symbolize death in opera, with harmonization examples including Dido's lament.

Explore the circular bassline in a six-bar loop, labeled as a chaconne or passacaglia in three-two time, and note MuseScore red range cues with violin to bass clef transposition.

Identify the key in a minor context, here E minor, with one sharp. Analyze chord choices, chromatic bass motion, nonchord tones, suspensions, and the leading-tone diminished seventh resolving to four.

Explore how a classic descending bassline chord progression appears in pop music, with multiple harmonizations and real examples that show different ways artists shape mood and texture.

Explore how a lead sheet for My Funny Valentine uses chords to harmonize the melody with a descending chromatic bassline in C minor.

An in-depth piano analysis of Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin; identifies a minor key, C major seven over G sharp, one augmented seven, and chromatic lament bass.

Explore the babe i'm gonna leave you riff in a minor, tracing the bassline from a to g and f# to f natural with descending chromaticism, back to a minor.

Explore Nine Inch Nails' closer, focusing on its melodic countermelody and chromatic descending passage harmonized under C minor, echoing a lament bass concept.

Explore embellishing chords that do not alter harmonic function, connecting through common tones with diminished seventh chords and augmented sixth chords before returning to the original area.

Analyze a common-tone diminished chord in C major, focusing on a fully diminished sonority built on G with flats, and explore its connection to augmented sixth chords.

Explore common tone augmented sixth chords, with step-by-step voice leading to resolve to the tonic and dominant, comparing Italian and German forms and the role of the pedal tone.

Learn how passing common tone chords and neighboring chords create smooth motion in a five-chord progression, featuring common-tone diminished sevenths, five of five, and chromatic mediants.

Examine chromatic medians and the idea of wrong chords, the major third mediant and submediant, as dramatic extensions of diatonic harmony with pop and video game music examples.

Examine the Super Mario Brothers fanfare in C major, using C major arpeggios and borrowed chords from C minor to illuminate chromatic mediants and roman numerals.

Explore chromatic mediants in C major, including major three and minor three, flat three and sharp three variants, and enharmonic spellings like e-sharp minor, then minor-key options.

Explore minor-key options by examining the diatonic three and six, including raised three and chromatic mediants like c sharp major and c sharp minor.

Explores chromatic modulation using chromatic devices, common-tone relationships, and leading-tone type ideas with chromatic inflection as part 17 follows part 16 in the music theory series.

Prepare for music theory comprehensive part 17 by gathering staff paper, a good pencil, and a notation program like MuseScore; consider tablet alternatives such as Notion for better usability.

Download six full MuseScore files containing all examples for a piano-focused session, with the files available in the next section.

Explore Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata, second movement measures 16–19, and the cadence that establishes A-flat before a modulation to F minor. The lecture guides chord analysis and the related major/minor shifts.

Explore half-step modulations from e-flat to e using common tones and a leading-tone approach. Build the e major key with a b7 dominant and assess the near-tritone effect.

Explore tritone modulation from e-flat major to a distant key, using a common tone and a four-five-one progression with voice leading to d natural resolving to c-sharp.

Apply chromatic inflection to modulation by moving a single chord note up a half step, delivering a direct, honest shift to a new key, as illustrated with Beethoven.

Beethoven's Waldstein sonata, first movement measures 20-23, showcases a bold key change from c major to e major and a chromatic inflection driven by accidentals.

Analyze a C major context, identify a six chord inversion, and note an Italian augmented sixth in E major via chromatic inflection that drives a five to one modulation.