Why the Same Chord Can Sound Totally Different in a Song
1. Context
It is often said (even by myself) that major chords sound “happy” and minor chords sound “sad”. Of course, this is quite a simplification! In reality, chords can have different and very specific feelings within a piece of music, and this is because of many different factors.
Chords by themselves don’t offer us a great amount of information, which is why we can use this simplification to get a sense of the broad type of feeling that the chord might create. However, if we use different chords around that chord, we change the context, and this can completely change how a chord may feel!
There’s no better example of this than playing chords within the context of a scale. If we are playing a piece of music in the key of E major and therefore using the scale of E major, if we play an E major chord, then this will sound happy, warm, comfortable, etc. However, if we play a piece in the key of Eb major but play an E major chord, then this will sound dissonant, uncomfortable, and odd.
In this example, the chord itself hasn’t changed, but the context has! The scale that we are using in the former example includes the notes from an E major chord, whereas in the latter example, the notes from an E major chord aren’t supposed to be included.
As well as the key, the chords leading to a particular chord can influence the feeling that is created. A major chord at the end of a series of minor chords might feel much brighter than a major chord at the end of a series of other major chords. A chord that breaks a pattern of chords might feel odd or surprising when in another context it may sound very typical. There are many ways in which context can influence the meaning of a chord, but this is usually done by deliberately going with or against your expectations.
2. Voicing
Chords can be played in many different ways on the piano. A C major chord is the notes C, E, and G, and there are many C’s, E’s, and G’s that we can play on the piano! Each combination of the notes that we choose directly impacts the way that the chord is interpreted.
Playing all three notes close together at the bottom of the piano will sound very muddy and unclear. Whereas, playing the three notes very spread apart from each other across the piano will sound very open and sparse.
There are many emotions and feelings that we associate with different chord voicings, and they are usually associated with the texture that you create with the chord. Fewer notes at a higher pitch will sound twinkly and innocent, whereas more notes and lower pitches will sound dark and unsettling. Notes further across the piano sound vast and open, whereas notes played in one place on the piano will sound closed and empty.
3. Changeable Emotions
There are many factors within music that affect any given chord or chord progression, and you can very often hear the same chords being played in a completely different way. This is very frequently done in film music.
A great example of this is the film “UP” with the “Married Life” theme. In the opening of the theme, the music is played in the style of a waltz, and the chords feel happy and joyous as we are shown the protagonists’ life that they’ve shared together. The rhythm, instrumentation, and tempo help the music guide us through that narrative. However, when the female protagonist dies in the scene and we are left relating to a grieving husband that has lost the person he has spent his life with, the music changes. At that moment, the tempo slows, the waltz rhythm turns to single pulsating chords, and the instruments change to just the piano (opposed to a more orchestral sound). Throughout this piece, the chords remain the same…but the music feels very different!
While it’s useful to have a “default” set of associations to different types of chords, it’s just as important to abandon this if other features of the music tell us to do so.
Matthew Cawood
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