I had just begun a new chapter on melodic reharmonization and counterpoint. It stated 17 different methods for melodic reharmonization, 12 of which were fairly standard practices. This made it even more daunting when I ran across this conundrum.
All the examples look a lot like what you see above. A musical passage, followed by an explanation. All of them variations on "Autumn Leaves." So, I had gotten past 1. Simple Diatonic Method, 2. Altered Chord Tones, 3. Harmonization of Addition Melody Notes, 4. Diatonic or Diminished 7th Passing Chords - All fine. No problems.
Then 5. Dominant Harmony (Including Secondary Dominants). It's the latter of that statement I had issue with.
Wait. Didn't we tackle Secondary Dominants before? Yup. But here as you can see from the image, we're dealing with something new. A Secondary Dominant within a Dominant within a chord. SAY WHAT???? And then Tritones within a Secondary Dominant.
I didn't know what I was looking at.
So, first of all, I didn't know what key it was. Was it Bb or Gm? I couldn't make the up my mind and then trying to figure out what the symbols meant. Aye, yi, yi.... I spent the whole day thinking I had screwed up and learned everything wrong.
This morning, I was determined to figure it out. I couldn't be that far off.... And indeed, I wasn't. My younger self would have given up at the first sign of struggle with this concept -- thinking it was beyond me. But now, I know that will a little more digging, I can find the answers and figure it out. Even, Dare I Say It?... LEARN!
I did find out that there's very little on line to help people with this concept, so I will explain it step by step, so that no one is left behind. Let us begin.
You can see the big picture by clicking the image at the beginning of this post.
1. D9 = V of V of iv
The key is Gm, so first we start at the iv (or 4th) of the scale, which is C. Then we find the V (or 5th) of C and that's G. Finally, we follow the rabbit trail to the final V of the chord G, which is D. (The 9th of the chord is still a mystery - maybe it just sounds good).
Here's an image of what that looks like:
2. Db13 = V (tritone substitution) of iv
Once again, the key is Gm, and again, we start at the iv (4th chord of the scale) = C. Then we follow to the V, which is G. Now, here's the interesting part. The tritone now enters the scene. Count up or down 3 whole steps from the G to find it. Now, we are at the Db and thus we have found our chord.
3. C9 = V of V of III
Just like before, only now we begin with the III (3rd) of the scale = Bb. Then to the V of Bb = F. And the final V of F= C
4. B9 = tritone substitution of V of III
Finally, the B9. The key is still Gm (of course) and we start with the III (3rd) of the scale = Bb. Then the V of Bb = F. But here, we count up or down 3 whole steps from F to find the tritone, which is B.
That's it! Hope that clears up a lot for you. Having the right key certainly helps, doesn't it?
I did this as a reference for me and hopefully a guide for anyone out there who's lost with this stuff.
You rock! Keep going! Never Surrender!