Lessons with Matthaeus

Hi Máté.

Sorry, you must be really confused! I was so tired when I wrote the pdf, and I guess I made some stupid mistakes. I don't think I meant to write do four progressions. Do six in total, one in each key. I think I'd better do a revised version for you once I get the chance!

1) This may sound a litle strange, but in theory, any IV-I progression can be seen as either a move by a fourth or fifth actually, and likewise movement by a third can also be seen as movement by a sixth. The reason for this is that these intervals are what is called inversions of each other. It's quite hard to explain clearly, I think you'll probably just get it after a while, but a simple way of looking it could be as follows:

Start on the note middle C. Then move to G.

Ok so you have two options here, up to G or down to G. If you move up, you leap by a fourth, if you move down, you leap down a fifth. i.e. if the distance between two notes in one direction is a fourth, it will be a fifth in the other.

The same goes for C and A, A is a third below C but a sixth above it etc.
2) You may of course you cadences in the middle of the progression, but I think too much deliberate use of cadences inside the progression, especially if they fall in funny places (across the end of bar 5 or something) it may sound a little strange. Perhaps it's worth noting (but not worrying too much about it) that most musical phrases are constructed in groups of twp bar, four bar or eight bar phrases. (Don't worry if you don't get this though - we'll discuss it in more depth later).
Hmm, to be honest, I wouldn't bother using the weaker versions of some cadences that I should you in these progressions - but it's up to you of course. I think the main reason to know about certain 'weaker' cadence progressions is because later you may have to use them, as it will be dictated by other factors (you will already have been given the melody or bass or something else etc.), but otherwise they're actually best avoided in my opinion.

Sorry I should have made it clear, the rule about using chords a 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th away doesn't apply to the cadences! Just use it as a guide in the rest of the chord progressions.

3) I think for now, it's a good idea to keep the soprano moving smoothly like the middle voices, but there's no reason why it can't leap a little. It's a good idea not to let it leap by any 'ugly' intervals though (diminshed fifth, augmented fourth, or seventh).
I think two octaves is a little bit too far away from the bass! Is there no way it can moved downward by step at one point, or stay tied over somewhere? Otherwise, yes, let it leap down, but try to keep leaps as small and as few as possible!

Ok sorry for the shoddy lesson, I hope this clears things up. I'll have a go at making a few revisions for you sometime later, so that it reads accurately for your reference later on.

Good luck with the work.

OK, Matt, with your guide I've managed to finish my homework.
It's written on paper first with almost random progressions by 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, and 6ths. Later I've made some corrections on computer (especially around iii chords), but not much. I've tried to follow all the rules, but there are still some really weak progressions.
I wasn't sure if I can use V in minor mode before cadence (because there's a nondiatonic 3rd in it), so I've used v only.

Hey Máté. Sorry for taking my time to reply again.... Busy life...

Anyway I'm really pleased, you obviously worked hard on these and haven't made any mistakes. Stand by for the next lesson coming soon, and we'll start looking at some more sophisticated progressions and perhaps a few dissonances.

Never mind, Matt! We don't need to hurry with the lessons, beacuse I need much practicing to learn the theory. So yesterday I did another 8 basic progression exercises in different major/minor keys and I can write down these types of progressions really fast now.
Waiting for the next lesson, which looks even more interesting!

Hey Máté - hope you're well another very delayed lesson. This time once you've read the pdf - if you could have a go at the following for homework when you get the chance it would be great:

Write 6 progressions, 3 in major keys and 3 in minor keys of your choice using root positions and first inversion chords and you may now incorporate chord vii in first inversion as shown in the lesson. End each progression with any cadence of your choice. Please keep them between 12-16 chords long in total.

(In minor keys you can use either V or v in the course of the progression, use your ear to see what you think is best - but remember V is always needed for cadences!)

Good luck - sorry for taking so long, and expect suspensions to come soon, following straight on from everything you've learnt in this lesson.

Matt

Hey sorry I just noticed something in the pdf I should make clearer for you - the best note to double in chord vii6/3 is actually the third - which is not what I have done in example 4 (i) - sorry about this I actually copied the example from elsewhere to save time.

What happens in this example is fine, the fifth is doubled, one of these fifths (F) moves down by step to resolve the tritone and one of the Fs moves up by step in contrary motion to prevent octaves. I think that more often that not, however, it sounds better to double the third (which in this case would be D) and then use contrary motion again - one D goes up and the other down. You might then end up with two roots and two thirds in the next chord. This is OK though because of the contrary motion that you've used to arrive there.

There aren't any strict rules about exactly how to execute this so it's up to you.
Good Luck

Wow! I was surprised that despite the tritone, a diminished chord in 1st inversion can be used without preparation, and a simple 6/4 chord can't! I thought that the perfect 4th is a consonance!
Thanks for the clarification! I try to keep this in mind in the future.

And the homework?

Not ready, yet. It's much harder than the previous homeworks....
As far as I know, the III in minor can be augmented by using the leading note for the 5th of the chord (F - A - C# in d minor). Can I use it in 1st inversion in this exercise? If yes, how? (Sorry about these silly questions)

Hmm that's true but I wouldn't worry about using III6/#3 yet, wait until we get onto dominants next lesson!
If you're stuck remember we talked about the root motion by fifths, fourths, sixths and thirds that helps to prevent consecutive and very weak progressions.
If you want to use chord III, keep it as a major triad (F A C in d minor), which you can of course have in 6/3 inversion. Sorry I should really have said something about that before, you're right!

Ok good luck.

Hi! I have 2 progressions done (not attached, yet), 4 more to go...
Another annoying question:
V-I, IV-I, V-vi, etc. are cadences. Are V6/3 - I, IV6/3 - I and V6/3 - vi cadences, too?