Discussion and questions re: Tutorial in alternative harmonic movement

[Michel.R.E]

this is the thread where we can ask questions, or discuss the topic.

[sandalwood]

Michel, is the idea to always use root position chords?

Thanks a lot for the extremely useful thread, by the way!

[Michel.R.E]

no, no requirement for root position chords.
the only admonition might be to be careful when using 2nd inversion chords... they can sometimes NOT sound like the harmony they are supposed to be. (it comes from counterpoint, where a 2nd inversion chord implies a double appogiatura of the two upper notes, which must resolve down by stepwise motion).

I've written a short little musical sample, no real development, but just an idea of how the material can be treated.
I'll be posting it in the tutorial thread.

The symphony excerpt I included with the tutorial uses a dominant pedal for a lot of the passage, so you're getting that movement by 3rds but over a constant low Bb. in that case, the bass isn't really the root position, since it's this pedal tone.

[Timothy]

Thanks again, Michel. I don't know what makes you put so much effort into learning material for newbies like me ! To make sure I understood, I've posted a little experiment in Works in Progress: Junior => March of the Penguins => bb. 25-35. This really has infinite possibilities! Please tell me if I'm wrong, but if you really wanted to, you could repeat the whole process again to arrive back at the original major chord. I did exchange the C♮ for the C♯ in bb. 27-8 to get a different harmonic colour. I'm not sure if this is acceptable, but it's part of my attempt to "make the music my own," as you said.