17a Discussion - An introduction to mode mixture

Class Discussion

Borrowed chords are when a chord is replaced by how it would show up in another mode. A common way to borrow chords is taking chords from the minor key (aeolian mode) and putting them in major pieces. This often adds lowered notes that resolve downward to create smoother voice leading.

It is also common to borrow chords from a major key while in a minor key. For example, using the major IV chord in first inversion will allow us to have a “La Ti Do” bassline.

Because the V and V7 chords are diatonic in both major and minor keys, we cannot borrow it. We can however borrow the viio7 chord from minor, and the vii%7 from major, although the former is much more common.

Class discussion

Mode mixture, modal interchange, and borrowed harmony all = the same thing

Mode mixture is just borrowing chords from parallel modes. Remember that parallel modes all share the same tonic. For example, we’ll be dealing with all C scales, not every no-accidentals scale

V and vii0 are technically borrowed from the major key, we just use them in minor because it sounds pretty (stronger resolutions and actual dominant function)

Variations between parallel major and minor

• Notice the voice leading is the same! This is why we say major and minor aren’t really different keys at all: their function is exactly the same. Be thinking about voice leading and harmony rather than the actual notes

Borrowing chords from the parallel minor (in C)

• What do we have to do to alter ii to ii0?
  • Change the A in the tenor to an Ab. This is le, which makes our tenor line stronger because le has a stronger resolution down to sol than la (half step rather than whole step)
• What do we have to do to alter vi to VI?
  • Alter the E in the alto to an Eb, and the A’s in the tenor and bass to Ab’s.
  • Do not raise the C in the soprano to a C#. While that would create an A major chord, what we actually want is an Ab major chord because that’s what is diatonic to C minor, the mode we’re borrowing from.
• When we’re borrowing chords, if the root is altered you need to indicate it by putting an accidental in front. For example, the altered vi we went over in class would be written as bVI…very nicely eliminating the confusion of what chord it’s actually supposed to be. The A major chord would actually be a V/ii.
• We did a Picardy third. This is when everything is in minor but you end on the major I.

More borrowing from the parallel minor

• vii%7 to vii07: pretty standard, stronger resolution because we have le instead of la
• vii%7 to bVII7: weird to hear because we’re so used to ti -> do resolutions, so have te instead sounds “wrong”
• V7 to v7: “this one just sucks, right?”
  • We need ti in order to have dominant function! Ti is your best friend who makes things actually sound nice
  • If you’re going to do mode mixture, be sure to be consistent with altered tones. If you used both V7 and bVII, it will sound like you couldn’t make up your mind. Either use ti both times or te both times
• IV6 to iv6: sounds cool, but funky because the bassline has an A2 in it. Funnily enough it goes really well with a bVII though
• vi to bVI: IT SOUNDS GOOD! Cannot go wrong with The Batman Chord, especially as part of a deceptive cadence. Sounds epic

Note: this last bit was an exercise in messing around and hearing different colors, not a model for how you should do assignments. Some of these swaps just sound really, really bad and/or are a nightmare to deal with.

Le and me are going to be your most borrowed tones, though le is more common.