https://www.attackmagazine.com/technique/passing-notes/lessons-from-disco-chords

Lessons from Disco

In this edition of Passing Notes we’re focussing on disco chords, but the lessons we’ll learn don’t just apply to disco (or even, necessarily, just to chords). The classic disco chord sound is not only characterised by the notes used in constructing the chord but also by its voicing and timing – the placement of the chord in the bar and its rhythmic interaction with other elements. It’s these techniques which we’ll examine to understand how they add groove and feel to the chord progression. VOICING AND INVERSION The term ‘voicing’ is used to describe the arrangement of the notes within a chord. As with a lot of dance music, the primary chords we hear used in disco tracks are minor and major triads and 7s, which we discussed in this previous Passing Notes .

For a quick example of how different voicings can be applied, we’ve written a simple piano chord progression in the key of C minor: Cm7, Fm7, Abmaj7, Ebmaj7.

In this first example we can see the chords are all constructed in ‘root position’, using the root of the chord as the bass note (played in two octaves), then the 3 rd , 5 th and 7 th in ascending pitch order.

The human ear tends to hear the highest notes in a chord progression as a form of melody. We can see that the top notes of our chords make large jumps, which could make our progression sound a little disjointed.

The solution to this potential problem is to voice the chords differently and use chord inversions. A chord can be said to be inverted when the lowest note isn’t the root (we’re treating the root note an octave down as a separate bass note rather than part of the chord played by the right hand). A simple example would be a C major triad voiced from lowest pitch to highest E, G, C (as opposed to the standard C, E, G). By moving the C up an octave we’ve created an inversion. We also examined this technique in our Breakdown feature on Tensnake’s ‘Coma Cat’ .

Below, we’ve voiced the same chord progression differently, inverting chords so that the changes in the perceived melody line don’t stand out so much. This technique is useful whenever a chord https://www.attackmagazine.com/technique/passing-notes/lessons-from-disco-chords

progression needs to feel more relaxed, or whenever you want to shift attention away from the implied melody of the chords and onto another instrument or a vocal.

Each chord played comprises the same notes as it did previously, and the chord names are all the same. The difference here is that some notes already playing in the left hand part have been removed from the right hand (i.e. the C and Eb in the first and last chords). Also we can see and hear how the inversion of the second chord, Fm7, allows the F to be the highest note in that chord. SISTER SLEDGE For another example of chord voicing and inversions, let’s look at Sister Sledge’s ‘Lost In Music’ – written by Chic’s Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards – to see how this simple technique can help maintain continuity.

This is how the basic piano chords are played in the track’s verses, starting at 1:06:

The chords are Dm7, C, Gm->G, Bbmaj7, C, Dm7. The G chord slides from a minor to major 3 rd , a technique commonly used in jazz, gospel, blues and soul. Note again how the highest notes of each chord form a tighter, closer progression than they would if the chords were formed in the root position. In root position the chords would look and sound like this: https://www.attackmagazine.com/technique/passing-notes/lessons-from-disco-chords

We can hear how the chords played in root position have a loose, disjointed and less natural feel. Voicing the chords to sit in a smaller frequency range also gives other instrumental parts more room in the mix. TIMING The second crucial characteristic of disco chords is their timing. Syncopated rhythms and subtle interaction with other musical elements play a vital role in creating the distinctive sound of classic disco arrangements.

Syncopation describes a musical part accentuating a beat which would otherwise not be accentuated. Sticking with ‘Lost In Music’, we’ve lined up the playhead below on a snare beat in the first bar. The piano (yellow) and bass (red) play on the half beat either side of the drum hit. The same thing occurs at the same point in the third bar of the phrase.

In our reconstruction below, we can hear how this rhythmic interaction subtly accentuates both the snare and the instrument parts, creating the simple yet effective syncopated rhythm.

The way the chords, bassline and drum elements interact with each other here is the perfect reminder of a fundamental principle to bear in mind when composing music of absolutely any genre: focussing on just one instrument in isolation only tells a small part of the story. There’s no point creating a bassline which sounds incredible on its own but doesn’t work with the drum pattern or the chords. It might sound obvious, but we’re all guilty of focussing on small details at times rather than considering the more important issue of whether the piece of music works as a cohesive whole. THEORY INTO PRACTICE https://www.attackmagazine.com/technique/passing-notes/lessons-from-disco-chords

Combining the principles we’ve examined here with the ideas we looked at in this earlier Passing Notes on disco house basslines, we’ve created a short example of a retro disco pattern.

The first 8 bars of the 16-bar example look like this (note that the bassline has been transposed an octave lower in this screenshot so it can be read more easily with the chords):

The chords are Bm7, Gmaj7, A.

The second 8 bars look like this:

The second half uses exactly the same chords, just voiced and positioned differently. Notice how the different inversions of the same A major triad at the end create a lift into the next section of the track.

In the second half, the bassline and chords are also shifted to land on beats not accentuated in the 4/4 drum loop. OTHER GENRES Of course, while techniques like this are key characteristics of genres like disco or funk, it’s important to remember how applicable they also are to other genres. Below we’ve put together a dub techno loop as a basic example. https://www.attackmagazine.com/technique/passing-notes/lessons-from-disco-chords

Dub techno’s harmonic, melodic and rhythmic minimalism places the emphasis on sound design and subtlety of programming. Note the inversion of the E minor chord and the position of the chord stabs creating the syncopation with the four-to-the-floor drum pattern. The techniques used in disco chord progressions apply equally as well here as they do in virtually any dance genre.