TESTING CHORD ANALYSIS RESULTS

During chord analysis, it is very important to test the results since it is quite easy to arrive at wrong conclusions, especially if the composition does not imply chords in an obvious way. Depending on the notes which are chosen as the nonchord tones and chosen points in time where chords begin and end, different chords might be found. Be warned, this can be a frustrating job. Sometimes, you will try many combinations and none will sound completely correct. In such a case, you must choose what sounds the best or what is the simplest. In these situations, you must shrug and remind yourself that while harmony reveals a lot about compositions, it does not reveal all. Also, keep in mind that not all compositions are equally suitable for harmony analysis.   

There is only one correct way to test the chord analysis results and that is by using your ears. In such a testing process, the original composition must be rearranged so that it uses the obtained chords as literally as possible. Then, the rearranged composition must be played, listened to and compared in your mind with the original. If it sounds similar enough to the original, then you can be assured of the chord analysis results. Of course, the chord analysis is only half the job because, based on the chords, the harmony needs to be analyzed. The rearranged composition must not depart too much from the original and the rearranging procedure must be simple enough to be of practical usage. The following procedure proved to be useful (for the author of the book):

1. Find the melody in the composition. As explained in chapter Melody, a melody is a sequence of non-overlapping notes, most often perceived as those notes from the composition that have the highest pitch in every moment of time. That is, a melody can be described as the highest pitch envelope of a composition.

2. Rearrange the composition as the melody plus the accompaniment chords. The accompaniment chords are equal to the chords found during the chord analysis and should be non-broken, in the close position and should not contain any of the nonchord tones.

3. Choose an appropriate rhythm for the accompaniment chords. The accompaniment chords should be played, at least, on each chord change. Faster rhythms might be chosen for the accompaniment chords if doing so would lead to sounds that are more like the original composition. For instance, the accompaniment chords can be played on each beat.

4. Correctly choose a position for each accompaniment chord. Otherwise, the rearranged composition might sound too different from the original one even if qualities of chords are correct.     

As an example, the beginning of the Bach's Prelude No. 2 in C minor, from Well-Tempered Clavier, book I has been rearranged in the following figure, for testing the results of the chord analysis. For an easier comparison, each grand staff row is firstly shown in its original form and then in the rearranged form. In the rearranged form, the melody is shown on the upper staff and the accompaniment chords are shown on the lower staff and played at each beat.

Figure: An example of testing chord analysis results, each row is shown in the original and rearranged form