Workshop 16 — “Autumn in New York”: Chromatic Major-Key Ballad, Borrowed Chords, Secondary Dominants, and Elegant Inner-Voice Motion
This workshop returns to the slow jazz ballad, but with a different focus from “Misty” or “Body and Soul.”
Here, the important skill is:
How do you keep a major-key tune warm and lyrical while introducing chromatic chords that momentarily darken or redirect the harmony?
The main lessons are:
- major-key ballad phrasing
- borrowed minor chords
- secondary dominants
- chromatic bass
- inner voices that move by semitone
- melody notes as extensions
- delayed cadences
- distinguishing “temporary color” from a true key change
- controlling harmonic density
The central lesson is:
Chromatic harmony is most convincing when one or two voices move beautifully and the melody remains calm above them.
We’ll work conceptually in C major so the relationships are easy to see.
16.1Start with a plain major-key worldPlay:16.2The first borrowed color: ivIn C major:16.3Play only the lineLH hold C.16.4Why borrowed iv works so well in balladsBecause it creates a temporary shadow inside a major key.16.5Borrowed harmony should sound temporaryIf you play Fm briefly and then return to C:16.6Level 1 — melody onlyPlay the melody with no harmony.16.7Level 2 — basic diatonic harmonyBefore reharmonizing, make the simplest version work.16.8Level 3 — melody + bass onlyStrip away inner harmony.16.9Why bass comes before reharmonizationIf the bass line is awkward, adding sophisticated upper chords rarely fixes it.16.10A basic descending bassTry:16.11Extend itContinue:16.12Bass line as arrangement skeletonPlay that bass alone.16.13Level 4 — inversionsInstead of root-position chords:16.14Melody determines inversion tooSuppose melody is E.16.15Level 5 — add seventh chordsUse:16.16Sometimes C6 is betterC6:16.17Level 6 — melody as extensionSuppose melody D over C.16.18Level 7 — inner-line movementHold melody G.16.19Chromatic line with tonic stabilityTry:16.20Level 8 — secondary dominant to viIn C major:16.21Make G♯ audibleDo not bury G♯ in a thick voicing.16.22Level 9 — secondary dominant to iiii = Dm.16.23Level 10 — secondary dominant to VV = G.16.24Combine the secondary dominantsA richer chain:16.25Do not use the whole chain by defaultAt ballad tempo, this much dominant activity can become melodramatic.16.26Level 11 — borrowed ♭VIIn C:16.27Why ♭VI worksA♭ is borrowed from C minor.16.28Level 12 — borrowed ♭VIIIn C:16.29Compare borrowed colorsFm → C16.30Level 13 — passing diminishedTry:16.31Passing diminished is not a destinationDo not make C♯°7 sound like an important arrival.16.32Level 14 — tritone substitutionNormal:16.33Melody checkSuppose melody is E over the dominant.16.34Level 15 — backdoor cadenceTry:16.35Backdoor versus minor plagalCompare:16.36Level 16 — delayed tonicSuppose:16.37Another delayed tonicKeep D over C.16.38Level 17 — common-tone reharmonizationHold melody E.16.39Another held noteHold melody G.16.40Level 18 — pedal pointHold C in bass.16.41Dominant pedalHold G in bass.16.42Level 19 — voice-leading before chord namesTake inner line:16.43These formulas are more important than memorizing dozens of substitutionsWhy?16.44Level 20 — transposition of the borrowed iv lineIn F major:16.45Level 21 — texture controlFirst statement:16.46Do not confuse loudness with densityYou can have:16.47Level 22 — register controlKeep first statement in middle register.16.48Level 23 — fill strategyAfter a phrase, use a fragment of the chromatic line already present.16.49Do not invent unrelated fillsA random fast arpeggio may be technically fine but stylistically disconnected.16.50Level 24 — counter-melodyDuring one long melody note:16.51Level 25 — rubatoUse rubato at:16.52Level 26 — pedalClear pedal carefully on:16.53F → Fm pedal exampleIf old A continues ringing while new A♭ appears:16.54Level 27 — melody paraphraseFirst statement:16.55Level 28 — reharmonize repeated melodyIf a phrase repeats, keep first harmonization simple.16.56This is better than reharmonizing a unique phraseWhen melody repeats, the listener remembers Version A.16.57Level 29 — structural reductionTake your richest eight bars.16.58ExampleRich:16.59Level 30 — emotional functionTry labeling chords by emotional role rather than theory:16.60Theory and emotion should agreeThe theory tells you:16.61Level 31 — introOption 1:16.62Simpler introUse:16.63Pedal introHold C bass.16.64Level 32 — endingSimple:16.65A beautiful extended endingTry:16.66Final chord choiceCmaj9:16.67Practice loop 1 — borrowed ivIn C:16.68Practice loop 2 — V/viC → E7 → Am.16.69Practice loop 3 — V/iiC → A7 → Dm.16.70Practice loop 4 — chromatic cadenceDm7 → D♭7 → C.16.71Improvisation challenge 1 — chord tones onlyTake an 8-bar ballad phrase.16.72Challenge 2 — one chromatic lineUse:16.73Challenge 3 — secondary dominant targetUse:16.74Challenge 4 — common-tone melodyHold E through:16.75Challenge 5 — sparse paraphraseTake the original melody.16.76Ear drill — major versus borrowed minor IVPlay:16.77Ear drill — secondary dominantPlay:16.78Ear drill — passing diminishedPlay:16.79Ear drill — cadence comparisonRandomly play:16.80Arrangement challengeCreate four versions of the same 8 bars:16.81Editing challengeCombine B+C+D.16.82Full arrangement planborrowed iv gesture.16.83The maturity testAfter arranging, ask:16.84Another maturity testPlay only:16.85The biggest conceptual shiftEarlier, we learned:•Workshop 16 mini-test1. What is the borrowed iv chord in C major?