Estimated reading time 3 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Have you ever seen a crazy chromatic scale or chord and wondered why it works? Do you want to understand how to write them? Chromatic notes and harmonies are effective because they take bad sounding dissonance and resolve it to good sounding consonance. Keep reading Why Do Crazy Chromatic Notes and Chords Work? to learn how chromatic harmony functions.
This article uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
Why Do Chromatic Notes and Chords Work: The Resolving Tritone
Why do crazy chromatic notes and chords work?
- In the post, What Does Dissonance Mean for Basic Seventh Chords? we saw how resolving the tritone’s dissonance can give real direction and power to a dominant seven progression.
- Like dominant seven harmonies, the diminished seven gets a lot of its power by resolving the dissonant tritone.
- Both of these harmonies give strong examples of how chromatic notes can work when used with the right harmonic resolution.
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Resolving Tritone Dissonance:
Why Do Chromatic Notes and Chords Work: C Diminished Seven (Four Harmonies in One)
Yes Really, Four Chords in One
Left unresolved, the tritones’ dissonance in the diminished seven can make this one of the nastiest sounding harmonies:
Unresolved Diminished Seven:
In the dominant seven chord there is just one tritone that can resolve two different ways. In chromatic diminished seven harmonies there are two dissonant tritones that can be resolved in four different ways:
- The four overlapping tritones are the source of this harmony’s weaknesses and strengths.
- If left unresolved, it’ll sound extremely dissonant (i.e., it’s not a chord you can sustain and expect to sound good).
- The four tritones fight with each other making it so your ear can’t decide which way they should resolve.
However, because the tritones want to go in four different directions at once, you can pick any of four destination harmonies to resolve to.
In addition, this harmony inverts perfectly. For example, Co7 (C Eb Gb Bbb) can be respelled as:
- D#o7 (D# F# A C)
- F#o7 (F# A C Eb)
- Ao7 (A C Eb Gb)
All four versions of the chord contain the same four notes. What has changed is the order of the notes from top to bottom and the way the sharps and flats are “spelled” (e.g., D# = Eb, F# = Gb, A = Bbb).
Four Chords in One and Their Resolutions:
Where Does It Resolve To?
The diminished seven will resolve up a half step to the destination chord:
- Co7 goes a half step up to Db major
- D#o7 goes a half step up to E major
- F#o7 goes a half step up to G major
- Ao7 goes a half step up to Bb major
Remember, all four inversions still make up the same chord. Therefore, the diminished seven can resolve to any destination harmony that has a root a half step above any of the diminished seven’s chord tones.
Another way of looking at dissonant diminished seven resolutions is that:
- Co7 can go to Db, E, G, or Bb major
- D#o7 can go to Db, E, G, or Bb major
- F#o7 can go to Db, E, G, or Bb major
- Ao7 can go to Db, E, G, or Bb major
Why Do Chromatic Notes and Chords Work: Two Other Chromatic Diminished Seven Harmonies
Other than Co7 (with its inversions and respellings) there are only two other diminished seven harmonies before you start repeating notes. They are C#o7 and Do7 (with their inversions and respellings).
Contained within these three harmonies are all of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale:
- They are also mutually exclusive pitch-wise. In other words, none of them repeat any of the notes from the other two chords.
- From these three diminished seven harmonies come a total of twelve chromatic resolutions with four resolutions per harmony.
- In addition, because the diminished seven needs a very specific resolution, it’s useful for changing keys.
For example, you could have a repeating progression that’s the same each time except for the chord following the diminished seven:
- C Am F Dm F#o7 G
- C Am F Dm F#o7 E
- C Am F Dm F#o7 Db
- C Am F Dm F#o7 Bb
Final Thoughts
Takeaway points:
- By itself, the dissonant diminished seven chord sounds ugly.
- However, used in the right progression, it becomes a powerful tool for creating forward motion in your harmonies.
- This is a strong example of how dissonant chromatic notes can work when used in the right harmonic resolution.
Have fun writing!
Related Posts
- What Exactly Do I Do with the Circle of Fifths?
- How Do I Find the Key of a Song with Accidentals?
- D’you Want Some Music Tips and Tricks I’ve Learned Over the Years?
© 2025 Geoffrey Keith
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