Golden sequence: principle and features

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Writing your own composition is extremely difficult. To do this, you need to be able to achieve harmonious sound. The golden sequence is one of the compositional techniques used in jazz and classical music. The composer Handel invented this method of obtaining a harmonious sound.

Varieties of sequences

Sequence is often used in music. It can be present only in part of the work or repeated in different keys throughout the composition. Those who received a musical education often encountered different types of sequences in classical works. By tonality, this technique can be divided into two types: chromatic and diatonic.

A sequence can consist of several links, coincide with the measures in the number of links (or vice versa), be different in accuracy. The golden sequence in music is often referred to as a fourth-fifth building. It often forms the basis of simple motives that are easy to remember, therefore it is often used in pop music. It is a unique and multifaceted tool thatcan be used to connect complex structures.

What is the golden sequence

The circle of fifths (another name for this technique) is one of the varieties of a simple sequence, that is, the repetition of a harmonic or melodic turn at different heights. The beginning of the circle is a chord, which is tuned down by a fifth from the first note of the scale in its key.

Tonics that form this revolution follow each other through fourths and fifths. For example, the first chord is taken in D minor, a fifth is taken from its tonic and a G minor chord is obtained. From the G note, which will be the tonic, we take a fourth up and get a C major chord, from which the next fifth is already taken down. Thus, you need to act until the circle closes. We will consider the construction of a circle in more detail below.

Features of using this technique

Most often, the golden sequence is built according to the principle: fifth down, fourth up. That is why it is called the circle of quinto-quarts. However, many composers change the arrangement of chords: fourth up and fifth down. The result is a different, lower sound, which still bears the name of the golden sequence.

Another feature of this technique is the use of the first chord only in the minor scale. The most harmonious sound is obtained if all chords belong to the diatonic scale. The penultimate chord can be taken not from it, so thatmake it dominant, anticipating the closing of the circle. The above example in D minor will contain such a chord - la dominant seventh. It creates tension before the repetition of the turnover.

The role of the newt in the golden sequence

So, the golden sequence of the note before the circle closes changes a bit. This technique is called a tritone. With it, the third degree rises in the chord. This allows you to create tension and highlight this chord as a dominant one.

The semi-diminished tritone makes the chord dominant without being too tight. It is often used in pop music. In classical works, a diminished chord is most often found, which has great tension. Remember that tritone chords always require resolution to the root.

How to build a golden sequence correctly

Golden sequence can be created not only on the piano, it is also used when playing the guitar. We will consider just such an example of construction, because now a large number of compositions are composed on this six-string instrument. Let's take any minor chord or seventh chord as a basis. Four notes are counted down from it, and then five up.

Let's take the A minor chord (Am7) as a basis, count down the fifth and get the D minor (Dm7). Then we count up and get G7, and then count the fifth from G and get to, but take it in a major, so the sound will be more beautiful. The fourth chord of our golden sequence will be Cmaj.

Next we will move in a major, so thatmake the line harmonious. When counting up, we get the note F and, accordingly, Fmaj. Next, we move a fifth down the scale of the original A-minor chord and get the note C, on the basis of which we will build the chord Bm7 / 5 (half-reduced). The given golden sequence, the chords of which we received, will be unfinished without using the tritone technique. According to calculations, Em7 should go seventh, but instead (due to the increase in the third step), we will take E7, which is the dominant seventh chord. After it, you can start the circle again, note that we took all the notes from the A minor scale.

Examples of compositions using this technique

Igor Krutoy most often uses the Golden Sequence technique among modern composers, it is thanks to this circle that his melodies become memorable and recognizable by the people. "I didn't even know" by Philip Kirkorov is one of the modern examples of the golden sequence. Lots of beautiful songs have been written using these loops. The most striking example is the jazz composition - All The Things You Are. Among Russian folk songs, this technique can be heard in Komarinskaya.

Among the classics, the golden sequence has very different examples, for example, it can be heard in the introduction to the opera "Eugene Onegin" by Tchaikovsky or in his own "Four Seasons". But most often this technique was used by Handel, who, as we have already mentioned, was its inventor. For example, in his "Passacaglia" these melodic segments are clearly audible. Other composers did not lag behind and used the mostdifferent types of sequences in their works. The most striking example is the works of Wagner and Vivaldi, but they did not always use the golden sequences.