Resolving Suspended Chords

[Surlethe]

I recently sat down to play around at the piano, and found that if I resolve a Dsus by taking the middle voice through the three, down to the two, and then back up to the F# for a D, the chord wants to resolve in a G. Why is this?

[Saurencaerthai]

Perhaps I'm not understanding your terminology, but the D is being suspended over what chord to begin with?

[Surlethe]

Perhaps I'm not understanding your terminology, but the D is being suspended over what chord to begin with?

Hmm. Let me illustrate.

Code: Select all

A -- A -- A -- A -- B
G -- F# - E -- F# - G
D -- D -- D -- D -- D

This is the sequence I had in mind, and the fourth chord doesn't feel resolved; it wants to go to the G-chord instead. Am I clearer?

[DesertFly]

Okay, you've piqued my interest. It's been awhile since I took music theory, but I resolve that as soon as I return home (and it's not the middle of the night), I will brush up on my knowledge and provide you with a definitive answer. Or at least my take on it.

[Fleet Admiral JD]

Perhaps I'm not understanding your terminology, but the D is being suspended over what chord to begin with?

Hmm. Let me illustrate.

Code: Select all

A -- A -- A -- A -- B
G -- F# - E -- F# - G
D -- D -- D -- D -- D

This is the sequence I had in mind, and the fourth chord doesn't feel resolved; it wants to go to the G-chord instead. Am I clearer?

Regardless of how it "feels," that is resolved. Maybe your piano is out of tune?

[Zaia]

Hmm. Let me illustrate.

Code: Select all

A -- A -- A -- A -- B
G -- F# - E -- F# - G
D -- D -- D -- D -- D

This is the sequence I had in mind, and the fourth chord doesn't feel resolved; it wants to go to the G-chord instead. Am I clearer?

Well, first of all, in terms of classical theory, you don't really have a suspension to resolve. If the G from your first chord is held over and suspended from the previous chord, then you do, but with the limited information you've presented here, I can't in good conscience call it a suspension. Now! Moving away from the technicalities...

Second of all, the progression does resolve with the last, but your brain might not be registering it because it wants to hear the root in the bass*. You've got a nice pedal tone thing going on with all your D's, but I'll bet if you double the root and eliminate the 5th (no worries, you're allowed) by putting a G in the bass for the last chord, your ear will say, "That's what I wanted!" because it'll make the resolution sound more prominent. Try it and see if that feels better.


*Edit: In case you aren't sure why this would be, a chord with the 5th in the bass ends up sounding more like a tonic than a dominant chord in the key. So, in plainer English, to make it sound more like a G chord, put a G in the bass.

[Edi]

Hmm. Let me illustrate.

Code: Select all

A -- A -- A -- A -- B
G -- F# - E -- F# - G
D -- D -- D -- D -- D

This is the sequence I had in mind, and the fourth chord doesn't feel resolved; it wants to go to the G-chord instead. Am I clearer?

Well, first of all, in terms of classical theory, you don't really have a suspension to resolve. If the G from your first chord is held over and suspended from the previous chord, then you do, but with the limited information you've presented here, I can't in good conscience call it a suspension. Now! Moving away from the technicalities...

Second of all, the progression does resolve with the last, but your brain might not be registering it because it wants to hear the root in the bass. You've got a nice pedal tone thing going on with all your D's, but I'll bet if you double the root and eliminate the 5th (no worries, you're allowed) by putting a G in the bass for the last chord, your ear will say, "That's what I wanted!" because it'll make the resolution sound more prominent. Try it and see if that feels better.

Could you people repeat that in Egyptian hieroglyphs? Because it might make more sense that way...

Seriously, I suck at all aspects of music, so anyone who can carry a tune with an instrument has my automatic respect for possessing a skill I'll never be able to master.

Giving me a musical instrument must be a breach of several different weapon ban treaties. My singing is somewhat better, which means that I merely sound like a crow with a sore throat on a good day. The bad ones, you don't want to know...

Edi

[Zaia]

Could you people repeat that in Egyptian hieroglyphs? Because it might make more sense that way...

No, alas, I cannot. However, I do thank you for quoting what I said, because it brought to mind something which I forgot to address previously.

Seriously, I suck at all aspects of music, so anyone who can carry a tune with an instrument has my automatic respect for possessing a skill I'll never be able to master.

Giving me a musical instrument must be a breach of several different weapon ban treaties. My singing is somewhat better, which means that I merely sound like a crow with a sore throat on a good day. The bad ones, you don't want to know...

Edi

Bah, 'never' is crap; if you had a good teacher and the time and motivation to learn, I have every faith you could do it.

[Surlethe]

Well, first of all, in terms of classical theory, you don't really have a suspension to resolve. If the G from your first chord is held over and suspended from the previous chord, then you do, but with the limited information you've presented here, I can't in good conscience call it a suspension. Now! Moving away from the technicalities...

Sorry; I'm an unschooled heathen who just picks stuff up here and there and plays stuff every now and again.

Second of all, the progression does resolve with the last, but your brain might not be registering it because it wants to hear the root in the bass*. You've got a nice pedal tone thing going on with all your D's, but I'll bet if you double the root and eliminate the 5th (no worries, you're allowed) by putting a G in the bass for the last chord, your ear will say, "That's what I wanted!" because it'll make the resolution sound more prominent. Try it and see if that feels better.

I'm not being very clear in my question. It's, why does the chord resolve with the G, and not with the penultimate D? Does that make sense? I tried putting a G in the bass, and it did resolve nicely, but why does it resolve to the subdominant instead of the tonic (D, in this case)? Am　I making sense at all?

*Edit: In case you aren't sure why this would be, a chord with the 5th in the bass ends up sounding more like a tonic than a dominant chord in the key. So, in plainer English, to make it sound more like a G chord, put a G in the bass.

Okay; that makes sense.

[Zaia]

I'm not being very clear in my question. It's, why does the chord resolve with the G, and not with the penultimate D? Does that make sense? I tried putting a G in the bass, and it did resolve nicely, but why does it resolve to the subdominant instead of the tonic (D, in this case)? Am?I making sense at all?

How is D the tonic? Are there more chords to this progression that you've left out, or is this it? Because my ear is telling me you're in the key of G major, and that D is your dominant.

The F# in the D chord is trying to resolve up to G. The 3rd chord tone in the dominant chord of any key is called the leading tone (in this case, the F#), because it leads up to the root of the tonic chord (in this case, the G). The fact that you've repeated the D chord and have D being repeated in every chord as a pedal tone in the bass only strengthens the feel of the dominant and makes the resolution from the F# up to the G feel more like G is the tonic. If this was not your intention, to end up in the key of G, I suggest you change your chord progression.

[Surlethe]

How is D the tonic? Are there more chords to this progression that you've left out, or is this it? Because my ear is telling me you're in the key of G major, and that D is your dominant.

Hmm. I suppose the context matters more than I had previously assumed. Here's a chord progression I just threw together:

D G C A D G Dsus G -- how's that?

The F# in the D chord is trying to resolve up to G. The 3rd chord tone in the dominant chord of any key is called the leading tone (in this case, the F#), because it leads up to the root of the tonic chord (in this case, the G). The fact that you've repeated the D chord and have D being repeated in every chord as a pedal tone in the bass only strengthens the feel of the dominant and makes the resolution from the F# up to the G feel more like G is the tonic. If this was not your intention, to end up in the key of G, I suggest you change your chord progression.

You edited your post while I was at the piano, you sneaky, you. This very much clears up the issue; thanks.

[Zaia]

Hmm. I suppose the context matters more than I had previously assumed. Here's a chord progression I just threw together:

D G C A D G Dsus G -- how's that?

It's a bit strange if they're all major chords. My ear still puts it in the key of G (slightly less emphatically than before, but since you end on a G chord, it still sounds like an authentic cadence, which is just a fancy way of saying "It goes dominannnnnnnnnnnnt-->tonic!").

Basically, western tonal music is about one of two things: moving from tonic to dominant, or moving from dominant to tonic. In your progression, you spend more time in the dominant or pre-dominant area (which means your ear wants you to resolve it at the end with the tonic, or G chord): for instance, the A chord, which to my ear should be an A minor, is a pre-dominant chord. In the key of G, an A minor chord would be analyzed as a ii chord, which naturally leans towards V (the dominant, D in this case). The other pre-dominant chord you've got is the C major chord, which in the key of G is analyzed as a IV, which also naturally leans towards V (the dominant). If you started on a G chord instead of a D, this would be a very nice textbook progression for G major, babe.

You edited your post while I was at the piano, you sneaky, you. This very much clears up the issue; thanks.

Aye, sorry. I haven't had to explain this stuff for quite a while; I'm a bit rusty.