Harmonic Progressions

Chapter 4 explores the combination of the poetic forms and rhythmic types with the harmonic language of early blues, country, and gospel music. The main harmonic building blocks of these genres are the major tonic (I), subdominant (IV), and dominant (V) chords, and these are the chords that make up the harmonic progressions in most realizations of the “Sweet Thing” scheme. The harmonic element of the “Sweet Thing” scheme is highly flexible, but this chapter demonstrates that its progressions nonetheless divide into broad comprehensible categories—namely blues-like progressions, periodic progressions, fragmented progressions, and amalgamated progressions—and that the harmony is always closely intertwined with text and rhythm.