Put some Bach in your rock!

The marriage of classical harmony and rock guitar, as pioneered by guitarists such as Ritchie Blackmore and Yngwie Malmsteen, produced the style termed “Neoclassical Rock”. In this column and future installments we are going to examine some of the basic and defining elements of this style. In order to understand this material, you will need an understanding of the theory covered in Stage 6 of the Metal Method Basic Course. If you understand the construction of the major and minor scales, as well as major and minor triads, you should be prepared for what is about to follow.

First we are going to look at some principles involving minor and harmonic minor melody and harmony. In discussing harmony, upper case roman numerals denote major chords and lower case numerals denote minor chords. If you build triads on the first, fourth and fifth degrees of the natural minor scale you will have minor chords (i, iv, and v). The third degree of the minor v chord is a whole step below the root or “tonic” of the key. For example, in the key of A minor, A is the tonic. The v chord is E minor. The third degree of E minor is G natural. G natural is a whole tone (two frets) below the tonic (A).

The strongest “cadence”, or chord change, is from a major V chord to a major or minor tonic chord. This is because the third degree of a V chord is a half step below the tonic. This note is called the “leading tone” because it literally “leads” your ear up to the note a half step higher. If the v chord is minor, the leading tone is absent! Therefore, the seventh degree of the minor scale must be raised by a half step to create a leading tone. That gives us the harmonic minor mode and a major V chord.

I recommend that you study this info carefully and begin to experiment with these ideas on you guitar because an upcoming lesson will include tab and audio files demonstrating some applications. These principles of theory will really come to life once you hear how great they sound and what they can contribute to your music!

Learn more about theory and harmony in Stage Six of the Complete Basic Course and "Melodic Principles for Rock Guitar".