How Should I Describe This Passing Chord?

[98bpm]

I'm not formally trained in music, but want to know more about music and theory and I'm working on a chord progression and need to know if I'm understanding what I'm playing. I'm basing my chords off of the C minor scale (natural minor) and I'm using chords that are non-diatonic to the scale to make it sound more interesting. So I'm hoping someone could lend your observations and let me know if my analysis is right or wrong.

Here's the progression:
F minor 9
D minor 9
Bb major 9(13)
D major 9 (13)
E7 Sus 4
Back to F minor 9

Here's my analysis:
Fm9 is the minor 4 chord
D minor 9 could be a borrowed 2 chord from the parallel major
Bb major 9(13) could be a borrowed 7 chord from Dorian mode
E7 Sus 4 could be a Secondary Dominant from the parallel major (considering it to be the V/vi)

Am I looking at this properly?

I'm learning, but really want a second opinion to put me on the right track.

Thanks!

[shawshawraw]

Is this close to what you were playing? https://voca.ro/1cnbLd4ymRXS

[98bpm]

Is this close to what you were playing? https://voca.ro/1cnbLd4ymRXS

Yes it is pretty close.

[shawshawraw]

Yes it is pretty close.

I really like the Fm9-Dm9 part, really colourful, Gemini-sounding. I couldn't sort them functionally.

I treated your BbMaj7/9/13 as Fadd9/Bb, for a similar modulation feel from F root to D root when it goes to DMaj7/9/13. I played the same melody for this reason.

E7sus back to Fm9 is the real weird sound to me in this chain... Did you really use a 5-bar structure?

[jancivil]

there is no reason to wonder about chords from a mode, the concepts are diatonic or chromatic, and names of modes are redundant to the purpose and not relevant. Modes don't call for a whole lot of action in chords anyway, & that's not modal.
IE: Bb is VII of C natural minor, there's no call for a diff. name.
as to 'borrowings', you don't have to explain things like that, if it sounds right it is right. Quite a few people I have noticed over the years think it has to apply to something inchoately received from 'theory', which is typically common practice paradigm anyway. There's no explanation coming for some of it probably. the E chord for instance would be quite a reach by that metric.

if you had to teach your piece you might want to care a lot about names or ways to convey the thought.
it looks like jazzy sort of inclination, which will have a certain explanation not available to classic harmony class.

[jancivil]

Your suppositions are mostly ok, exception being "'E7 Sus 4 could be a Secondary Dominant from the parallel major (considering it to be the V/vi)"
which doesn't scan. It would be V of A, which isn't part of C minor any way you cut it; and an A cnord of either quality is pretty distant to the actual product, Fm. so it isn't much of a dominant at this juncture in usual terms. There appears to be no facile explanation for that, it's kind of 'out'.

[98bpm]

Thank you jancivil and shawshawraw for your thoughts on this. shawshawraw, I never new about the uploading site you linked in your post, so I used it to upload a snippet of the concept I'm working on. In returning to the Fm9, I wanted a passing chord to get me from the D9(13) back to the Fm9. I decided to use a chord a semitone away and slide into the F chord and the E7 Sus4 sounded good (jancivil, you're right in saying "if it sounds right it is right"), but I couldn't explain it functionally (which is what I'm trying to learn how to do). I'm using 4 measures and the 4th measure has 2 chords in it - the D and E chords respectively. A poorly recorded snippet is posted here: https://voca.ro/1dPBKYcPComj

[shawshawraw]

Thank you jancivil and shawshawraw for your thoughts on this. shawshawraw, I never new about the uploading site you linked in your post, so I used it to upload a snippet of the concept I'm working on. In returning to the Fm9, I wanted a passing chord to get me from the D9(13) back to the Fm9. I decided to use a chord a semitone away and slide into the F chord and the E7 Sus4 sounded good (jancivil, you're right in saying "if it sounds right it is right"), but I couldn't explain it functionally (which is what I'm trying to learn how to do). I'm using 4 measures and the 4th measure has 2 chords in it - the D and E chords respectively. A poorly recorded snippet is posted here: https://voca.ro/1dPBKYcPComj

Nice! Thanks for posting the clip - that's worth a thousand words! I just knew that service few days ago from another KVRer

I reverse-engineered your writing, hope you don't mind, haha: https://voca.ro/1djgRBsesd2F

I don't feel you have to use a passing chord. That melody note half-step down from A (in DMaj) to Ab (in Fm) is enough for me to accept the new chord, as the passage is already highly modulatory and Fm9 is a strong establishment. I've heard similar usage in this style of music - half-step down, plus strong establishment chord on a foreign key (Maj7, m7, m7b5, dom 9 sus 4).

Some rhythmic stress can also help, like: https://voca.ro/1ddbwqLdxQxf

It's definitely nothing from any music theory I know (never formally 'formally trained', either), but just a small observation of what sounds good...

btw, some people may call your voicing "cluster" as the high notes are all in the high register and behave like melody.

[TribeOfHǫfuð]

When you make chord analysis per scale step, you should always check whether your chords can be said to designate any of the functions below before thinking in modulations, chromatic variations, mixed modes or other stuff. These are basically the same for Jazz music or other uses of extentions (tetrads and beyond).

For major


For minor


Here is an illustration of functional relatedness:



Cheers

[98bpm]

When you make chord analysis per scale step, you should always check whether your chords can be said to designate any of the functions below before thinking in modulations, chromatic variations, mixed modes or other stuff. These are basically the same for Jazz music or other uses of extentions (tetrads and beyond).

For major


For minor


Here is an illustration of functional relatedness:



Cheers

Yes indeed. I had purchased a series of books from MDecks called Mapping Tonal Harmony that gives explanations of the tonic sub dominant and dominant mapping and the numbering system. The books have exercises of chord progressions based on major and minor scales and diatonic chords that are from these scales. Unfortunately, the books don’t do a good job explaining what some of the chords are (I had to google what a Neapolitan 6 is because the book never explained it). But I decided to try my hand at creating my own chord progressions based on what I’ve understood from the books. As for the chords I selected for this track’s intro, I think these are numbered ok, but the E7 Sus 4 is hard to define, but I like it. In the books, the 7sus4 chord is used to lead into a dominant chord which has a very classical sound.

[jancivil]

I saw 'notes of C minor scale' as 'in C minor', which does not appear to be the case, with no C minor harmony in the progression and a pretty good sign F minor is the i chord. In which case you're stating the basis as F Dorian. as a scale, this is not modal, but you may construct chords relating to F as i.
still, E A B D has no normal identity function-wise as pertains to 3 flats in the sig or whatever. _doesn't have to_

at this juncture I recommend trying to get interest inside of a straight diatonic set before running too far afield out of boredom, because a lot of interest lives inside 7 notes. And I recommend highly a course in part-writing, harmony in 4 parts as a discipline; many ideas happen here that don't happen thinking in blocks. You like a 'sus 4', well it comes from actually suspending a 4 in linear writing of parts. I was wanting a lot more than triads in my first diatonic part-writing class (while the figures indicate pure triad) and my MO was to get the 7ths and 9ths, 11ths in sneakily by the known devices, suspensions, anticipations and what-not. and still write good lines.

beware of people selling the information in books form in general. if you got a series of books and had to google Neap. 6 (or it didn't indicate its function, subdominant) there's a problem, that's first year, Diatonic.

[shawshawraw]

Haha, I'm glad I googled that Neap. 6 chord as well. I always knew it conceptually but never knew it can assist a half-step down modulation.

And I got a fun idea using that on OP's progression
https://vocaroo.com/1fL2hBBrW9Hf

[jancivil]

maybe more end of first year, preparing for chromatic. I took 'em both concurrently, seems like first year, it's pretty basic. technically a chromaticism as eg., Db is in no way in any kind of C key.

the simplest way I know to describe it is it's the iv in minor but instead of say F Ab C it's F Ab Db.
there is some confusion about, as though the term Neapolitan describes a general bII harmony, but the term *is* Neapolitan Sixth, a similar exception* to an Augmented Sixth where a chromatic harmony begins on a "6 chord", ie., the bass is a sixth below the chord's root (*: the chord's root belies its function). Both are subdominant type function, both begin with iv6
Some like 'pre-dominant', I find it superfluous and too specific at the same time.
There have been brouhahas trying to conflate it with the flat V substitute for V as well. The 6 in the name is not extricable from 'Neapolitan'.

[shawshawraw]

Yes, I remember when I first read it on a 'classical' harmony (or the term "Common Practice Period", learned from your talking) textbook, and wondered how composers got into such a colour tone, a minor second directly above the tonic. I decided I won't gonna overthink and just remember it as 4 b6 b2.

These explanations are golden. Thank you Jan!!

[jancivil]

I saw a nice bit by Adam Neely recently, starts off celebrating the Neap. Sixth harmony.

it appears early 17th c, it typically is for a 'dark', tragic, sad affect. I'd say the impetus is both melodic and this particular pull to a dominant, especially to a cadential 6/4. So F F Ab Db is going to G E G C/G D G B.

Linearly, it does this b2 ^7 1, essentially.
so the idea is basically Emo/feature yer hurt for the older musics.

most famous might be in the Moonlight Sonata.