From the course: Songwriting Techniques with Chords

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Change the harmonic rhythm

Change the harmonic rhythm

[Instructor] Thus far, all the examples we've looked at use a harmonic rhythm of one chord per bar. Harmonic rhythm is the rate at which the chords change. It's usually pretty static throughout a song, but sometimes speeds up or slows down as the sections of a song change. Let's explore how we can use the harmonic rhythm of a song to change it's feel dramatically. I've created a new song example specifically for this purpose. A 16 bar tale of hard work and heartache called "House You Call Home." Let's take a listen to it now. ♫ I worked hard for 15 years ♫ I gave you my blood, sweat, and tears, ♫ I ground my fingers to the bone ♫ To make this house that you call home Right away we see the melody to the song is in G Major because of the single F sharp in the melody. And I've chosen basic chords in the key of G to harmonize it. The one, four, and five chords of the key were G, C, and D major chords. There's also a six chord in there which is an E minor. And I've thrown that in to spice…

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