Joni Mitchell frequently uses sus chords in precisely this way, and specifically for their unresolved character. Employing sus chords in a quartal harmonic structure can lend itself to a less controlled sound, one with greater emotional ambiguity and more room to explore complex themes. Suspended chords - whether the sus4 variety we’re discussing here, or the alternate sus2 type - are essentially built from stacked 4th intervals, and they don’t possess the same air of predictability as chords based on stacking 3rd intervals. This is where “quartal harmony” comes into play, in contrast to tertian harmony. Indeed, sus chords don’t need to carry out any particular function.
When a 4th scale degree displaces the 3rd, as in the second measure of Figure 1 above (with the note C displacing the note B), what usually follows is that the 4th resolves back down to the 3rd, as though it’s being pulled by a magnetic field to a more stable position.īut in 20th-century Western music (whether we’re talking about pop, rock, and jazz - or even Stravinsky, Debussy, and Bartók), sus chords often don’t function in this traditional manner. This tradition is based on what we call “tertian harmony,” where the fundamental building blocks comprise stacked 3rd intervals (Major and minor), as shown in the first measure of Figure 1 above. In European classical music, sus chords served a predefined role: to set up an inevitable musical resolution. They sort of “float” - as though needing to be grounded. They can sound rather consonant while still feeling unresolved. Suspended (or “sus”) chords are also unstable, but they don’t possess much tension on their own. The classic example is the “V 7-to-I” perfect cadence, where the dominant (V 7) chord is highly “unstable” and yearns to resolve to the unflinching tonic (I) chord. What are suspended chords? Previous In Theory columns discussed how different kinds of chords using various scale degrees can invoke a feeling of tension and release, a sense of moving away from, and back towards home. “Blast Off” uses suspended chords everywhere, even in places you would least expect to hear them. Indeed, this opening passage soon reveals itself to be highly predictive: we discover that the central characteristic of the song, the thing that makes it so alluring, is its prodigious use of suspended chords. It’s a kind of harmonic announcement that builds anticipation for what’s to come. “Blast Off” opens with a suspended chord, a B 13sus, played with strings and vibraphone, using an arpeggiated spread voicing over three octaves. Its underlying musical architecture contains many surprises, and even some harmonic innovations-things I’m not sure I’ve ever heard before.
“Blast Off” is the last song on the LP, An Evening With Silk Sonic, and it beautifully encapsulates this adventurous spirit. Silk Sonic may be superficially steeped in the 70s, but they’re also forging new paths compositionally. Paak are plainly channeling the refined harmonic language of Stevie Wonder and Holland-Dozier-Holland, it would be foolish to dismiss this effort as a mere nostalgic indulgence. But if you can get beyond the devilishly smooth retro façade and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, you’ll find that the tunes contain truly challenging and inventive musical constructs. From just the first two singles, “Leave The Door Open” and “Skate,” there’s no doubt that the Silk Sonic project is part homage, part parody - and clearly self-aware. Paak and Bruno Mars, will immediately recognize that it’s heavily steeped in early-’70s soul aesthetics.
Anyone who has heard the music of Silk Sonic, the R&B superduo comprising Anderson.