One of the joys of composition and arrangement is discovering beautiful sounds and placing them in a usable form. I love to sit at the piano and play various combinations of notes, writing down the most unique for later use. However, this activity can lead to “That’s a Cool Chord” Syndrome, or TCCS.
TCCS occurs when a well-meaning composer or arranger finds one beautiful chord that he or she simply must use. The composer thus begins work on a new piece, specifically designing it to work with the one cool chord. The problem? So many times, a song that is written for the purpose of showing off one thing is not skillful in conveying anything else. This is especially a problem if you have only one chord to show off.
Usually, the one cool chord is quite colorful, containing some nonharmonic tones that give it a certain zing. The problem is that most amateur composers who find such a chord have no other unique chords with similar effect. So we hear ones, fours, fives, maybe a minor six, and then some crazy Neapolitan 6th with an added major 7th and 9th. The composer says, “Cool!” while the rest of the world says, “What was that?”
“What was that?” is not usually a good question to hear about your composition. At the end of a good performance of a good composition, the audience knows exactly what that was. They have felt it. Conversely, TCCS destroys whatever that was in a piece by stealing the show for a brilliant 2.4 seconds.
This is not to say that composers should stop trying to find or use innovative harmonies. Rather, they should each build a personal toolbox of unique harmonies and use them to build a context of beautiful chords in which the most brilliant will seem both astounding and appropriate. The best composers of the Romantic period did this, but somehow most composers today seem unwilling to expend the effort to make their own interests interesting to the listening audience.
May we squash TCCS. May it happen today.
Copyright 2007 Nathan Howe - all rights reserved. Reposting or reprinting without permission is prohibited. For permission, contact the copyright owner through http://nathanhowe.net.
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