Functional harmony and finding chord substitutions are related. This video explains how harmony is functional in general and then how songwriters can find chord substitutions using functions.
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Weekly Lesson #68

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Lesson Content Outline with Timestamp Links:
0:00 - About this lesson and channel
0:59 - Definition of functional harmony
1:36 - The 3 main functions in functional harmony
2:49 - How chord substitutions work in functional harmony
3:31 - Theory of tonic functioning chords
4:10 - Theory of dominant functioning chords
4:34 - Theory of subdominant functioning chords
5:02 - Example of chord substitution in songwriting
5:38 - Lyric writing skit
6:29 - Lyrics & melody with initial chord progression
6:46 - Swapping the chords with substitutions
8:28 - Full song idea with the new chord substitutions
9:02 - Conclusion: When to think in terms of function
11:04 - Free chord substitution chart:
11:50 - Next lesson / Outro

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The blog post version of this lesson:

Links Mentioned in this Video and Related Lessons:
• Full chord theory series playlist:
• Free chord substitution chart:
• Mastering Chord Numbers:
• Rootless Chords video:

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Lesson Description:
This week's lesson is all about functional harmony. What it is, how it works, and how we can use it. Learning functional harmony is super useful for finding chord substitutions when writing progressions or jamming. And I know studying music can feel a little dry and academic at times, so I included a little humor that anyone who's tried writing lyrics might relate to. In this lesson I write a song with a basic chord progression and then use functional harmony to replace each chord with a chord substitution.

Check out related videos I've made on similar topics in these playlists:
• Songwriting & Composing:
• Scales:
• How to Learn Guitar Chords Series:
• Chords:
• Music Theory:

#functionalharmony #chords #guitarlesson #songwriting #musictheory #guitar #guitarchords

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Even though functional harmony isn’t the prevailing method for creating music these days, it’s still helpful to know about and understand, especially for seeing how chords overlap and behave similarly so we can find chord substitutions when songwriting or jamming.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson and found it beneficial. Let me know what you thought. Thanks! :)
- Jared
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