PADS
DEMYSTIFYING PADS - PART 2 – WHY THEY WORK | Brian Fuller
Do pads really have magical powers?
Let’s look at some examples in the Key of C Let us not forget, the goal of music is to create
Major. Notes of C Major in One Octave an environment that allows us to accurately and
In a musical sense, yes, they do! Once we have
effectively transfer the true meaning of the song
C D E F G A B (C)
a more tangible understanding of what pads and the lyrics that we’re singing. The way we
are, and how they are used, we can start to choose to voice our chords really determines
explore the mystery of ‘why’ they work so well the emotional vibe of the song. The more color
in most musical scenarios. Despite being so we add to the chords the more we get a certain
musically simplistic and basic, pads truly add a feeling from that chord. The chords we choose
can make a huge difference in the way the lyrics
certain complexity and vibe to our music. What
is happening musically when pads are playing
Diatonic Triad Chords in C Major*
are perceived. This is where the true power and
mystery of pads comes in!
underneath a chord progression and why do CHORD NOTES DIATONIC NUMBER they evoke such strong emotions? In other C Major C E G I words, how come they’re so awesome? D Minor D F A ii- By simply sustaining a drone of pads
E Minor E G B iii- underneath your chord progression, you can
F Major F A C IV G Major G B D V A Minor A C E vi- B Diminished B D F vii ø
To truly understand what’s going on with pads
we need to look at the tonic nature of western
music so let’s dive in. This may seem a little
complicated at first, but just hang with me
and listen to the audio samples. Like pads,
once you actually hear it, you can better
understand it!
The majority of modern music, specifically
contemporary worship songs, are what we
*When chords or notes are described by their
number position in the scale, we use Roman
numerals to describe them: I, ii-, iii-, IV, V, vi-
and vii ø .
really glue the chord structure together in an
effective and impactful way.
Typically pads contain an octave pair of the
tonic and a 5th as well. For the key of C these
notes are C and G. An ‘interval’ is the distance
between two notes, and the interval between
C and G is called a ‘perfect 5 th ’. This interval
allows pads to effectively lay the framework
for the key of the song without adding too
much color.
call ‘diatonic’. Meaning they are in one certain
key. Often the songs we do are in major keys,
occasionally minor keys. At its root, pun
intended, a song in a major key can contain
typically three major chords, three minor chords
and the less rarely used diminished chord. All of
these chords are made up of some combination
of three of the seven notes from the major or
minor scale. This is why they are often called
‘triads’. In reality, as a song changes chords,
there are still many notes that the different
chords have in common.
For example, C Major and G Major both have a
G in them. C Major and F Major both have a C in
it, and so on. These are called ‘common tones’
Within those triad chords, each note is
assigned a scale. The root note is always the
‘1’ or the ‘tonic’. Each subsequent scale tone As the pads are sustaining the high G over any
is another scale degree, D is 2, E is 3, F is 4 chord change in the key of C major, it takes on
and so on. The C Major chord contains C, E, G a unique degree of the scale for each chord.
which ‘function as’ 1, 3, 5. If you replace the E That high G note droning in the pads becomes
with an F, that chord becomes a Csus4 = 1, 4, the magic ingredient in the key of C as you will
5. The third scale degree (E) was replaced with see why below. When the chords start moving,
4th scale degree (F) which is a very uplifting and this is where it starts to happen!
inspirational sound.
Let’s imagine we are doing a song with the
and this, my friends, is where the concept of
following chord progression…
pads really begins to unfold.
162
C G Am F C
March 2019
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