3 = F–A♭-B-D) in J.S. Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C major from The Well-Tempered Clavier
A borrowed chord (also called mode mixture,[1] modal mixture,[2] substituted chord,[3] modal interchange,[1] or mutation[4]) is a chord borrowed from the parallel key (minor or major scale with the same tonic). Borrowed chords are typically used as "color chords", providing harmonic variety through contrasting scale forms, which are major scales and the three forms of minor scales.[2] Chords may also be borrowed from other parallel modes besides the major and minor mode, for example D Dorian with D major.[1] The mixing of the major and minor modes developed in the Baroque period.[5]
Borrowed chords are distinguished from modulation by being brief enough that the tonic is not lost or displaced, and may be considered brief or transitory modulations[3] and may be distinguished from secondary chords[6] as well as altered chords.[1] According to Sheila Romeo, "[t]he borrowed chord suggests the sound of its own mode without actually switching to that mode."[1]
- ^ a b c d e Romeo, Sheila (1999). Complete Rock Keyboard Method: Mastering Rock Keyboard, p. 42. ISBN 0-88284-982-4. Bouchard, Joe and Romeo, Sheila (2007). The Total Rock Keyboardist, p. 120. Alfred Music. ISBN 9780739043127.
- ^ a b Benward & Saker (2009), p. 71.
- ^ a b White, William Alfred (1911). Harmonic Part-writing, p. 42. Silver, Burdett, & Co. [ISBN unspecified].
- ^ Kostka, Stefan; Payne, Dorothy (2004). Tonal Harmony (5th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill. p. 343. ISBN 0072852607. OCLC 51613969.
- ^ Benward & Saker (2009), p. 74.
- ^ Sorce, Richard (1995). Music Theory for the Music Professional, p. 332. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9781461664208.