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I PLOYCHORDS OF LIMITED TRANSPOSITION and POLYCHORDAL
MODES
POLYCHORDS OF LIMITED TRANSPOSITION: A device for superimposing dominant ninth chords on each
other to create synthetic harmonies. This device creates a sequence or cycle of six polychords that can be
transposed twice.
The superimposition of dominant 9th chords are built by linking a common note or notes, the common
note being the b7th or 9th, which becomes the root of the new chord. These chords overlap to create a
new harmony. Only two full sequences of 6 polychords sharing the b7th, and two full sequences of 6
polychords sharing the 9th are possible to transpose, thus they are of limited transposition. The
subsequent modes derived from this harmony can be termed Polychordal modes
SEQUENCE/CYCLE OF POLYCHORDS OF LIMITED TRANSPOSITION
ROOT b7th 9th Built on b7th becoming root of new chord
The seventh of the root chord becomes the root
C Bb D
of the next, and so on. This can be applied Six
Bb Ab C times before the starting chord repeats.
Ab Gb Bb
Note: Descending pattern of whole tones occur
Gb E Ab on root, b7th and 9th, e.g. C, Bb, Ab, Gb, E, D.
E D F#
D C E
ROOT b7th 9th
TRANSPOSITION
Db B Eb
B A C#
A G B
G F A
F Eb G
Eb Db F
ROOT b7th 9th
Built on 9th becoming root of new chord
C Bb D
Note: Ascending pattern of whole tones occur
D C E on root, b7th and 9th
E D F#
F# E G#
Ab Gb Bb
Bb Ab C
By using partials b7th and 9th as the next final and adding their partials, the harmony develops as a type of Polychordal
chromaticism.
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II Polychords of limited transposition in practice
Adjacent chords may Using the b7th as the common note;
be superimposed by C9 can be overlapped with Bb9
the b7th and 9th Bb9 can be overlapped with Ab9 and so on.
becoming 'root' of
Next chord. Using 9th as the common note;
C9 can be overlapped with D9
D9 can be overlapped with E9 and so on
More than two chords Using both b7th and 9th as common notes;
may be superimposed C9 can be simultaneously overlapped with Bb9 and D9
Similarly, C9 can overlap simultaneously with Bb9 and D9 in
addition to Ab9 and E9 and so on.
A type of Polychordal chromaticism will eventually occur as more chords are added
simultaneously.
Figure 2 Table to find linked polychords
To find polychords which link by
b7ths, go down the table. To find
polychords which link by 9ths go
across the table. To find polychords
which link through different
combinations of 7ths and ninths, go
across and down the table.
Example: To find a 3-chord
superimposition linked by 7ths, count
three chords down C/Bb/Ab.
To find a 3-chord superimposition
linked by ninths, count three chords
across, C/D/E
To find a 3-chord superimposition
linked by both 7th and 9th count
across and down; C-D
Bb
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2-CHORD SUPERIMPOSITIONS
linked by b7th
C/Bb Bb/Ab Ab/Gb Gb/E E/D D/C
linked by 9th
C/D D/E E/F# F#/Ab Ab/Bb Bb/C
3-CHORD SUPERIMPOSITIONS
linked by b7th linked by 9th linked by both b7th and 9th
C/Bb/Ab C/D/E C/D/Bb
4-CHORD SUPERIMPOSITIONS
linked by b7th linked by 9th linked by both b7th and 9th
C/Bb/Ab/Gb C/D/E/F# C/D/E/Bb C/Bb/Ab/D
5-CHORD SUPERIMPOSITIONS
linked by b7th linked by 9th linked by both b7th and 9th
C/Bb/Ab/Gb/E C/D/E/F#/Ab C/D/E/F#/Bb C/Bb/Ab/Gb/D
C/D/E/Bb/Ab
6-CHORD SUPERIMPOSITIONS
linked by b7th linked by 9th
C/Bb/Ab/Gb/E/D C/D/E/F#/Ab/Bb
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III Chord voicing: Basic superimposition and examples of chord voicing
Superimposition of two adjacent chords
Basic superimposition based on
lowered seventh becoming root
of new chord.
Some voicings for superimposition of two chords
‘A’ Voicing’s for chords linked by lowered seventh
Uppermost voicing consisting of b7th and ninth of superimposed chord
Lowermost voice built on b7th of original chord
Other notes from both chords may be added to the 5-note voicing shown
‘B’ Voicing’s for chords linked by lowered seventh
Uppermost voicing consisting of b7th, 9th and 5th of superimposed chord
Lowermost voice consisting of b7th, 9th and 5th of original chord
Other notes from both chords may be added to the 5-note voicing shown
Basic superimposition based on
ninth becoming root
of new chord.
A’ Voicing’s for chords linked by ninth
Uppermost voicing: consisting of 3rd, b7th and 9th of superimposed chord
Lowermost voicing built on b7th of 'original chord
Other notes from both chords may be added;
‘B’ Voicing’s for chords linked by ninth
Uppermost chord: consisting of b7th, 9th and 5th of superimposed chord
Lowermost chord built on 9th, 3rd and b7th of original chord
Other notes from both chords may be added;
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‘C’ Voicing’s for chords linked by ninth or lowered seventh
Other notes from both chords may be added to the 5-note voicing shown
Scriabin's' Mystic chord is similar Mystic chord 'C' voiced Polychord
to the transposed ‘C’ voiced chord
linked by a ninth, but is missing the G.
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IIIb Chord voicing - Tri-chords
IIIc - Four chord voicing
Same as previous chord, transposed
and
and
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IV Polychordal modes
When two adjacent dominant chords in the cycle share the common note of the b7th,
the resulting mode is Mixolydian b6th
Lowered 6th
When two adjacent dominant chords in the cycle share the common note of the 9th,
the resulting mode is Lydian dominant or acoustic scale.
Raised 4th
Modes derived from 3-chord superimpositions
Linked by b7ths
Linked by 9ths
Linked by both b7ths and
9ths
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Modes derived from 4-chord superimpositions
Modes derived from 5-chord superimpositions
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When all six chords in the cycle are superimposed the resulting mode is a chromatic scale. Bartok's
Polymodal chromaticism is the superimposition of diatonic modes on each other that share the same
tonic/final and can create a chromatic scale, whereas the resulting chromatic scale from the above system
is brought about by the superimposition of dominant ninth chords.
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V Polychords of limited transposition musical aesthetic
Polychords of limited transposition, as Messiaen's modes of limited transposition and
Bartok's Polymodal chromaticism, serve the purpose of not being tied to any one
obvious key or tonal centre. The resulting harmonies serve to create a certain degree of
freedom from the western 12 key tonality. Bi-chords linked by a lowered seventh sound
closer to a dominant chord-type than a bi-chord linked by a ninth. As more than two
chords are superimposed, the resulting harmony and derived modes become more
ambiguous, moving away from the dominant relation and creating an 'other-
worldliness'.
The system came into place when experimenting with the upper partials of the
harmonic series, namely the b7th and the 9th and trying to avoid the resulting dominant
7th-type chord which, in Western tonality, leads for the most part back to a tonic. The
resulting chords are akin and can be said in jazz terms to be a form of extended/altered
dominant seventh-type chord. The differentiating factor in the above system is that the
chords are linked by a series of either or both lowered sevenths and ninths that may be
transposed only twice. This differs from, for example, a chord progression sequence like
II-V-1, which may be transposed into twelve keys and firmly establishes a tonal centre.
Experimentation with a multitude of voicing's for the polychords will give varying
degrees of harmonic sounds.
VI summary
Polychords of limited transposition: A sequence or cycle of six polychords that can only
be transposed twice. They are linked by either or both the b7th and the 9th becoming
the root of the new chord or chords. The resulting harmonies have no obvious tonal
centre, allowing a certain harmonic freedom.
Polychordal modes: Modes resulting from Polychords of limited transposition
Other sequences could be arrived at by linking other partials, chord-types and so on. The
above sequence however, was in answer to a particular problem, that of taking
dominant seventh and dominant ninth chords away from a tonal centre.
