Picking chords by rolling a dice… Really?

[Jean-Michel G]

This was suggested as the base for an upcoming AM challenge. Would that really work? Well, if you consider that harmony is the obeying servant of the melody, I can’t guarantee any sensible/pleasant results if you proceed that way…

That being said, there is indeed something that comes close to this idea, and it’s called pandiatonicism.

It is a musical approach initiated by Igor Stravinsky at the beginning of the 20th century, and adopted by a variety of composers such as Prokofiev, Ravel, Copland a.o.

In pandiatonicism, all seven notes of a key are treated equal and used democratically. The melody is still prevailing, but the natural tendency of scale degrees to go somewhere is not necessarily respected; for example, the leading doesn’t necessarily have to go to the tonic.

Chords are still tertiary, but often use upper structures. For example, using the key of F major, Stravinsky proposes the chord (Bb F A C) which may be thought as an F(11)/Bb and which sounds mildly dissonant.
More importantly, that dissonance doesn’t need to resolve! In “traditional” harmony, that Bb would have to go to A and the sequence would be F(11)/Bb -> F/A. Not so in pandiatonicism! In that approach, chords stand on their own; they also don’t need “to go anywhere”.

Simply put, pandiatonicism uses non-functional harmony, but it is still somehow rooted in a key since usually only diatonic notes are used.

Another take at pandiatonicism is the simultaneous use of several (not too distant) keys. For example, an upper melodic line using some sort of D minor scale, a middle voice using C major and a bass voice using F major.

Although pandiatonicism has been described as “a wash of notes”, it is still far from random!
If you’re curious to hear how pandiatonic music might sound, have a listen to Stravinsky’s The Rite Of Spring.
You might actually like it. Or, on the contrary, like a music theorist once put it, you may find that it is “C major that sounds like hell”!

[Michael L]

Interesting idea. I listened to about a quarter of The Rite Of Spring and I must say it was different. Not unpleasant, but rather tension-filled and short on resolution for the ear. Someone not raised on Western music as I was might experience it differently. It’s definitely worth listening to.

[JoeD1]

I listened to The Rite of Spring and was surprised by how dark and chaotic it sounded. I sort of enjoyed it actually. I guess I like pan diatonicism but didn’t know it!

Joe

The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound,
Or the strength of an Oak with roots deep in the ground.
--Graeme Edge

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