How to easily add a feeling of Awe & Wonder to your music
A lot of chord progressions, especially in Pop and Rock music, are diatonic in nature - using chords which are only found in the home key.
Film, TV and Video Game composers will typically use a variety of additional harmonic devices that move chromatically to help achieve specific tones and feelings with their music. One of these harmonic devices is called a Chromatic Mediant.
Frequently used by composers when writing in the fantasy genre, Chromatic Mediants are the relationship between two chords, where the root notes are related by the interval of a 3rd, and only sharing one note in common.
An example could be the chord of C major moving to E major. There is only one note in common between the two chords - E.
Chromatic Mediants help to give a sense of harmonic variety or even a magical or other-worldly tone. The two chords don't belong to the same diatonic scale or key, helping to create extra musical tension.
There are a whole number of variations when it comes to using Chromatic Mediants. Let's take a look at a few possibilities:
Triumphant or Majestic
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For achieving a feeling of triumph or a majestic tone, consider starting on a major triad (such as A major) and then moving the root down 4 half steps or semitones (to F) playing another major triad.
An example of this chromatic mediant relationship would be from Howard Shore's score to 'The Fellowship of the Ring'. Shore starts with the chord of A major - initially we may perceive the piece to be in the key of A major but by then moving to F major (which features two notes not found in the key of A major - F natural and C natural), a mystical and other-worldly tone is created.
The piece continues by returning to A major and then an Fmaj7 (with an added E) afterwards. Shore then moves from F major to another Chromatic Mediant, D major, creating a further uplifting and majestic feel.
The Lord of The Rings Scores are packed full of Chromatic Mediants, helping Shore to achieve the fantastical and magical feel needed.
Dark and Tense
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For something with a more tense or darker tone, try starting on a minor chord, before moving the root note down 4 half steps or semitones, landing on another minor chord.
In this cue from James Newton Howard's score to 'Atlantis: The Lost Empire', at 0:09 you can hear the music starts on a chord of D minor, before moving to a chord of Bb minor, before then returning back to D minor at around 0:23.
Another great example of this Chromatic Mediant relationship is the first two chords of the cue 'The Council of Elrond Assembles' from 'The Fellowship of the Ring', again by Howard Shore.
Starting on a chord of A minor, by transitioning to the chord of F minor, the music helps to emphasise a foreboding or ominous feel:
Awe and Wonder
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When looking to achieve a sound full of Awe and Wonder, composers will often again start with a minor chord, before then moving the root note up 4 half steps or semitones, landing on a major chord.
An example of this would be from the piece 'The Map' from James Newton Howard's score to 'Treasure Planet'. Starting at 0:15, he starts on an F minor chord, before moving up to A major. Howard then repeats this progression another two times (resulting in Fm - A - Fm - A - Fm - A, before another chromatic mediant of Cm-A from 0:33 to 0:36!).
The two chords don't share any common tones, technically making this a Double Chromatic Mediant relationship instead. By not sharing any common notes, this also helps to make the chord change even more unexpected.
A variation on this could be to again start with a minor chord, before moving the root down 3 half steps or semitones, landing on a major chord.
In the cue 'Land Ahoy', from the score to The Chronicles of Narnia (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) by David Arnold, starting at 0:57, Arnold uses Bb minor, before then moving to a major chord (a 3rd away) - G major. The minor chord, followed by a contrasting major chord helps to portray, at least to me, a greater sense of amazement and wonder.
Like with The Lord Of The Rings example above, Arnold chooses to repeat the two chord progression twice, resulting in Bbm - G - Bbm - G.
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