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Clockwise Chord Progression vs Counter-clockwise
It pulls out of Dodge City (the C major chord) and moves smoothly clockwise to Fowler (the F major chord). It feels like you’re on your way to somewhere. The sense of motion continues as the harmonic train moves from town to town on a grand circle tour. Tyrone, Richfield, Johnson City, Garden City, Cimarron. Finally, it pulls into Dodge City once more. With that last harmonic interval (G – C), there’s no mistaking the feeling of arriving back home.
Now, try going the other way around, counter-clockwise, from the chord C major to G major to D minor, and so on. You’ll soon find that something’s amiss. When you try to take the grand circle tour counterclockwise, your train gets lost and ends up somewhere between Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and Dildo, Newfoundland (yes, such towns exist).
Even though you eventually arrive back home, your brain does not sense that your train has arrived home. It’s Dodge, seemingly. But nobody’s around that you’d recognize. Where’s Marshall McDillon? How come Doc Yada-Yadams is sober and hardly ever performs brain surgery? Since when did Ms Puma start playing the flute? How come Sadie and Ellie Sue’s store is full of mules instead of horses?
In a minute, you’ll find out what went wrong in the counter-clockwise trip. But first, a brief revisit to the interval dynamics of the melodic scale.