Chords for Croatian Folk Songs

Several useful harmonic recepies

     Q: Tell me, how did you find these chords??
     A: Oh, I found them myself!

The creation of this HTML has been motivated by the interest shown for our folk songs, that I noticed while browsing through the letters sent to the Web master of the Croatian home page (mr. Josip Jurich). I provide my comments in English, since there are many Croats and their descendants throughout the world who do not speak Croatian any more, or only very little.

Let me start with a very nice (and simple) song ``Ne dirajte mi ravnicu'' (listen to it!), which for sure will live among the Croats for many generations.

A word of caution for the Croatian reader: the tone or chord B is used in the meaning of the American notation, which differs from the Croatian: in Croatia we would write H instead of B. Thus

the American B = the Croatian H, and
the American B flat = Croatian B.

The American notation, which we use here, is accepted also in some European countries, especially in jazz literature.

Ne dirajte mi ravnicu

Miroslav Sskoro

       G             Am
1. Vecceras mi dobri ljudi

           D7           G
   nemojte nissta priccati.

                    Am
   Neka suze mirno teku

          D7         G
   pa che manje boljeti.



   Refrain (2x):

   C                D7
   Ne dirajte mi vecceras

   G        B7  Em  Cm
   uspomene u meni.

   G                Am
   Ne dirajte mi ravnicu,

       D7             G
   jer ja chu se vratiti.


2. Mene zovu moja polja,        3. Joss u sebi ccujem majku,
   mene zovu tambure,              kako tuzzno govori:
   prije nego sklopim occi,       "Kad se jednom vratiss sine,
   da joss jednom vidim sve.       ja chu te ccekati."
   2xR.                            2xR.

I shall try to describe some general principles that are useful for guitar accompaniment. Of course, all that follows applies to any other polyphonic instrument (piano, harmonica), not only guitar. I believe I have some ``qualifications'' after many years of amateur experience (I started to play guitar as a student). This manual (or rather a harmonic cook-book) is a gift four You, if You are a `beginner'. Let me concentrate on two most important things for the guitar harmony:

1. back-cycling (in Croatian: ~odmotavanje),
2. parallel chords,

Comments There are three interesting harmonic points in this song: back-cycling, the role of B7 and Cm.

• The Am (appearing above `ljudi') is a start of a well known harmonic mechanism called back-cycling (from G in our situation). If the tonica (to be defined below) is G major, we simply play two or three chords on the cycle of fourths (12 chords)

  B -> E -> A -> D -> G -> C -> F -> B(flat) -> E(flat)=D# -> G# -> C# -> F# (-> B)

  preceding G, i.e.:

  A -> D -> G, or in our sitation Am -> D7 -> G.

  In other words, we go BACK along the CYCLE of fourths. The above cycle of fourths, if read in the opposite direction (i.e. by reversing the arrows), becomes the cycle of fifths (quints). You will do a great thing in understanding your guitar play if you try to learn it by heart (this will not come just overnight).

• For what follows we need a little preparation:
  1. Let us give a simple, practical definition of the parallel minor corresponding to some major chord. I'll give a geometrical definition based on the cycle of fourths. If we start say with the G major chord on the cycle of fourths, then we go three steps BACK to obtain E(m). So Em is the parallel minor chord corresponding to G. Similarly, the parallel minor of C is Am, of D is Bm etc.
  2. Less important, but often useful (especially for some songs from Meddimurje) is the notion of secondary parallel minor chord corresponding to a given major chord. We go one step more back on the cycle of fourths, i.e. four steps (instead of three). Thus for instance, starting from G, then going back four steps, we arrive to B(m), which is the secondary parallel minor of G.
  3. Conversely, if we start with say Em, then we say that G is the parallel MAJOR corresponding to Em. Similarly, G is the secondary parallel major corresponding to Bm.
  4. It is quite important to know the major chords and their parallel minors (and conversely). To summarize, we give a list of six most important tripples of chords (in the natural order with respect to the cycle of fourths):

                            Parallel        Secondary
           Major chords   minor chords   parallel minors
               E              C#m             G#m
               A              F#m             C#m
               D              Bm              F#m
               G              Em              Bm
               C              Am              Em
               F              Dm              Am
     

     For the remaining six cases you can try to find the corresponding tripples yourself. In any case, the pairs in the first two columns in the above table are the most important.

  5. If you ever try to harmonize of a song, you first start with a cycle of fourths. Next you think about parallels that will fill a trivial harmonization.
  6. One more convention: if a song is harmonized in, say, G major as a basic tonality (the so called tonica), then its left and right neighbour on the cycle of fourths are called dominant and subdominant respectively.
  7. A very useful remark: if a song has a minor tonality, then for sure you must expect the chords correspoding to the tonality of the PARALLEL MAJOR to appear in the song.
• The role of B7 in this song is to connect G (tonica) and Em (the corresponding parallel minor). It is possible to omit it, but the accompaniment then loses a lots of its flavor. Note that B7 precedes Em on the cycle of fourths, so it can be considered as a `local back-cycling' from Em with only one step.
• The Cm can be viewed to have a subdominant role with respect to G (subdominant is C), and it can also be omitted (at the expense of the loss of a very nice harmonic drive). In practise most often E(flat) is used instead of Cm (Zlatni dukati). Note that the chord E(flat) (=D#) is just a parallel major to Cm. In my opinion, Cm is much better, and more in the spirit of the song.
• A small but nice variation is possible in the second line, and the corresponding lines in the song:

               C     D7  G
       Nemojte nista pitati
  

  We have introduced C instead of D7. Here C is in fact a parallel major of Am. Through this variation of Am we procede with backcycling: Am -> (C) -> D7 -> G.
• A useful exercise for the beginner would be to play the whole song using trivial harmonization: G (tonica), D (dominant) and C (subdominant), and then to see how the above mentioned harmonic mechanisms ``fill in''.
• Exercise: try to harmonize the whole song starting with D as tonica (then try with C, A,...)

A request: I don't know if HTML has a `flat' mark. If so, please, do inform me.

Let me add one of my favourite songs, a true jewel in both music and verses, very popular among the Croats and others in Baccka and Srijem. The harmonization below differs considerably from the usual one that we can hear on recorded materials, including also the interpretation of the famous orchestra of Janika Balazz, the uncrowned king of tamburitza (sedam tamburassa Janike Balazza).

Vech odavno spremam svog mrkova

Zvonko Bogdan

   Dm          Gm  Dm   D0    A7Dm  C
1. Vech odavno spremam svog mrkova,

   F            B(flat)   F   C    C7 F  A7
   da se proddem ka    -  som od miline.

   B(flat)  E7     F  D7  Gm    C7      F    A7
   Da      obiddem staze, staze svog djetinjstva, |
                                                  |
   Dm          Gm Dm  C     C7 F A7               | 2x
   Dm          Gm Dm  D0    A7Dm                  |
   za salassom zzelja da me mine.                 |

Refrain:

   F           C
   Nechu visse ichi na tu stranu,
   jer ne mogu suze oku skriti.
   Ili moram tugom okrenuti glavu, | 2x (the same harmonization as above)
   il plakati ili se napiti.       |

2. Nema visse dobrih tamburassa,
   fijakera, snassa, i salassa.
   nema visse konja, konja koji jure,  | 2x
   a u stvari nikuda ne zzure.         |
   (without refrain)

3. Vrag nek nosi moje snove puste,
   divojaccke duge kose guste.
   Vrag nek nosi tugom dobre tamburasse,
   fijakere, pisme i salasse.

   Refrain

• D0 = Ddim. Its usage often yields a very nice `sporadic' bass melody. You can also play A7 instead of D0.
• E7 is surprising, and sounds very nice. It connects the chords B(flat) and F. More precisely, the idea is to fill in the passage from B(flat) to F by using the chord diminished by ONE degree with respect to F: this is E7. In other words, we enter F from below. It is worth noting that it is precisely the seventh in the E7 chord, which gives the same tone as the one in the melody in the moment of usage!
• To see the meaning of this chord (E7), try to play the song without E7, i.e. with B(flat) instead.
• There is a lots of back-cycling here:
  1. C -> F,
  2. D7 -> Gm -> C7 -> F (look at the cycle of fourths above).

I know it would be a fatal mistake not to provide an example for the people from Dalmatia (they are quite sensitive). Here is a nice back-cycling:

C#7 -> F#m -> B7 -> E

Try to harmonize the rest of this exceptional song yourself.

S ponistre se vidi Ssolta

text: Zdenko Runjic
music: O. Dragojevic

    E
    Ssoto voce piva klapa,

         C#7          F#m
    u to gluho litnje doba,

              B7
    i prolazi ispod skala

    F#m         B7      E
    di se sussi tvoja roba.


    Do pergula ricci lete,
    tu se misec smije gradu.
    Ti se dizzess iz kocceta,
    da poslussass serenadu.

                    C#7        F#m ...
            S ponistre se vidi Ssolta,
            piva klapa ispod volta.
            U daljini svitle kocce,
            piva klapa ssoto voce.

            Ti se oziress po sobi,
            slika je na kantunalu,
            onceg cha ga more odni
            u dalekem fortunalu.

    Opustila davno riva,
    zatvoreni su portuni.
    Soto voce klapa piva,
    tvoji mirissu lancuni.

    Tiho razmiccess koltrinu,
    zrila si ka litnje voche,
    o ljubavi i o vinu,
    piva klapa soto voce.

            S ponistre se vidi Ssolta,
            piva klapa ispod volta.
            U daljini svitle koche,
            piva klapa ssoto voce.

            Niko neche te kasstigat,
            kad bi skinila korotu.
            Zzivot che te svu desstigat,
            A joss moress dat lipotu.

     S ponistre se vidi Ssolta,
     zzmiga svitlo ispod volta.
     U po volta kada pasa,
     piva klapa ispod glasa.

Sinoch kad sam ti prossa

    A          Aj7     A6 Aj7
    Sinoch kad sam ti prossa,

    A       Aj7  F#7     Bm           E
    mimo te bile dvore vidim te dusso Mare.

    D              E
    Vidim te dusso Mare,

                E7  A
    di s drugim govoriss.

    ....

F#7 -> Bm -> E -> E

Of course, many songs do not `tolerate' excessive harmonization, which is probably the case with the above song too. Another `extreme' is for instance ``Vu plavem trnaci'', a real (harmonic) challenge.

The accompaniment of the following very nice song can be also be ``sprinkled'' with back-cycling: Em -> A7 -> D, or B7 -> Em -> A7 -> D.

Oj, jesenske duge nochi

Ivan Trnski

    D             Em   A7    D
    Oj, jesenske duge nochi, oj!

    D     B7     Em    A7
    Oj, jesenske duge nochi,

    D           A7           D
    reko dragi da che dochi, oj!

     D       A7     D
    Ccuj me dragi ccuj!

    (repeat last three lines)
    ....

    D      Bm  Em     A7     D
    reko dragi da che dochi, oj!

Interesting harmonic passages can be obtained in some of our folk songs using + (or aug) chords, for example in ``Poleg jene velke gore'' or ``Kraj kapele sv. Ane''.

I hope that with these few examples I managed to convince You in the usefulness of back-cycling and parallel chords. You will hear them very often on recorded materials on the radio and elsewhere (just listen carefuly). I assure you that Croatian folk provides an amazing amount of examples for many interesting harmonic mechanisms!

More details can be found in my booklet ``Gitara za radoznalce'' (some libraries in Zagreb possess it). For those interested I must say that at this moment it is not available.

Remark In the literature you will see the song ``Oj, jesenske duge nochi'' sometimes attributed to Branko Radiccevich, which is wrong (this error appears in my booklet as well!) - the author is Ivan Trnski, a Croatian poet.

A final remark (with best intentions): The Institute of Folklore in Zagreb possesses an extremely valuable collection of more than 2000 folk songs collected mostly among the Croats in Baccka and Srijem by dr. Josip Andrich (1894-1967). Unfortunately, they are still unpublished. Maybe this remark will be a necessary impetus to make this invaluable collection accessible to the wider audience, especially to those youngsters playing tamburitza. Our national instrument is an object of the study on the Academy of Music in Zagreb, similarly as done by other nations having their own national instruments.

The most beautiful book I know, devoted to the thorough treatment of Croatian folk songs in Croatia as well as in BiH and Serbia (i.e. on the territory of ex YU), comprising excellent photos of various dances and national costumes, is

dr. Vinko Zzganec: Hrvatske narodne pjesme (Croatian folk songs)

I would recommend the reader an excellent book, recently published, with a short history of tamburitza and many Croatian folk songs:

• Sinisa Leopold: ``Tambura u Hrvata'', Golden marketing, Zagreb, 1995; for those wishing to know more about tamburitza play see
• Zeljko Bradic, Sinisa Leopold: ``Skola za tamburicu, 2, kvartnog sustava'', udzbenik za 1. i 2. razred osn. gl. skole, Skolska knjiga 92.
• Michael Savor: The Tamburitza and the preservation of Croatian folk music, on this web.

• Muzicka naklada, Zagreb, fax 01/4811429,
• Savez glazbeno-estradnih umjetnika izvodaca Hrvatske, Zagreb, fax 01/445716,
• Skolska knjiga.

An overview of Croatian History, Culture and Science.

Zagreb, May, 1995
Written and commented by darko.zubrinic@etf.hr

© This text can be used only for nonprofit purposes.

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