The Two Chords Before

Gene Puerling loved to have his final cadences include bitonal chords – often either a major II chord in the treble over the I chord in the bass, or else a I chord in the treble over a bVII in the bass.

It’s beautiful, shimmery, and beguiling, but it’s not actually the most important part. The most important part is the set of two chords before. The two chords before are what setup this final chord to make sense – without the context, he can’t get to the ending he wants.

The same is true in so much of life. We see the beautiful, complex, sophisticated final product, but we fail to notice that that culmination was set up for success two chords earlier (two rehearsals earlier, two chess moves earlier, two anything earlier!)

Don’t worry so much about the ending: worry about the setup that makes that ending inevitable.