Genre
Deep House
A subgenre of house music from the late 1980s. Complex chords, jazz influences, soulful vocals, warm atmospheric sound.
Keys:DmGmCmFm
Characteristic: Soulful
Dmadvanced
Dm7→
Gm7→
C9→
Fmaj7→
Bbmaj7→
E7#9→
Dm7
The Why
Deep house harmony is built on extended minor chords (m7, m9, m11) and dominant chords with altered extensions (7#9, 7b13). The ii–V–I cycle in minor (Dm7→Gm7→C9→Fmaj7) is the foundational pattern of jazz-house. The bII (Bbmaj7) is a tritone substitution.
Harmonic Analysis
Deep house harmony borrows heavily from jazz: extended chords (m7, m9, m11, 7#9, 7b13), ii–V–I progressions, and tritone substitutions. Tempo is 120–126 BPM with a 4-on-the-floor kick and syncopated hi-hat. Basslines are melodic and syncopated, influenced by Chicago house and disco. The warm, analog sound comes from hardware synthesizers and tape saturation emulation.