Chord Recontextualization

Chord Recontextualization is a musical phenomenon where the "feel" of a chord progression is altered when paired with other motes (such as it being played by different instruments or having a melody going alongside it). It is the negative version of reharmonization, where instead of changing the chords of a song to give the motes around it a different feel, the motes around the chord progression are changed to make the chord progression "feel" different without altering its notes.

Types of chord recontextualization

Melodic chord recontextualization

Melodic chord recontextualization works by disguising chords that to the average listener could normally sound dissonant and directionless, as interesting and "natural" by putting them in the context of a melody while keeping the entirety of their complexity intact. Simply adding a melody to a song can trick the human ear into focusing on where the melody is going instead of what the chords are doing, allowing for a complex chord progression to blend into the background and act as the harmonic foundation of a song, painting the song with vibrant colors without scaring the average listener by the lack of 251s

A good example is the ending of Pat Metheny Remix from Fizz Vol. 1, where a complex transcription of the chords can be seen in this video by Jonathan Berroa