Advanced Music Theory - Harmony

Music Matters

24 Nov 201452:46

EducationalLearning

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TLDRThe video explains how to harmonize a melody by finding triads in a key and converting them into chords that fit the melody notes. It starts with writing the C major scale, building triads on each note by stacking 3rds, labeling them with Roman numerals, and placing a melody underneath. It then shows how to find 3 possible chords for each melody note that will sound consonant. Concepts like chord inversions, cadences, harmonic rhythm, and nonchord tones are introduced as a simple melody is harmonized phrase-by-phrase.

Takeaways

😀 The triads that form the basis of harmony in a key are built by stacking thirds
😇 When harmonizing a melody note, there are always 3 chords that contain that note
🎹 Chords I, IV and V are major chords; chords ii, iii and vi are minor in a major key
🎼 Avoid chord vii as it is a diminished chord which tends to sound uncomfortable
👍 Use chord progressions like Ic-V or IVc-I for second inversion chords
🎵 Harmonic rhythm refers to the rate of chord change; often slower at cadences
😊 Passing notes connect two harmony notes by step without belonging to the chord
🤓 Lower/upper auxiliary notes decorate a repeated harmony note up/down a step
🎶 Cadences like V-I or IV-I give a sense of arrival at the end of a musical phrase
🤩 Adding passing notes or auxiliary notes makes the harmony more interesting

Q & A

What is the purpose of the session described in the video?
-The purpose is to look at the triads that form the basis of harmony, and learn how to harmonize a melody by choosing chords that fit and sound good with the melody notes.
What are triads and how are they formed?
-Triads are three-note chords built by stacking thirds. They are formed by taking a note as the root, building a third above it, and then a fifth above the root note.
How do we label triads using Roman numerals?
-Triads are labeled using Roman numerals to indicate the scale degree. For example, the triad built on the first scale degree is labeled with a Roman numeral I, the triad built on the second degree is labeled II, and so on.
What is a cadence in music theory?
-A cadence refers to the chords used at the end of a musical phrase or piece to provide resolution. Common cadences are the perfect cadence (V-I), plagal cadence (IV-I), and imperfect cadence (any chord to V).
What are inessential notes?
-Inessential notes refer to notes that do not belong directly to the underlying harmony. Examples are passing notes, neighbor notes, anticipation notes. They connect the main melody notes that do belong to the chords.
What is harmonic rhythm?
-Harmonic rhythm refers to the rate at which the chords change in a piece of music. For example, if there is one chord per bar, the harmonic rhythm is slow. If there are four chords per bar, the harmonic rhythm is faster.
What is voice leading?
-Voice leading refers to how each individual musical line or voice moves from one chord to the next in a smooth and singable way. Good voice leading avoids large melodic jumps and awkward intervals.
When would we use a second inversion chord?
-Second inversion chords (labeled with a c) are less common. Ic often moves to V, while IVc often moves to I. They create tension that pulls the listener to the following chord.
How do we choose which of the three possible chords to harmonize a melody note?
-Consider the chord quality (major/minor), harmonic rhythm, avoiding chord VII, chord progression patterns like cadences, and overall musical effect. Also use your ear to decide which sounds best.
How can we embellish the harmony?
-Consider adding non-chord tones like passing notes, neighbor notes to decorate the harmony. Also use chord inversions, seventh chords like V7 or II7, or varying the harmonic rhythm.

Outlines

00:00

🎼 Major and minor triads in the key of C

The paragraph introduces the concept of major and minor triads in the key of C major and how to derive them from the scale. It explains how triads are labeled with Roman numerals and categorizes them into primary (I, IV, V), secondary (II, III, VI), and diminished (VII) chords.

05:01

👨‍🏫 Choosing chords to harmonize a melody

The paragraph demonstrates how to harmonize a melody note by finding the 3 chords that contain that note. It explains chord hierarchies and avoiding chord VII. It harmonizes the first phrase of the example melody using chords I and V.

10:04

🎹 Inversions and cadences

The paragraph introduces chord inversions, distinguishing between root position, first inversion, and second inversion chords. It also covers cadence types like perfect (V-I), plagal (IV-I), imperfect, and interrupted.

15:06

✏️ Harmonizing a melody phrase-by-phrase

The paragraph continues harmonizing the melody, analyzing each note to find candidate chords. It chooses chords based on harmonic rhythm, melodic shapes, and cadence formulas, building up the harmony phrase-by-phrase.

20:10

♩ Accented vs unaccented passing notes

The paragraph differentiates between accented passing notes that occur on strong beats and unaccented passing notes on weaker beats. It provides examples in the harmonized melody.

25:11

🎸 Introducing the V7 chord

The paragraph adds a seventh to the V chord to create a V7 chord, a commonly used dominant seventh chord. It explains the possibility of omitting the fifth of the chord in this context.

30:13

😌 Resolving to final I chord via IVc-I cadence

The paragraph resolves the harmonized melody using a IVc-I plagal cadence, explaining the pull from IVc to I. It also summarizes the full Ic-V7-IVc-I progression.

35:15

⏱ Varying harmonic rhythm

The paragraph analyzes the harmonic rhythm of the harmonized melody, noting how it generally moves in crotchets but slows down to longer notes for cadences.

40:16

🎼 Balancing primary and secondary chords

The paragraph examines the balance of primary and secondary chords used in the harmonized melody, noting the predominance of primary chords and occasional secondary II chord.

45:18

🚀 Embellishing with inessential notes

The paragraph suggests further embellishing the harmonized melody by adding passing notes and auxiliary notes between existing chord tones.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡triad

A triad is a chord made up of three notes - a root note, a third, and a fifth above the root note. Triads form the basic building blocks of harmony that can be used to harmonize a melody. The video discusses how to find the triads in a particular key, like C major, and then use those triads to harmonize the example melody.

💡harmonize

To harmonize means to choose chords that accompany a melody. After identifying the triads in a key, the next step is deciding which of those chords can be used to harmonize each note of the melody, based on whether the melody note belongs to that chord.

💡chord progression

A chord progression refers to a sequence of chords. The video talks about common chord progressions like the perfect cadence (V-I) and plagal cadence (IV-I). When harmonizing a melody, it's important to choose chord progressions that make musical sense.

💡cadence

A cadence refers to the ending of a musical phrase, giving a sense of closure. Cadences help structure the harmony. Common cadences discussed in the video include perfect (V-I), plagal (IV-I), imperfect (I-V) and interrupted (V-VI).

💡inversion

An inversion refers to changing which note of a chord is the bass note. So a C major triad in root position has C as the bass note, while a first inversion has E in the bass. Inversions add variety to the harmonization.

💡passing note

A passing note is a non-harmony note that passes stepwise between two harmony notes. For example, in moving from G to E, F can be used as a passing note. Passing notes add movement without changing the harmony.

💡harmonic rhythm

The harmonic rhythm refers to the rate of chord changes. For example, changing chords every crotchet beat versus changing once per bar. Composers vary the harmonic rhythm for interest and cadences often use slower rhythms.

💡essential note

An essential note belongs directly to the harmony, like the melody notes that have chords built on them. Non-essential notes are tones like passing notes that don't belong to the chords.

💡auxiliary note

An auxiliary note is a type of non-essential, non-harmony note used for embellishment. It appears alongside an essential harmony note, either as an upper or lower neighbour tone.

💡anticipatory note

An anticipatory note is a non-chord note that precedes a harmony note, typically by step. It builds tension or expectation that is resolved when the harmony note arrives.

Highlights

We've done a bit of this in earlier grades, and if you've come to this afresh, you might want to look back at some of the grades one to five material, just to work out what's going on with chords.

I'm going to start with a brief kind of refresher, and we'll move on fairly quickly to see how we're going to do this conversion, from working with the triads, to actually writing some harmony, which is where music starts to get very exciting.

When it comes to labelling these triads, the convention is to do this using Roman numerals. So if you see Roman numerals, you know you're talking about triads or chords.

Now we're going to make a pretty big step fairly quickly, because underneath these triads I've written a melody, in the key of C major and we're going to try to work out, how we can use these triads to give us some harmony, some chords that fit with that melody.

C is the root of chord I. C is the third of chord VI. And C is the fifth of chord IV. So that's telling me that if I'm trying, to harmonise the note C, I could use chord I, or I could use chord IV or I could use chord VI.

Chords I, IV and V are what we call the primary triads. They're the ones that are most likely to be used. Chords II, III and VI are what we call the secondary triads.

Whenever you're harmonising a note, you'll always find three chords that will fit it, and you have to make your choice.

If I've got this first note C, that's the C in the melody. Let me just take this triad an octave lower, for the time being. It doesn't matter which octave we hear them in. If I play the triad for chord I with this C in the melody, you can hear that that sounds fine doesn't it.

So I want to make the key as clear as possible. And that's why I've decided to go for a chord I, in C major for my first chord.

We talked about cadences again in grade five theory. A perfect cadence is where you have chord V, followed by chord I. A plagal cadence is chord IV followed by chord I. An imperfect cadence is any chord followed by V.

So whenever you see quavers, or even something more complicated, semiquavers, triplets, you might just consider the possibility, that something is an inessential note.

Accented passing notes are always stronger, than unaccented passing notes.

I'm going to suggest we use chord Ic. Now then, if we're going to use Ic, that means we're going to use these notes C, E, G, but we have to put G in the bass.

Good luck as you set about taking on that challenge. It's great fun and deeply rewarding stuff to do.

Transcripts

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