Harmony Research, Analysis, and Recording Project

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Summary

This project is about making a harmony

My First HookTheory Chord Progression (Harmony)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ReY3PiVLXYg%3Ffeature%3Doembed

I liked that it sounds like an uplifting song

Notes from Howard Goodall’s Harmony Video

How Music Works with Howard Goodall – Harmony

Cue	Notes
how much trial and error goes into making songs	people had chords and notes and they put them together to make a harmony so it started changing into what it is today discord is when you put two notes together that don’t go together but some types we’ve gotten used to over the years

Summary: Summarize what you learned from the video here..

Harmony Composition Terms and Definitions

Harmony was not originally part of music until the middle ages and the renaissance

Harmony sounds like it comes from some other plane of existence (to exaggerate a bit)

Harmony in its simplest and oldest form in two notes playing at the same time

A drone is a single note that you can sing any melody above. Bagpipes are an instrument that plays a drone.

A drone is usually the tonic

When people started to move the drone around, it was like the melody and the harmony were parallel lines. As the melody moved up, the drone moved up

Triad – 3 notes that come together and create a chord

Chord progressions are the backbone of western harmony

People discovered the “hierarchy” of chords and created rules to go with these

In one note, there are other hidden notes called harmonics

Humans can only really pick out three or four harmonics

Using the harmonics humans were able to make chords by finding the notes hidden in the harmonics

In minor chords, the middle note is a half-step lower than in a major chord

Polyphony is when you have a bunch of chords under the melody

Polyphony – many “voices”

Progression – a certain series of chords or notes that “work together” and sound good

Tonic – the first note of a scale “home”

Dominant – the fifth note of a scale that raises tension

Passimezzo Antico – A chord progression that’s a variation of a double tonic. It was popular during the Italian Renaissance

Passimezzo Moderno – “Modern half step” A chord progression that’s a variation of Passimezzo Antico. It divides the section in two and often uses a contrasting progression or section known as ripresi

Dischord – a deliberate collision of notes that are meant not to sound “pretty”

Dissonance – lack of harmony between notes “a clash”

Passing Notes – notes that don’t sound “pretty” but are used a small number of times like they are just “passing through”

Suspended Notes – dissonant notes being held for as long as possible and then finally moving at the last second

7th Chords – A regular triad chord plus the note seven steps above the first note

Diminished Chords – A regular triad chord with the bottom note being moved up a step

Augmented Chords – A regular triad chord with the last note being moved up a step

Tonic (1 and 8 chords)

Root note creates a feeling of resolution and stability

Supertonic, Mediant, Submediant (2, 3, 6 chords)

Moderate tension, useful for transitions

Dominant, Subdominant, Leading Tone (4, 5, 7 chords)