- TITLE THIS BLOG POST: Harmony Research, Analysis, and Recording Project
- PLACE A CREATIVE COMMONS IMAGE RELATED TO THE PROJECT FROM wordpress.org/openverse AT THE TOP OF THE POST
- FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS IN THIS BLOG POST TEMPLATE
- DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM
Summary
- In a small paragraph, write WHAT THIS PROJECT IS ABOUT. Your audience is someone who is not in the class. So, be specific.
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My First HookTheory Chord Progression (Harmony)
- Watch this HookTheory Harmony Tutorial
- Make an 8-measure chord progression
- Place a screenshot of your 8-measure chords (harmony) from hookpad.hooktheory.com
- Link to a .mp3 file of your first HookTheory chord progression (harmony) that you exported from hookpad.hooktheory.com
- Write a brief reflection about this chord progression (harmony).
- What do you like about it?
- DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM
Notes from Howard Goodall’s Harmony Video
| Cue | Notes |
| Write your questions here… |
Write your notes 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)
- Create lots of tension to get to the tonic
Mr. Le Duc’s Key of C Major Notes and Chords Chart (PDF)
One of My Favorite (Chord Progressions) Harmonies
- Find one of your favorite chord progressions (harmonies) at Hook Theory Tab Index of Songs
- Place a screenshot of the chords from HookTheory
- Embed a clean version of this song from YouTube
- In writing, describe why you like this chord progression, and identify the musical key, tonic chord, and tension chords
- What do you notice about the chord structure/pattern of the theme of the progression?
- DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM
My Second HookTheory Chord Progression (Harmonies)
- Place a screenshot of the chords from HookTheory
- Link to a .mp3 file of your second harmony from HookTheory
- Write a brief reflection about this chord progression (harmony). What do you like about it?
- Where did you raise tension or suspense in the chord progression (harmony)?
- Where did you resolve tension in the chord progression (harmony)?
- DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM
What I Learned & Problems I Solved
- Write what you LEARNED from the research, analysis, and chord progression (harmonies) creation parts of this project
- Explain how you SOLVED AT LEAST ONE PROBLEM
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Grammar and Spelling
- Write what tool(s) did you use to check your spelling and grammar?
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Editor
- Who was your editor?
- Write their first name only
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Resources
-
- Assessment a Feedback
- General Music Composition Rubric (Google Doc)
- Hook Theory Tools and Tutorials
- Music Theory
- Mr. Le Duc’s Key of C Major Notes and Chords Chart (PDF)
- Music Works with Howard Goodall – Harmony
- Free MIDI files midiworld.com/files/
- MIDI file of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy from his 9th symphony
- Coldplay Talk sample midi file
- MIDI and Music Notation Editors
- onlinesequencer.net – online
- flat.io – online
- noteflight.com – online
- MuseScore downloadable program
- GarageBand
- Assessment a Feedback
