Music - Harmony and Tonality
What is Harmony and Tonality?
Writing about chords, chord progressions and key signatures
When describing harmony there are three main sets of opposites to keep in mind.
| (Simpler / nicer / easier / more cheerful) | (Complicated / nastier / difficult/ more miserable) |
| Consonant (notes fit together nicely e.g. a nice normal C major chord) | Dissonant (clashy and horrible e.g. a nasty semitone/minor second) |
| Diatonic (notes only from a scale like in a nursery rhyme in C major just the white notes on the piano) | Chromatic (any notes like in a horror film in C major adding lots of black notes on the piano) |
| Major (more cheerful like Happy Birthday) | Minor (more sad like the Funeral March) |
Note: some music from the twentieth century onwards is so dissonant and chromatic that it isnt in a key. This sort of music is called atonal.
Chords - Triad
A triad is a group of three notes having a specific construction and relationship to one another. They are constructed on 3 consecutive lines or three consecutive spaces. Each member of the triad is separated by an interval of a third. The triad is composed of a Root, Third, and Fifth.
There are four types of triads: major, minor, diminished and augmented.
Inversions of Triads
All triads have three positions that they can be arranged in. The root, 1st inversion, and 2nd inversion.
Root Position Triad
If the triad root is in the lowest voice then the triad is in Root Position.
1st Inversion Triad
If the third of the triad is in the lowest voice the triad is in 1st inversion
2nd Inversion Triad
If the 5th of the triad is in the lowest voice, the triad is in 2nd inversion.
Cadences
Cadences that sound final
Perfect this is the cadence heard at the end of most pieces. It makes the phrase sound final and complete going from chord V to chord I
Plagal like the perfect cadence this ends on I but it is mostly heard in older religious music (sometimes called the Amen cadence). The chord before I is IV rather than V.
Cadences that sound unfinished
Imperfect this cadence sounds incomplete because it means a phrase ends on V. For example, in C major the phrase would end on a G major chord, which makes it sound like it needs to carry on until it arrives on a C major chord again.
Interrupted begins like a perfect cadence but instead of going to I it causes a surprise by going to VI. In a major key this means ending the phrase on a minor chord (A minor if you are in C major).
Some other things that might be relevant to say about the harmony and tonality:
Whether the music is in a major or minor key
If the key changes or modulates
Whether the chords change slowly or quickly (harmonic rhythm)
If there is a particular chord sequence (e.g. 12-bar blues)
MODULATION
Modulation is when you move from one key to another related key. E.G C major to A minor (which is the relative minor as it shares the same key signature). The video demonstrates abrupt modulation and how to modulate using the 2 5 1 approach (ii, V, I).
Key Signatures
There are 15 major and 15 minor key signatures. The sharps or flats at the beginning of the staff indicate the main tone (diatonic) to which other tones are related.
Db-C#, Gb-F#, Cb-B, are enharmonic keys, meaning that they are written differently, but sound the same.
There are 15 major and 15 minor key signatures. The sharps or flats at the beginning of the staff indicate the main tone (diatonic) to which other tones are related.
Example 1
Example 2
Video tutorials
Click on the titles below to watch video tutorials on chords and how to make them more impressive: