CHAPTER 3
Harmony: Musical Depth
OVERVIEW
Harmony—the simultaneous combination of sounds—provides a vertical dimension to musical
sound. Chapter 3 introduces the harmony of Western music traditions since 1650 as organized
principally according to a system of tonality based on scales (pitch collections) and chords
(collections of three or more pitches sounding together). Like melody and rhythm, harmony can
be employed and explored in a variety of ways that add depth and a sense of direction to music.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the concept of harmony as providing the vertical aspect of music
2. To understand the concept of scales and how chords called triads are derived from them
3. To gain an understanding of tonality as the organizing principle of harmony
4. To understand the concepts of consonance and dissonance
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. Display an outline of a major scale with numbered scale degrees and corresponding solfège
syllables. On the keyboard, play the melody of the first two measures of Camptown Races,
unaccompanied, in C major. Then play the melody above a sustained C major triad. Ask the
class what was different about the two examples. Emphasize the absence of harmony in the
first example. Next, play the melody three times, above three different triads (F major, G
major, C major). Ask the students which triad sounds correct. If students have trouble
responding with C major, play more dissonant triads to compare with C major. Explain that
the C major triad sounds correct because it is based on the tonic, or fundamental tonality, of
Camptown Races.
2. Display on the board an outline of a major scale with numbered scale degrees and
corresponding solfège syllables. Select random three-note chords based on the scale degrees
(or ask the students to select them) and play each below the melody of the first two
measures of Camptown Races. Compare these with the C major triad, emphasizing this as a
consonant harmony and the others as dissonant.
ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
1. The Romantic composer Robert Schumann wrote, “We have learned to express the more
delicate nuances of feeling by penetrating more deeply into the mysteries of harmony”
(p. 14). Compare the harmonic language of Schumann’s In the Lovely Month of May
from A Poet’s Love with the theme of Haydn’s Surprise Symphony, II. How would you
describe these two approaches to harmony? Does Schumann’s music succeed in
expressing the “more delicate nuances of feeling”? Why? How?
2. Beginning in the twentieth century, some composers abandoned traditional approaches to
harmony, writing music that lacks tonal stability. Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring is one
example. After listening to the introduction of The Rite of Spring, how would you describe
the effect of music that embraces dissonance and avoids a coherent sense of tonality?
TEACHING CHALLENGES
Deciphering consonance and dissonance may pose a challenge for students with little or no
musical training. Comparing extreme examples of tonal and atonal music may help these
students understand the contrast.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Harmony: Musical Depth (Chapter 3)
I. Harmony: vertical aspect of music
A. Central to most Western styles
B. Chords and chord progressions
1. chord: three or more notes sounded together
2. progressions create order, unity
3. chords (and melodies) are built from scales
a. scale: collection of pitches arranged in ascending or descending order
i. do-re–mi–fa-sol-la–ti-do, or 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
b. octave: interval spanning eight notes of the scale
4. triad: three alternate pitches of a scale
a. every other note of a scale combined (e.g., do-mi-sol)
b. most common chord in Western music
II. The Organization of Harmony
A. Tonic (do): first note of a scale
1. home base to other notes
B. Tonality: music organized around the tonic
1. scale chosen determines tonality (key); major and minor
III. Consonance and Dissonance
A. Dissonance: discordant combination of notes
1. unstable: needs resolution
2. introduces conflict into music
B. Consonance: concordant, agreeable combination of notes
1. resolution: relaxation, fulfillment
C. Harmony introduced (approximately around 900)
1. concept of dissonance changes over time
2. largely developed in Western music
D. Asian cultures, European folk music: more simple harmonies
1. drone: single sustained pitch