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11
1. resolution: relaxation, fulfillment
C. Year 900: approximate date harmony introduced in
Western music
1. perception of dissonance changes over time
D. Asian cultures, Eu ro pean folk music: relatively
simple harmonies
1. drone: single sustained tone
OVERVIEW
Harmony— the simultaneous combination of sounds—
provides a vertical dimension to musical sound. Chapter3
introduces the harmony of Western music traditions since
1650 as or ga nized principally according to a system of
tonality based on scales and chords. Like melody and
rhythm, harmony can be employed and explored in a vari-
ety 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 as par tic u lar
sequences of pitches
3. To understand chords (including triads) as collections of
three or more pitches sounding together
4. To gain an understanding of tonality as the organ izing
princi ple of harmony
5. To understand the concepts of consonance and dissonance
OUTLINE
I. Harmony
A. Simultaneous combination of sounds
1. vertical aspect of music, adds depth
2. central to most Western styles
B. Chords and chord progressions
1. chord: three or more notes sounded together
2. chord progressions create order, unity
3. chords 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- note chord
a. may be built on any note of the scale
b. every other note of scale stacked on top of
each other
c. most common chord in Western music
d. melodies are harmonized with triads
II. The Organ ization of Harmony
A. Tonic (do): first note of a scale
1. home base to other notes
B. Tonality: music or ga nized around the tonic
1. scale chosen determines tonality
2. major and minor: predominate in Western music
III. Consonance and Dissonance
A. Dissonance: discordant combination of notes
1. unstable: needs resolution
2. introduces conflict into music, creates tension
3. dissonance resolves to consonance
B. Consonance: concordant, agreeable combination
of notes
CHAPTERfi3 Harmony: Musical Depth
12 | Chapterfi3
Spring is one example. After listening to the introduc-
tion of The Rite of Spring, how would you describe the
TEACHING CHALLENGES
YOUR TURN TO EXPLORE
One of the most dramatic examples of dissonant tension
resolving to consonant release occurs in the finale of Rich-
ard Strauss’s opera Salome, composed in 1905. Listen to the
MODEL RESPONSE
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
Ask the class what was dif fer ent about the two examples.
Emphasize the absence of harmony in the first example.
Next, play the melody three times, above three dif fer ent
sounds “correct” because it is based on the tonic, or fun-
damental tonality, of Camptown Races. Compare these
dissonant triads again with the C major triad to reinforce
concepts of consonance and dissonance.
to harmony? Does Schumann’s music succeed in express-
ing the “more delicate nuances of feeling”? Why? How?
2. Beginning in the twentieth century, some composers
