Harmony
In
A particular emphasis on harmony is one of the core concepts underlying the theory and practice of
Drawing both from music theoretical traditions and the field of psychoacoustics, its perception in large part consists of recognizing and processing consonance, a concept whose precise definition has varied throughout history, but is often associated with simple mathematical ratios between coincident pitch frequencies. In the physiological approach, consonance is viewed as a continuous variable measuring the human brain's ability to 'decode' aural sensory input. Culturally, consonant pitch relationships are often described as sounding more pleasant, euphonious, and beautiful than dissonant pitch relationships, which can be conversely characterized as unpleasant, discordant, or rough.[5]
In
Typically, in the classical common practice period a dissonant chord (chord with tension) "resolves" to a consonant chord. Harmonization usually sounds pleasant to the ear when there is a balance between consonance and dissonance. Simply put, this occurs when there is a balance between "tense" and "relaxed" moments. Dissonance is an important part of harmony when dissonance can be resolved and contribute to the composition of music as a whole. A misplayed note or any sound that is judged to detract from the whole composition can be described as disharmonious rather than dissonant.[1]
Etymology and definitions
The term harmony derives from the
Current dictionary definitions, while attempting to give concise descriptions, often highlight the ambiguity of the term in modern use. Ambiguities tend to arise from either aesthetic considerations (for example the view that only pleasing concords may be harmonious) or from the point of view of musical texture (distinguishing between harmonic (simultaneously sounding pitches) and "contrapuntal" (successively sounding tones)).[12] According to A. Whittall:
While the entire history of music theory appears to depend on just such a distinction between harmony and counterpoint, it is no less evident that developments in the nature of musical composition down the centuries have presumed the interdependence – at times amounting to integration, at other times a source of sustained tension – between the vertical and horizontal dimensions of musical space.[12][page needed]
The view that modern
It was not that counterpoint was supplanted by harmony (Bach's tonal counterpoint is surely no less polyphonic than Palestrina's modal writing) but that an older type both of counterpoint and of vertical technique was succeeded by a newer type. And harmony comprises not only the ("vertical") structure of chords but also their ("horizontal") movement. Like music as a whole, harmony is a process.[13][12][page needed]
Descriptions and definitions of harmony and harmonic practice often show bias towards
So, intricate pitch combinations that sound simultaneously do occur in
Emphasis on the precomposed in European art music and the written theory surrounding it shows considerable cultural bias. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (Oxford University Press) identifies this clearly:
In Western culture the musics that are most dependent on improvisation, such as jazz, have traditionally been regarded as inferior to art music, in which pre-composition is considered paramount. The conception of musics that live in oral traditions as something composed with the use of improvisatory techniques separates them from the higher-standing works that use notation.[20]
Yet the evolution of harmonic practice and language itself, in Western art music, is and was facilitated by this process of prior composition, which permitted the study and analysis by theorists and composers of individual pre-constructed works in which pitches (and to some extent rhythms) remained unchanged regardless of the nature of the performance.[12]
Historical rules
Early Western religious music often features parallel perfect intervals; these intervals would preserve the clarity of the original plainsong. These works were created and performed in cathedrals, and made use of the resonant modes of their respective cathedrals to create harmonies. As polyphony developed, however, the use of parallel intervals was slowly replaced by the English style of consonance that used thirds and sixths.[when?] The English style was considered to have a sweeter sound, and was better suited to polyphony in that it offered greater linear flexibility in part-writing.
Types
Close harmony and open harmony use close position and open position chords, respectively. See: Voicing (music) and Close and open harmony.
Other types of harmony are based upon the intervals of the chords used in that harmony. Most chords in western music are based on "tertian" harmony, or chords built with the interval of thirds. In the chord C Major7, C–E is a major third; E–G is a minor third; and G to B is a major third. Other types of harmony consist of quartal and quintal harmony.
A unison is considered a harmonic interval, just like a fifth or a third, but is unique in that it is two identical notes produced together. The unison, as a component of harmony, is important, especially in orchestration.[21] In pop music, unison singing is usually called doubling, a technique The Beatles used in many of their earlier recordings. As a type of harmony, singing in unison or playing the same notes, often using different musical instruments, at the same time is commonly called monophonic harmonization.
Intervals
An
The following are common intervals:
Root | Major third | Minor third | Fifth |
---|---|---|---|
C | E | E♭ | G |
D♭ | F | F♭ | A♭ |
D | F♯ | F | A |
E♭ | G | G♭ | B♭ |
E | G♯ | G | B |
F | A | A♭ | C |
F♯ | A♯ | A | C♯ |
G | B | B♭ | D |
A♭ | C | C♭ | E♭ |
A | C♯ | C | E |
B♭ | D | D♭ | F |
B | D♯ | D | F♯ |
When tuning notes using an equal temperament, such as the
Using the diatonic scale, constructing the major and minor keys with each of the 12 notes as the tonic can be achieved using only flats or sharps to spell notes within said key, never both. This is often visualized as traveling around the circle of fifths, with each step only involving a change in one note's accidental. As such, additional accidentals are free to convey more nuanced information in the context of a passage of music and the other notes that make it up. Even when working outside diatonic contexts, it is convention, if possible, to use each letter in the alphabet only once in describing a scale.
A note spelled as F♭ conveys different harmonic information to the reader versus a note spelled as E. In a tuning system where two notes spelled differently are tuned to the same frequency, those notes are said to be
Therefore, the combination of notes with their specific intervals—a chord—creates harmony.[22] For example, in a C chord, there are three notes: C, E, and G. The note C is the root. The notes E and G provide harmony, and in a G7 (G dominant 7th) chord, the root G with each subsequent note (in this case B, D and F) provide the harmony.[22]
In the musical scale, there are twelve pitches. Each pitch is referred to as a "degree" of the scale. The names A, B, C, D, E, F, and G are insignificant.[23] The intervals, however, are not. Here is an example:
1° | 2° | 3° | 4° | 5° | 6° | 7° | 8° |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
D | E | F♯ | G | A | B | C♯ | D |
As can be seen, no note will always be the same scale degree. The tonic, or first-degree note, can be any of the 12 notes (pitch classes) of the chromatic scale. All the other notes fall into place. For example, when C is the tonic, the fourth degree or subdominant is F. When D is the tonic, the fourth degree is G. While the note names remain constant, they may refer to different scale degrees, implying different intervals with respect to the tonic. The great power of this fact is that any musical work can be played or sung in any key. It is the same piece of music, as long as the intervals are the same—thus transposing the melody into the corresponding key. When the intervals surpass the perfect Octave (12 semitones), these intervals are called compound intervals, which include particularly the 9th, 11th, and 13th Intervals—widely used in jazz and blues Music.[24]
Compound Intervals are formed and named as follows:
- 2nd + Octave = 9th
- 3rd + Octave = 10th
- 4th + Octave = 11th
- 5th + Octave = 12th
- 6th + Octave = 13th
- 7th + Octave = 14th
These numbers don't "add" together because intervals are numbered inclusive of the root note (e.g. one tone up is a 2nd), so the root is counted twice by adding them. Apart from this categorization, intervals can also be divided into consonant and dissonant. As explained in the following paragraphs, consonant intervals produce a sensation of relaxation and dissonant intervals a sensation of tension. In tonal music, the term consonant also means "brings resolution" (to some degree at least, whereas dissonance "requires resolution").[citation needed]
The consonant intervals are considered the perfect
The effect of dissonance is perceived relatively within musical context: for example, a major seventh interval alone (i.e., C up to B) may be perceived as dissonant, but the same interval as part of a major seventh chord may sound relatively consonant. A tritone (the interval of the fourth step to the seventh step of the major scale, i.e., F to B) sounds very dissonant alone, but less so within the context of a dominant seventh chord (G7 or D♭7 in that example).[26]
Chords and tension
In the Western tradition, in music after the seventeenth century, harmony is manipulated using chords, which are combinations of pitch classes. In tertian harmony, so named after the interval of a third, the members of chords are found and named by stacking intervals of the third, starting with the "root", then the "third" above the root, and the "fifth" above the root (which is a third above the third), etc. (Chord members are named after their interval above the root.) Dyads, the simplest chords, contain only two members (see power chords).
A chord with three members is called a triad because it has three members, not because it is necessarily built in thirds (see Quartal and quintal harmony for chords built with other intervals). Depending on the size of the intervals being stacked, different qualities of chords are formed. In popular and jazz harmony, chords are named by their root plus various terms and characters indicating their qualities. To keep the nomenclature as simple as possible, some defaults are accepted (not tabulated here). For example, the chord members C, E, and G, form a C Major triad, called by default simply a C chord. In an A♭ chord (pronounced A-flat), the members are A♭, C, and E♭.
In many types of music, notably baroque, romantic, modern and jazz, chords are often augmented with "tensions". A tension is an additional chord member that creates a relatively dissonant interval in relation to the bass. Following the tertian practice of building chords by stacking thirds, the simplest first tension is added to a triad by stacking, on top of the existing root, third, and fifth, another third above the fifth, adding a new, potentially dissonant member a seventh away from the root (called the "seventh" of the chord) producing a four-note chord called a "seventh chord".
Depending on the widths of the individual thirds stacked to build the chord, the interval between the root and the seventh of the chord may be major, minor, or diminished. (The interval of an augmented seventh reproduces the root, and is therefore left out of the chordal nomenclature.) The nomenclature allows that, by default, "C7" indicates a chord with a root, third, fifth, and seventh spelled C, E, G, and B♭. Other types of seventh chords must be named more explicitly, such as "C Major 7" (spelled C, E, G, B), "C augmented 7" (here the word augmented applies to the fifth, not the seventh, spelled C, E, G♯, B♭), etc. (For a more complete exposition of nomenclature see Chord (music).)
Continuing to stack thirds on top of a seventh chord produces extensions, and brings in the "extended tensions" or "upper tensions" (those more than an octave above the root when stacked in thirds), the ninths, elevenths, and thirteenths. This creates the chords named after them. (Except for dyads and triads, tertian chord types are named for the interval of the largest size and magnitude in use in the stack, not for the number of chord members : thus a ninth chord has five members [tonic, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th], not nine.) Extensions beyond the thirteenth reproduce existing chord members and are (usually) left out of the nomenclature. Complex harmonies based on extended chords are found in abundance in jazz, late-romantic music, modern orchestral works, film music, etc.
Typically, in the classical Common practice period a dissonant chord (chord with tension) resolves to a consonant chord. Harmonization usually sounds pleasant to the ear when there is a balance between the consonant and dissonant sounds. In simple words, that occurs when there is a balance between "tense" and "relaxed" moments. For this reason, usually tension is 'prepared' and then 'resolved',[27] where preparing tension means to place a series of consonant chords that lead smoothly to the dissonant chord. In this way the composer ensures introducing tension smoothly, without disturbing the listener. Once the piece reaches its sub-climax, the listener needs a moment of relaxation to clear up the tension, which is obtained by playing a consonant chord that resolves the tension of the previous chords. The clearing of this tension usually sounds pleasant to the listener, though this is not always the case in late-nineteenth century music, such as Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner.[27]
Perception
A number of features contribute to the perception of a chord's harmony.
Tonal fusion
Tonal fusion contributes to the perceived consonance of a chord,
In organ registers, certain harmonic interval combinations and chords are activated by a single key. The sounds produced fuse into one tone with a new timbre. This tonal fusion effect is also used in synthesizers and orchestral arrangements; for instance, in
Roughness
When adjacent harmonics in complex tones interfere with one another, they create the perception of what is known as "beating" or "roughness". These precepts are closely related to the perceived dissonance of chords.
Familiarity
Familiarity also contributes to the perceived harmony of an interval. Chords that have often been heard in musical contexts tend to sound more consonant. This principle explains the gradual historical increase in harmonic complexity of Western music. For example, around 1600 unprepared seventh chords gradually became familiar and were therefore gradually perceived as more consonant.[35]
Individual characteristics such as age and musical experience also have an effect on harmony perception.[36][37]
Neural correlates of harmony
The
In response to harmonic intervals, cortical activity also distinguishes chords by their consonance, responding more robustly to chords with greater consonance.[28]
Consonance and dissonance in balance
The creation and destruction of harmonic and 'statistical' tensions is essential to the maintenance of compositional drama. Any composition (or improvisation) which remains consistent and 'regular' throughout is, for me, equivalent to watching a movie with only 'good guys' in it, or eating cottage cheese.
— Frank Zappa, The Real Frank Zappa Book, page 181, Frank Zappa and Peter Occhiogrosso, 1990
See also
- Chromatic chord
- Chromatic mediant
- Harmonie
- Homophony (music)
- List of musical terminology
- Mathematics of musical scales
- Musica universalis
- Organum (polyphonic chant)
- Peter Westergaard's tonal theory
- Physics of music
- Prolongation
- Tonality
- Unified field
- Voice leading
References
Footnotes
- ^ S2CID 247870504.
- PMID 32043080.
- ISBN 0-13-182387-6. Third edition. "Homophonic texture...is more common in Western music, where tunes are often built on chords (harmonies) that move in progressions. Indeed this harmonic orientation is one of the major differences between Western and much non-Western music."
- ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
- ^ "Musical building blocks". ISM Trust. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ISBN 9781561592630.
- ^ "1. Harmony". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology in English Language Reference. Oxford Reference Online. Retrieved 24 February 2007.
- Perseus Project.
- ^ ἁρμόζω in Liddell and Scott.
- OCLC 123175755.
- S2CID 161552153.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-957903-7.
- ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
- ISBN 0-8240-6035-0.
- ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5. and Catherine Schmidt Jones, 'Listening to Indian Classical Music', Connexions, (accessed 16 November 2007) [1]
- ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
- ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
- ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
- ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
- ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
- ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
- ^ ISBN 1-4120-3333-0.
- ^ Ghani, Nour Abd. "The 12 Golden notes is all it takes..." Skytopia. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-60974-315-4.
- ^ Peter Pesic. "Music and the Making of Modern Science". Issuu. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ "Intervals | Music Appreciation". courses.lumenlearning.com. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ a b Schejtman, Rod (2008). The Piano Encyclopedia's "Music Fundamentals eBook", pp. 20–43 (accessed 10 March 2009) PianoEncyclopedia.com
- ^ PMID 23717294.
- ISBN 978-3-540-57394-4.
- JSTOR 40285634.
- S2CID 144133151.
- S2CID 15852125.
- PMID 24203470.
- JSTOR 40285416.
- ISSN 0730-7829.
- PMID 21906656.
- ^ PMID 25740534.
- PMID 26497006.
Citations
- Dahlhaus, Carl. Gjerdingen, Robert O. trans. (1990). Studies in the Origin of Harmonic Tonality, p. 141. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09135-8.
- ISBN 0-19-316121-4.
- Nettles, Barrie & Graf, Richard (1997). The Chord Scale Theory and Jazz Harmony. Advance Music, ISBN 3-89221-056-X
Further reading
- Prout, Ebenezer, Harmony, its Theory and Practice (1889, revised 1903)