This article is about musical harmony and harmonies. For other uses of the term, see Harmony (disambiguation).

In Western music, harmony is the use of different pitches simultaneously, and chords, actual or implied, in music. Western music is the genres of Music originating in the Western world (Europe and its former colonies including Western classical music, American This article describes musical chords in traditional Western styles Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. The study of harmony may often refer to the study of harmonic progressions, the movement from one pitch simultaneously to another, and the structural principles that govern such progressions. A chord progression (also chord sequence and harmonic progression or sequence) is a series of chords played in order ^[1] In Western Music, harmony often refers to the "vertical" aspects of music, distinguished from ideas of melodic line, or the "horizontal" aspect. Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music In Music, a melody (from Greek μελῳδία - melōidía, "singing chanting" also tune, voice, or ^[2] For this reason, considerations of counterpoint or polyphony are often distinguished from those of harmony, though contrapuntal writing of the common practice period of western music is often conceived and defined in terms of underlying harmonic motion. In Music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and Rhythm, and interdependent in Harmony In Music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent Melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice ( Monophony The common practice period, in the history of European Art music (broadly called Classical music) spanning the Baroque, Classical, and

Contents 1 Definitions, origin of term, and history of use 2 Historical rules 3 Types 4 Intervals 5 Chords & tensions 6 Consonance and dissonance in balance 7 Part harmonies 8 See also 9 Further reading 10 References 11 External links

Definitions, origin of term, and history of use

The term harmony originates in the Greek ἁρμονία (harmonía), meaning "joint, agreement, concord". Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly In Greek mythology, Harmonia is the immortal Goddess of harmony and concord ^[3] In Ancient Greek music, the term was used to define the combination of contrasted elements: a higher and lower note. ^[4]

Nevertheless, the simultaneous sounding of notes was not part of musical practice in the antiquity, harmonía merely provided a system of classification for the relationships between different pitches. In the Middle Ages the term was used to describe two pitches sounding in combination, and in the Renaissance the concept was expanded to denote three pitches sounding together. ^[4]

It was not until the publication of Rameau's 'Traité de l'harmonie', in 1722, that any text discussing musical practice made use of the term in the title. Jean-Philippe Rameau (ʒɑ̃filip ʀaˈmo in French (September 25 1683 – September 12 1764 was one of the most important French Composers and music theorists The work is however by no means considered the earliest record of theoretical discussion of the topic. This and similar texts tend to survey and codify the musical relationships that were closely linked to the evolution of tonality from the Renaissance, to the late Romanic periods. Tonality is a system of Music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center" or tonic. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all The underlying principle behind these texts is the notion that harmony sanctions harmoniousness (sounds that 'please') by conforming to certain pre-established compositional principles. ^[5]

Current dictionary definitions, while attempting to give concise descriptions often highlight the ambiguity of the term in modern use. Such ambiguities tend to arise from either aesthetic considerations (espousing, 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). ^[5] In the words of Arnold Whitall:

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.

—^[5]

The view that modern tonal harmony in Western music began in about 1600 is commonplace in music theory. This is usually accounted for by the 'replacement' of horizontal (of contrapuntal) writing, common in the music of the Renaissance, with a new emphasis on the 'vertical' element of composed music. In Music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and Rhythm, and interdependent in Harmony The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere Modern theorists, however, tend to see this as an unsatisfactory generalisation. As Carl Dahlhaus puts it:

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. Carl Dahlhaus ( June 10 1928 – March 13, 1989) a Musicologist from Berlin, has been one of the major contributors to the And harmony comprises not only the (‘vertical’) structure of chords but also their (‘horizontal’) movement. Like music as a whole, harmony is a process.

—^[6][7]

Descriptions and definitions of harmony and harmonic practice may show bias towards European (or Western) musical traditions. In some respects this is reflective of positivism that has predominated Western music theory for centuries,^[8] but in others is indicative of the different theoretical emphases of non-European art music traditions. Positivism is the Philosophy that the only authentic knowledge is knowledge that is based on actual sense experience For example, South Asian art music (Hindustani and Karnatak) is frequently cited as placing little emphasis on what is perceived in western practice as conventional 'harmony'; the underlying 'harmonic' foundation for most South Asian music is the drone, a held open fifth (or fourth) that does not alter in pitch throughout the course of a composition. Hindustani ( Hindi: हिन्दुस्तानी is an adjectival form of Hindustan which originally meant people from the whole geographical region of Karnataka (ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ pronounced) is a state in the southern part of India ^[9] Pitch simultaneity in particular is rarely a major consideration. Nevertheless many other considerations of pitch are relevant to the music, its theory and its structure, such as the complex system of Rāgas, which combines both melodic and modal considerations and codifications within it. Rāga ( Sanskrit, lit "colour" or "mood" or rāgam in Carnatic music) refers to melodic modes used ^[10] So although intricate combinations of pitches sounding simultaneously in Indian classical music do occur they are rarely studied as teleological harmonic or contrapuntal progressions, which is the case with notated Western music. The origins of Indian classical music can be found from the oldest of Scriptures part of the Hindu tradition the Vedas. Teleology ( Greek: telos: end purpose is the philosophical study of design and Purpose. In Music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and Rhythm, and interdependent in Harmony This contrast of emphasis (in the case of Indian music in particular) manifests itself to some extent in the different methods of performance adopted: in Indian Music improvisation takes a major role in the structural framework of a piece,^[11] in Western Music improvisation rarely occurs (particularly since the end of the 19th century),^[12] and where it does (or has in the past), the improvisation will either embellish pre-notated music or, if not, refers to musical models that have previously been established in notated compositions, and therefore employing familiar harmonic schemes. ^[13]

There is no doubt, nevertheless, that the 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 quite 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.

—^[14]

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 alike of individual pre-constructed works in which pitches (and to some extent rhythms) remained unchanged regardless of the nature of the performance). ^[15]

Historical rules

Some traditions of music performance, composition, and theory have specific rules of harmony. The word tradition comes from the Latin traditionem acc of traditio which means "a giving up delivering up surrendering" and is used in a number of A performance, in Performing arts, generally comprises an event in which one group of people (the performer or performers behave in a particular way for another group of people Musical composition is an original piece of Music the structure of a musical piece the process of creating a new Music theory is the field of study that deals with the Mechanics of music and how Music works These rules are often held to be based on "natural" properties such as Pythagorean tuning's low whole number ratios ("harmoniousness" being inherent in the ratios either perceptually or in themselves) or harmonics and resonances ("harmoniousness" being inherent in the quality of sound), with the allowable pitches and harmonies gaining their beauty or simplicity from their closeness to those properties. Pythagorean tuning is a system of Musical tuning in which the Frequency relationships of all intervals are based on the ratio 32. In Acoustics and Telecommunication, the harmonic of a Wave is a component Frequency of the signal that is an Integer Acoustic resonance is the tendency of an acoustic system to absorb more energy when the Frequency of its oscillations matches the system's natural frequency of vibration While Pythagorean ratios can provide a rough approximation of perceptual harmonicity, they cannot account for cultural factors.

Early Western religious music often features parallel perfect intervals; these intervals would preserve the clarity of the original plainsong. For the band see " Plainsong (band " For the song on The Cure's 1989 album see " Disintegration " 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. 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. Early music also forbade usage of the tritone, as its dissonance was associated with the devil, and composers often went to considerable lengths, via musica ficta, to avoid using it. In the newer triadic harmonic system, however, the tritone became permissible, as it could form part of a consonant, yet unstable, dominant seventh chord.

Although most harmony comes about as a result of two or more notes being sounded simultaneously, it is possible to strongly imply harmony with only one melodic line through the use of arpeggios or hocket. In Music, an arpeggio is a broken chord where the Notes are played or sung in Sequence, one after the other rather than Ringing out simultaneously In Music, hocket is the Rhythmic Linear technique using the alternation of notes, pitches, or chords In medieval practice Many pieces from the baroque period for solo string instruments, such as Bach's Sonatas and partitas for solo violin, convey subtle harmony through inference rather than full chordal structures; see below:

Types

Carl Dahlhaus (1990) distinguishes between coordinate and subordinate harmony. Carl Dahlhaus ( June 10 1928 – March 13, 1989) a Musicologist from Berlin, has been one of the major contributors to the Subordinate harmony is the hierarchical tonality or tonal harmony well known today, while coordinate harmony is the older Medieval and Renaissance tonalité ancienne, "the term is meant to signify that sonorities are linked one after the other without giving rise to the impression of a goal-directed development. @@@ main@@@ - title Hierarchy@@@ keywords structure; sociology; information@@@ review@@@ - Tonality is a system of Music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center" or tonic. The term medieval music encompasses European music written during the Middle Ages. Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 - 1600 A first chord forms a 'progression' with a second chord, and a second with a third. But the earlier chord progression is independent of the later one and vice versa. " Coordinate harmony follows direct (adjacent) relationships rather than indirect as in subordinate. Interval cycles create symmetrical harmonies, such as frequently in the music of Alban Berg, George Perle, Arnold Schoenberg, Béla Bartók, and Edgard Varèse's Density 21.5. In Music, an interval cycle is the collection of pitches created by starting with a certain note and going up by a certain interval until the original note Alban Maria Johannes Berg (February 9 1885 &ndash December 24 1935 was an Austrian Composer. George Perle (born May 6, 1915 in Bayonne New Jersey) is a Composer and music theorist. Arnold Schoenberg ( pronounced ˈʃøːnbɛrk (13 September 1874 &ndash 13 July 1951 was an Austrian and later American Composer, associated with Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25 1881&ndashSeptember 26 1945 was a Hungarian Composer and Pianist, considered to be one of the greatest WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse, whose name was also spelled Edgar Varèse Density 215 is a piece of music for solo Flute written by Edgard Varèse in 1936 and revised in 1946

Other types of harmony are based upon the intervals used in constructing the chords used in that harmony. Most chords used in western music are based on "tertial" 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 harmony and quintal harmony. In Music, quartal harmony is the building of chordal and melodic structures with a distinct preference for intervals of fourths In Music, quartal harmony is the building of chordal and melodic structures with a distinct preference for intervals of fourths

Intervals

An interval is the relationship between two separate musical pitches. For example, in the melody "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", the first two notes (the first "twinkle") and the second two notes (the second "twinkle") are at the interval of one fifth. What this means is that if the first two notes were the pitch "C", the second two notes would be the pitch "G"--four scale notes, or seven chromatic notes (a perfect fifth), above it.

The following are common intervals:

Root	Major Third	Minor third	Fifth
C	E	Eb	G
Db	F	Fb	Ab
D	F#	F	A
Eb	G	Gb	Bb
E	G#	G	B
F	A	Ab	C
F#	A#	A	C#
G	B	Bb	D
Ab	C	Cb	Eb
A	C#	C	E
Bb	D	Db	F
B	D#	D	F#

Therefore, the combination of notes with their specific intervals - a chord - creates harmony. A major third ( is one of two commonly occurring Musical intervals that span three Diatonic scale degrees the other being the Minor third. A minor third ( is the smaller of two commonly occurring musical intervals compounded of two steps of the Diatonic scale. For example, in a C chord, there are three notes: C, E, and G. The note "C" is the root tone, with the notes "E" and "G" providing harmony.

In the musical scale, there are twelve pitches. Each pitch is referred to as a "degree" of the scale. In actuality, there are no names for each degree-there is no real "C" or "E-flat" or "A". Nature did not name the pitches. The only inherent quality that these degrees have is their harmonic relationship to each other. The names A, B, C, D, E, F, and G are intransigent. 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 you can see there, no note always corresponds to a certain degree of the scale. The "root", or 1st-degree note, can be any of the 12 notes of the scale. All the other notes fall into place. So, when C is the root note, the fourth degree is F. But when D is the root note, the fourth degree is G. So while the note names are intransigent, the intervals are not. In layman's terms: a "fourth" (four-step interval) is always a fourth, no matter what the root note is. The great power of this fact is that any song can be played or sung in any key-it will be the same song, as long as the intervals are kept the same.

When the intervals surpass the Octave (12 semitones), these intervals are named as "Extended intervals", which include particularly the 9th, 11th, and 13th Intervals, widely used in Jazz and Blues Music. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression

Extended Intervals are formed and named as following:

• 2nd Interval + Octave = "Ninth" Interval / 9th
• 4th Interval + Octave = "Eleventh" Interval / 11th
• 6th Interval + Octave = "Thirtheen" Interval / 13th

Apart from this categorization, intervals can also be divided into consonant and dissonant. In Articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a Speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper Vocal tract, the upper vocal As explained in the following paragraphs, consonant intervals produce a sensation of relax and dissonant intervals a sensation of tension. In Articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a Speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper Vocal tract, the upper vocal

The consonant intervals are considered to be the Unison, Octave, Fifth, Fourth and Major and Minor Third. In Music, a unison () is an interval, the ratio of 11 or 0 half steps and zero cents. In Music, an octave ( is the the use of which is "common in most musical systems However, harmonically the Fourth interval is considered as a dissonance even though it's the inversion of a Fifth, therefore all the previous intervals are named as Perfect Consonant Intervals while the Fourth is categorized as Imperfect Consonant Interval.

All the other intervals, such as the 7th, 9th, 11th, and 13th are considered Dissonant and require resolution (of the produced tension) and usually preparation (depending on the music style used).

Chords & tensions

In the Western tradition there are certain basic harmonies. A basic chord consists of three notes: the root, the third above the root, and the fifth above the root (which happens to be "the minor third above the third above the root"). So, in a C chord, the notes are C, E, and G. In an A-flat chord, the notes are Ab, C, and Eb. In many types of music, notably baroque and jazz, basic chords are often augmented with "tensions". A tension is a degree of the scale which, in a given key, hits a dissonant interval. The most basic, common example of a tension is a "seventh" (actually a minor, or flat seventh) — so named because it is the seventh degree of the scale in a given key. While the actual degree is a flat seventh, the nomenclature is simply "seventh". So, in a C7 chord, the notes are C, E, G, and Bb. Other common dissonant tensions include ninths, elevenths, and thirteenths. In jazz, chords can become very complex with several tensions.

Typically, a dissonant chord (chord with a tension) will "resolve" to a consonant chord. A good 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 "tension" and "relax" moments. Because of this reason, usually tensions are 'prepared' and then 'resolved'.

Preparing a tension means to place a series of consonant chords that lead smoothly to the dissonant chord. In this way the composer ensures to build up the tension of the piece 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 tensions of the previous chords. The clearing of this tension usually sounds pleasant to the listener.

Consonance and dissonance in balance

As Frank Zappa explained it, "The creation and destruction of harmonic and 'statistical' tensions is essential to the maintenance of compositional drama. Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21 1940 – December 4 1993 was an American Composer, Electric guitarist Record producer and Film director 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. "[4] In other words, a composer cannot ensure a listener's liking by using exclusively consonant sounds. However, an excess of tension may disturb the listener. The balance between the two is essential.

Contemporary music has evolved in the way that tensions are less prepared and less structured than in Baroque or Classical periods, thus producing new styles such as Jazz and Blues, where tensions are usually not prepared. Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750. Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression

Part harmonies

In the Western tradition of vocal music, the five basic "parts" are soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass. Vocal music is Music performed by one or more Singers with or without non-vocal instrumental accompaniment This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. Alto is a musical term derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" that has several possible interpretations The tenor is the highest male voice within the Modal register, just above the Baritone voice This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. A chord may be spread across parts in order to provide harmony. For example, a vocal piece's harmony may be constructed by the following:

• Bass - root note of chord (1st degree)
• Tenor and Alto - provide harmonies corresponding to the 3rd and 5th degrees of the scale; the Alto line usually sounds a third below the soprano,
• Soprano - melody line; usually provides all tensions.

See also

• Barbershop music
• Consonance and dissonance
• Chord (music)
• Chord sequence
• Chromatic chord
• Counterpoint
• Harmonic series
• Homophony (music)
• Mathematics of musical scales
• Musica universalis
• Peter Westergaard's tonal theory
• Physics of music
• Tonality
• Unified field
• Voice leading

Further reading

• Ebenezer Prout -- Harmony (1889, Revised 1901). Barbershop Vocal harmony, as codified during the barbershop revival era (1940s-present is a style of A cappella, or unaccompanied Vocal music characterized This article describes musical chords in traditional Western styles A chord progression (also chord sequence and harmonic progression or sequence) is a series of chords played in order In Music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and Rhythm, and interdependent in Harmony See Harmonic series (mathematics for the (related mathematical concept In Music, homophony (hoʊˈmɒfəni from Greek "homófonos" where ομοιο = the same and φωνή = a sound tone is a texture in which two or more Music theorists often use Mathematics to understand musical structure and communicate new ways of hearing music Peter Westergaard's tonal theory is the Theory of tonal music developed by Peter Westergaard and outlined in Westergaard's 1975 book An Musical acoustics or music acoustics is the branch of Acoustics concerned with researching and describing the Physics of Music — how sounds Tonality is a system of Music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center" or tonic. This article is about the musical subject You may be looking for the Unified field theory in Physics. In Music, voice leading is the relationship between the successive pitches of simultaneous moving parts or voices. Ebenezer Prout (b Oundle March 1 1835 d London December 1 1909 was an English musical theorist writer teacher and composer whose instruction afterwards embodied in a series of
• Twentieth Century Harmony: Creative Aspects and Practice by Vincent Persichetti, ISBN 0-393-09539-8. Vincent Ludwig Persichetti ( June 6, 1915 &ndash August 14, 1987) was an American Composer, teacher and Pianist.
• Arnold Schoenberg -- Harmonielehre. Arnold Schoenberg ( pronounced ˈʃøːnbɛrk (13 September 1874 &ndash 13 July 1951 was an Austrian and later American Composer, associated with Universal Edition, 1911. Trans. by Roy Carter as Theory of Harmony. University of California Press, 1978
• Arnold Schoenberg -- Structural Functions of Harmony. Ernest Benn Limited, second (revised) edition, 1969. Ed. Leonard Stein.
• Walter Piston -- Harmony, 1969. Walter Hamor Piston Jr ( January 20, 1894 &ndash November 12, 1976) was an American composer and music theorist ISBN 0-393-95480-3.
• Copley, R. Evan (1991). Harmony, Baroque to Contemporary, Part One (2nd ed. ). Champaign: Stipes Publishing. ISBN 0-87563-373-0.
• Copley, R. Evan (1991). Harmony, Baroque to Contemporary, Part Two (2nd ed. ). Champaign: Stipes Publishing. ISBN 0-87563-377-3.
• Kholopov, Yuri, "Harmony. Yuri Nikolaevich Kholopov ( Yury Holopov, Russian: Ю́рий Николáевич Холóпов) ( August 14, 1932, Ryazan – Practical Course". In 2 Vol. , Moscow: Kompozitor, 2003. ISBN 5-85285-619-3.

References

• Dahlhaus, Carl. Gjerdingen, Robert O. trans. (1990). Studies in the Origin of Harmonic Tonality, p. 141. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09135-8.
• van der Merwe, Peter (1989). Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-316121-4.
• Nettles, Barrie & Graf, Richard (1997). The Chord Scale Theory and Jazz Harmony. Advance Music, ISBN: 389221056X

External links

• Chord Geometry - Graphical Analysis of Harmony Tool
• Interactive Lessons about harmonizing melodies and scales using different Musical Styles
• Harmonic Progressions with demos and how to harmonize a melody
• General Principles of Harmony by Alan Belkin
• Morphogenesis of chords and scales Chords and scales classification
• A Beginner's Guide to Modal Harmony
• LucyTuning
• Sonantometry as Natural Harmony Algebra

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