Some Tools for “UNDERSTANDING” HARMONYby © Stephen Melillo IGNA 1977

Later in your studies, you will learn “Rules” of Harmony. When you do, it will not be Harmony. It willbe HISTORY. For now, use personal judgement and taste. Of all the books to study from, I recommend:FUNDAMENTAL HARMONY by Hugo Norden

Tonic Harmonies like to go to Subdominant, which likes to go to Dominant, which likes to go to Tonic.WHY?

There are 3 Kinds of Harmonic Motion

There are 6 ways to arrange a 3-note Chord, with the Root in the Bass

I - IV - VI - IV - Vvi - ii - vii 0

iii - vi - iii

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iv-iii iiv-iii 0 I-iii V-iii VI-iii ii-iii

iiv-VI 0 I-VI ii-VI iv-VI V-VI iii-VI

I-V ii-V iii-V iiv-V 0 iv-V VI-V

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1 2 3 4 5 6

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1. When the interval between the Tenor and Soprano is LESSthan 1 octave, this is called CLOSED Position.When the interval between the Tenor and Soprano isGREATER than 1 octave, this is OPENED Position.

2. Keep common tones in the Same Voice.

3. Move Closest to Closest, being aware of the “FUNCTION”and of the “OVERTONE” Series.

This is VOICE LEADING . Now add inharmonic devices.

EXTENDED TONALITYPart One... or How to Push the Envelope

Append this to THE ELLIPSE IN MUSIC... “The Clock”

There are 5 Tonal Modes: 1) Ionian 2) Dorian 3) Phrygian 5) Mixo-Lydian 6) Aeolian WHY?There are 19 Chords in the KEY of C! Here is how we derive then from the Tonal Modes.

Ionian

Dorian (w/Bb key signature)

Phrygian (w/Ab key signature)

Mixo-Lydian (w/F key signature)

Aeolian (w/Eb key signature)

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EXTENDED TONALITY... more!TONICIZATION

by Stephen Melillo IGNA 1984

Statement: Pushing BOUNDARIES is an IMPOSSIBILITY if there are no BOUNDARIES to push. Boundaries andunderstanding them are as much a part of the ART as the PUSHING beyond those boundaries. Being “outside” is a functionof knowing “inside”. Also consider that the some of the GREATEST Music written utilizes the same vocabulary as theweakest Music!... I-IV-V for example. It is NOT the vocabulary, but the wise and artistic utilization of the tools at ourdisposal that allows certain Musics to stand the test of Time.

We can extend a Key’s BOUNDARIES by introducing harmonic and melodic material from its related and MODALLYrelated Keys... as well as unrelated Keys. If you take a CHORD in a KEY and treat it like a CADENCE, you are employingTONICIZATION . You are giving the “destination” chord a TONIC QUALITY .Example: C-A7-D minor... or I- V of ii - ii .

ANY MAJOR or MINOR chord can be TONICIZED , but tonicization usually happens in RELATED KEYS .

ALL keys are related, but the term “RELATED” normally refers to keys which have their TONIC CHORDS in the diatonicscale, plus in MAJOR, the key of the minor subdominant! (TheSTORMChord!)

RELATED CHORDS in “C” : D m (ii) E m (iii) F M (IV) G M (V) A m (vi) F m (iv)

Another way to illustrate this relationship:C Major

G Major (its Dominant) A minor (its related minor) F Major (its Subdominant)

E minor (related minor of the Dominant) D minor (related minor of the Subdominant)

The MAIN TONICIZING CHORD is “V” , usually V7. The tonicizing chords are called SECONDARY DOMINANTS .HERE are the diatonic chords in “C” with their SECONDARY DOMINANTS.

TONICIZATION of the DESTINATION Chord, just like the Dominant & Subdominant chords , strengthens TONALITYbecause of the “stress” it places on these important “KEY” chords. Example:

C F G C = S T R O N G

C C 7 F D 7 G G 7 C = S T R O N G E RI V/IV IV V/V V V/V I

Also TRY: C-Dm-G-C vs. C-A7-Dm-G-C. Then try tonicizing vi & iii. Examine next page as an exercise.

SNOITCNUF I ii iii vi&VI V iv iiv

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Learn to Play & HEAR this piece at the Keyboard. Make observance of the pattern. UP a 4th, Down a 5th.

A MOZART ExampleThe Secondary Dominant is now the X7. Look, study & play this to get the feel of Voice-Leading at the Keyboard

We’ll harmonize this together:

I IV vii iii vi ii V I

I X7 ii X7 IV X7 V X7 IV I ii 4/2 V6/5 I

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THE ELLIPSE in MUSIC... “The Clock”An Abstract Model of Harmonic Progression in Tonal Music by © Stephen Melillo IGNA 15 March 1984

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I, IV, V = Major or minorii = minor or diminishediii, VI = diminished, minor, Major or augmentedvii = major or diminished