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Understanding Harmony Chapter Notes

Chapter One: Triads

• A review of triads
• Triads in major and minor keys
• Writing triads in four parts, including considerations of range and spacing
• Writing tonic, dominant and subdominant triads in four parts
• Writing secondary triads in four parts
• Writing triads in keyboard style
• Avoiding errors of crossed parts

Chapter Review Quiz (found at the end of each chapter)

Chapter Two: Moving from one chord to the next

• Voice leading
• Common note voice leading
• Writing V – I and I – V
• Types of motion
• Contrary motion to the bass
• Octaves, fifths and unisons in progressions
• Using chord charts

Chapter Three: Chords in first inversion

• First inversion triads
• Avoiding errors of overlapping

Chapter Four: Dominant seventh chords 1

• Writing and resolving dominant seventh chords (complete-incomplete)
• Writing and resolving inverted dominant seventh chords

Roundup: Chapters One to Four

• Exercises based on the first four chapters

Chapter Five: Introduction to non-chord tones

• The passing tone, neighbour tone and appoggiatura
• Direct octaves and fifths

Chapter Six: Cadences

• Authentic, half, plagal, and deceptive cadences
• Perfect and Imperfect authentic cadences
• Cadences in four-part harmony and in contrapuntal style

Chapter Seven: More seventh chords

• Seventh chords: dominant seventh, major seventh, minor seventh, half diminished seventh, diminished seventh.
• Avoiding melodic augmented intervals

Chapter Eight: Root/quality chord symbols

• Root/quality chord symbols for triads
• Root/quality chord symbols for seventh chords

Chapter Nine: The cadential 6/4

• Writing the cadential 6/4
• The mediant triad
• The leading tone triad

Chapter Ten: Introduction to eighteenth-century dances

• Characteristics of some eighteenth-century dances
• Antecedent and consequent phrases in a period

Chapter Eleven: Analyzing eighteenth-century dances 1

• Marking the phrases in a dance
• Naming the cadences in a dance

Chapter Twelve: Harmonic progressions

• The order of chords in major and minor progressions
• Harmonic rhythm

Chapter Thirteen: Supertonic seventh chords

• Writing supertonic seventh chords

Chapter Fourteen: More chords in minor keys

• Chords using the raised submediant
• Chords using the subtonic
• Sequences in major and minor keys

Chapter Fifteen: Non-chord tones

• Review of the passing tone and neighbour tone
• The échappée
• The anticipation
• The incomplete neighbor tone
• The appoggiatura (review)
• The suspension
• Analysis

Chapter Sixteen: Second inversion chords

• The arpeggio 6/4 chord
• The neighboring 6/4 chord
• The passing 6/4 chord
• The credential 6/4 chord (review)
• Harmonizing a given Melody

Chapter Seventeen: Leading tone triads

• Writing leading tone triads
• Using leading tone triads in progressions
• Two tonic progressions: I – IV – I and I – iii.
• Changing tones
• Pedal point
• Chromatic non-chord tones

Chapter Eighteen: Dominant seventh chords 2

• Writing V7 – I as a complete-incomplete progression, an incomplete-complete progression, or a complete-complete progression
• The rising resolution V4/3 – I6

Chapter Nineteen: Applied dominant chords

• Writing applied dominant progressions in major keys
• Handling chromatic notes in progressions
• Writing applied dominant progressions in minor keys

Chapter Twenty: Modulation

• Modulation using a pivot chord
• Phrasal modulation
• Notes with accidentals: an overview

Chapter Twenty-One: Chorales

• Completing a chorale question
• Setting text

Chapter Twenty-Two: Analyzing eighteenth-century dances 2

• Dances in binary and ternary form
• Analyzing the form of a dance
• Analyzing two-part inventions

Chapter Twenty-Three: Writing melodies 1

• Overview of a sixteen-measure dance
• Tips for completing the melody and bass line
• Writing melodies in 6/8 time

Chapter Twenty-Four: Writing melodies 2

• Composing melodies with good rhythmic design, shape, use of steps and leaps, and range
• Writing melodies in minor keys
• Writing a melody above a given bass line

Appendix One: Phrase endings for authentic cadences

Appendix Two: The exam

Appendix Three: Quick reference that includes vocal ranges, names for non-chord tones, key signatures, and root/quality chord symbols

Index