Musical Elements: Harmony

Introduction to Harmony

Harmony is the simultaneous combination of pitches, particularly when arranged in chords and intervals, creating a pleasing effect.
Harmony is a vertical musical element, unlike melody which is horizontal.

The simplest form of harmony is a chord, a group of typically three notes played simultaneously.
Common chords include major chords, which have a happy or bright sound, and minor chords, which sound sad or dark.
Note arrangement can create different chord types, for example, diminished chords and augmented chords which are used for tension and resolution in music.
Chord progressions are a series of musical chords that aim to establish a tonality founded on tension and release.

Diatonic harmony refers to chords that only consist of notes from a specific key or scale.
Chromatic harmony refers to the use of chords containing notes not present in the predominant key, resulting in a completely different character and complexity.

Functional harmony is a way of understanding chord relationships where every chord has a function: tonic, subdominant, and dominant.

Modulation refers to the change from one key to another in a piece of music.
Modulation brings variety and dramatic effect in a composition and helps in maintaining listener interest.

Dissonance refers to a tension or clash resulting from the combination of two disharmonic elements, creating tension or ‘instability’.
Consonance refers to the combination of notes which are in harmony with each other due to the relationship between their frequencies. It provides a sense of relaxation and ‘resolution’ to the listener.

Counterpoint refers to the combination of two or more melodic lines in such a way that they establish a harmonic relationship while retaining their linear individuality.
Polyphony is the characteristic of simultaneously combining a number of distinct melody lines. A highly polyphonic musical texture is also known as contrapuntal.

Extended chords are those that contain tones extended, or added, beyond the seventh, including ninths, elevenths and thirteenths. They add colour and complexity to the music.