Music Theory Comprehensive: Part 7 – Harmonization

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For years I’ve been teaching Music Theory in the college classroom. These classes I’m making for Udemy use the same syllabus I’ve used in my college classes for years, at a fraction of the cost. I believe anyone can learn Music Theory – and cost shouldn’t be a barrier.

Recently I was named as a semi-finalist for the Grammy Foundation’s Music Educator of the Year award because of my in-person university classes. Now I’m taking those classes to Udemy in an online format in order to reach more students, and give them the joy of Music Theory.

My approach to music theory is to minimize the memorization. Most of these concepts you can learn by just understanding why chords behave in certain ways. Once you understand those concepts, you can find any scale, key, or chord that exists. Even invent your own.

This class is a Comprehensive class – it will have many parts, going through my entire annual curriculum.

This class is Part 7: Harmonization, and it continues what would be the second semester of a college music theory class (according to the typical American academic system for learning music theory).

Throughout this class, I’ll be providing you with many worksheets for you to practice the concepts on. If you get stuck, you can review the videos or post a question, and I’ll back to it as fast as possible. Also in this class, I have several complete analysis projects that we will complete together – just like in my college classes.

What will I learn in this Course?

  • Tools of Counterpoint
  • How Inversion Names Work
  • 7th Chord Inversion Names
  • The Chordal 7th
  • Root Position V7 – I Resolutions in SATB Voicing
  • Inversions of V7 – I Resolutions in SATB Voicing
  • Exceptions to Voice Leading
  • Doubling Concerns in 7th Chords
  • Figured Bass
  • Figured Bass and Roman Numerals
  • Studying with Bach
  • “Realizing” Figured Bass
  • The Pre-Dominant Phrasing Area
  • Moving from Root Position IV to V Without Parallels
  • Predominant 7th Chords
  • Harmonization Steps
  • Finding Cadences
  • Finding the Right Chord Progression
  • Finding the Right Inversions
  • Practicing Harmonization
  • Melodies for Practice
  • Worksheets and Music for Practice
  • …and much, much more!

About the Instructor

J. Anthony Allen is an Ableton Certified Trainer, and a PhD in Music Composition and master of Electronic Sounds. His music has been heard internationally in film, radio, video games, and industrial sound, as well as the concert hall and theater.

He currently is an adjunct professor of composition at the University of St. Thomas, and is the CEO and co-founder of Slam Academy in Minneapolis.

Praise for classes by J. Anthony Allen

“Without a doubt the best explanation and east of use that one can get. It leaves you enough room to go explore. The classes go by quick, so you can be on your way at being proficient. What are you wait for!”

“Amazing – Seriously Loved It! I took all his courses and have to say I’m so happy! Learnt loads! Jason is an awesome teacher!”

“I have never had any formal training in music at all. Trying to learn all the notes and how everything translated was a serious challenge. After going through this class, Dr. J has totally brought down the barriers. The content was very useful and was easy to grasp for me.”

“I like these courses because you can get up and running quickly without having to spend hours of time wading through TMI (too much information!). Jason hits the high points but shows you what you need to know. Thanks!”

“I’ve watched many other videos on scales and chords before, however, this one has been the best. I now understand minor scales and chords and even how to analyze songs. It really gave me the confidence to start producing music because I feel like I have some structure and guidelines to follow. AWESOME!”

“Clear and Informative – Jason has a clear uncluttered style (with the important dashes of humor) of presentation that is focused on the important key aspects of this course. Recommended for those starting out!”

“Dr. Allen does it again with his music theory series. This course really opened up everything I learned from the 1st section, and now I understand more about the composition side of things for music. I highly highly recommend this course to anyone!!! Really opened my eyes to many things I wasn’t aware of.”

“The Best Teacher Ever, who makes you understand the ins & outs of Music Theory by all means without giving what you don’t want to know.”

Course Information

Estimated Time: 4 Hours

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Course Instructor

Jay Allen Author

J. Anthony Allen is an Ableton Certified Trainer, and a PhD in Music Composition and master of Electronic Sounds. His music has been heard internationally in film, radio, video games, and industrial sound, as well as the concert hall and theater. He currently is an adjunct professor of composition at the University of St. Thomas, and is the CEO and co-founder of Slam Academy in Minneapolis.

 

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Welcome & Overview

Introduction

Welcome to the class!
Tools We Will Use

The tools of the trade!
Download – Staff Paper Template

Download some staff paper to take notes.
Review Session

Let’s do a quick review – sort of.
The Full MuseScore File

Download and use this to follow along, if you want. Not required.

Inversion Names

How Inversion Names Work

We’ve touched on this in other classes, but I really want to nail it down because we are going to need it.
Triad Inversion Names

First, let’s look just at our triads and make sure we are confident in how we name these inversions.
Seventh Chord Inversion Names

Next, we will expand on the triads by getting the names of our 7th chord inversions nailed down.

Inversions of V7 and Resolutions

Resolving the “Chordal 7th”

The “Chordal 7th” is something we need to start paying attention to going forward.
Root Position V7 – I Resolution in SATB

Some of the very obvious resolutions have some weird voice leading problems.
Inversions of V7 – I Resolutions in SATB

Some of these are painless, and some of them are tricky.
An Exception!

Just to make things a little more complicated…
Doubling Problems

Watch out for some odd doublings in these inversions!

Figured Bass

What is Figured Bass?

Love it or hate it, we need to learn Figured Bass.
How Figured Bass Works

It’s like a shorthand for notation. Sort of.
Finding Figured Bass Roman Numerals

There are a few layers to figured bass.
“Realizing” Figured Bass

“Realizing” is the word we use for translating figured bass into full notation.
Bach Example with Melody

Let’s look at some Bach!
Bach’s Realization

Now let’s look at how Bach did it.
6 Basic Rules to Remember

If you can remember these basic rules, you will have this mostly down.
Worksheet No. 1

Your first worksheet for this class – be sure to check your work!

T-D-T Becomes T-PD-D-T

Back to Phrasing

Before we get to realizing full harmonizations, we need to do a little more work on phrasing.
Defining the “Pre-Dominant”

A new wrinkle! The Pre-Dominant.
Using ii and IV and Pre-Dominant

Let’s see what we can do with the ii and the IV.
Major Key Examples

A few examples looking at Major keys.
Minor Key Examples

Next, let’s see what happens to this in a minor key.
Moving from Root Position IV to V without Parallels

This is a trick move to make, but one we sometimes have to do.
Doubling in the Minor Key iiº Chord

In the minor key, we are faced with a tricky doubling on the ii chord.
Pre-Dominant Seventh Chords

We can sneak a few more 7th chords in now – here is now.
Worksheet No. 2

Here is your second worksheet – be sure to check your answers!

Harmonizing Chorale Melodies

Method for Harmonization

In order to do this, let’s come up with a method that will work over and over.
Start by Finding Your Cadences

Step 1 – find your cadences.
What About T-PD-D-T?

Don’t worry – we didn’t forget about this!
Second, Outline Your Harmony

Step 2 is to outline what you want the harmony to be.
Third, Write Out Your Soprano and Bass Lines

Step 3 – write in the soprano and bass lines.
Last, Complete the Inner Voices

As the final step, connect the dots by finishing the inner voices.
Harmonization No. 2: Mary Had a Little Lamb

Let’s harmonize a familiar tune.
Harmonization 2: Finding the Cadences

Ok, let’s try it! Start with finding the cadences.
Harmonization 2: Outline the Harmony

Next, let’s see what we want the harmony to be.
Harmonization 2: Write out the Bass Line

You know the drill: Step 3 is to figure out the bass line.
Harmonization 2: Complete the Inner Voices

Connect the dots!
Proofread and Double Check

Don’t forget to check your work!
Don’t Forget to Write Musically!

It might go without saying, but sometimes in needs to be said.
Don’t Forget About Voice Leading!

And let’s be sure to not forget everything we know about voice leading.
Worksheets for Practice

I’m posting a few different things here for you to practice with.
Worksheet No. 3

Third worksheet for practice!
Some Melodies for Practice

Here are some more melodies for you to practice with.

Wrap Up

What Comes Next?

There is much more music theory to explore!
Thanks for Watching!

That’s it for now!

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