Delyth Knight Certified Music Judge LABBS Music Category Director

1. No question is a stupid question. If you need to know, ask 2. We will make sure that all the basics are understood 3. All animals are equal and even the tutor is human 4. Sing whenever possible 5. This is part 1 of a 2-part course next part is after coffee today 6. Have we got four parts? 2

Consonant? Dissonant? Tones and semitones? Tonic sol fa? Or 1,2,3,4,5? Chord? Major and minor thirds? Roots, fifths? Triads? Sevenths and ninths? Voicing? 3

Having a home to go to establish a home key (or tonic) move away and develop the theme visit other tonal centres on the way but, eventually, get back home again. The leaving gives our music its tension and the getting home again, its release. Fairly fundamental in Western music The route map, or harmonic outline, we call a song's primary harmony. BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 4

Allocate numbers to notes in major scale: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-1 Make a chord from notes in that scale using the numbered notes Most chords in our music have at least 1-3-5 and some have 7 or 6 or 9... Sing 1-3-5-1: bass on root (F-A-C-F) = F major chord = RING! Sing 2-4-5-7: G-B -C-E equivalent of 5-7-1-3 = chord of C7 with bass on 5 th = RING! 5

Sing Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley in four parts Hang down your head, Tom Dooley. Hang down your head and cry. Hang down your head, Tom Dooley. Poor boy you re bound to die. Start on tune-up chord Where do you need to change the note you started with? Where do you go? Then what? This is the concept of tonality pull going home Only two chords needed. 6

Chords can be built on any note ( degree ) of the scale: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-(8) Degrees of the scale have proper names: e.g. Do = Tonic Fa = Sub-dominant Sol = Dominant We also give the degrees of the scale Roman numerals: I - II - III - IV - V VI VII - (I) Chords built on those degrees have the same Roman numerals BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 7

A Hang down your head, Tom Dooley. Hang down your head and E7 cry. Hang down your head, Tom Dooley. Poor boy you re bound to A die. First half is in home key, A: tonic Second half is harmonised with a chord built on the 5 th note of the scale, E, with the addition of 7 th Dominant 7 th chord built on the dominant 8

I Hang down your head, Tom Dooley. Hang down your head and V7 cry. Hang down your head, Tom Dooley. Poor boy you re bound to I die. If we replace the names of the chords with the Roman numerals it looks like this It means that we can readily change key and transpose e.g. for women to sing in D 11

Sing On Top of Old Smokey in four parts On top of Old Smokey, All covered in snow, I lost my true lover, Through courting too slow. Start on tune-up chord Where do you need to change the note you started with? Where do you go? Then what? How many different chords needed? 3 chords used: I, V and IV Anyone feel the need for a sneaky 7 on the first chord? 12

A(7) On top of Old D Smokey, all covered in A snow, I lost my true E7 lover, through courting too A slow. Starts in tonic (I); more fun with a 7 th Moves to a chord built on the 4 th degree of the scale (IV) Moves on to the dominant 7 th (V7)...... which resolves to the tonic (I) A I-IV-V song Bass (root) movement through I to IV and then V 13

Where is the strongest pull to home? (i.e. to I) V7 to I Secondary pull? IV to I What about I7 to IV? Common relationship: root notes are a fifth apart 14

Can have chords built on any of the 12 notes of the chromatic scale Chords built on I, IV & V are major chords Particularly important in Western music Chords built on II, III & VI are minor chords Chords built on VII are diminished I II III IV V VI VII I BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 15

Tenors: sing Leads: sing Baris: sing Basses: sing C - B A A G A - G F - F - E E - E E D - D A - C C B B What s the next chord going to be? 16

Tenors: sing C - B A A G A Leads: sing A - G F - F - E E Baris: sing E - E E D - D C Basses: sing A - C C B B A All of these chords are sevenths - except the red one Baris and tenors sing 3 rd and 7 th alternately - leads sing 5 th and roots alternately with basses 17

Tenors: sing C - B A A G A Leads: sing A - G F - F - E E Baris: sing E - E E D - D C Basses: sing A - C C B B A = I - III7 VI7 II7 V7 I What s this sequence called? 18

The circle simply lists all 12 notes of the chromatic scale in a specific order. Going clockwise, each note in the list is a perfect fifth higher than the one before. You finally get back to where you started. BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 19

BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 20

BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 21

1. From a chord rooted on the tonic or the note a perfect 4th above, you can go anywhere. 2. Once there, though, you can only get back home again by following the progression of chord roots anti-clockwise round the circle without missing any out. In other words, each successive chord root is a perfect fifth below the previous one. BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 22

A E7 A Hang down your head, Tom Dooley. Hang down your head and cry. Hang down your head, Tom Dooley. Poor boy you re bound to die. BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 23

E7 A E B7 E On top of old Smokey, all covered in snow, I lost my true lover, through courting too slow. BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 24

The melody of every song implies what the harmony should be Tom Dooley: tonic is A major melody uses only notes in that scale On Top of Old Smokey is the same just uses more notes How do you know what s implied? Because your ears tell you. Composers frequently use more notes for their melodies than are contained in the tonic scale - using black notes on the piano Harmony will make use of different chords where the melody so dictates 25

F7 My B Wild F7 Irish B Rose, the E sweetest flower that B grows. You may F7 search every- B where but F7 none can com- B pare with my C7 Wild Irish (finally the magic II chord!) F7 Rose. My B Wild Irish Rose.. BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 26

V7 (F7)- - - - I - - ½dim V7 (F7) - - - I (B ) - - - II7 (C7) II9 (C9) II7 - V7 (F7) - II7 - V7 - - - - - I (B )... BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 27

F D7 G7 C7 F D7 G7 C7 Sweet and lovely that s what you are to me. Sugar and spice and everything nice, you re all a girl should be. BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 28

I - - I - VI7 - - - - - II7 - - - - - - - - - - - - V7 - - - - V7 - - - I - - - - dim IV7 - - - II7 - - - - - - - - V7 - - V7 BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 29

C E7 A7 D7 G7 C Five foot two Eyes of blue, but Oh, what those five foot can do. Has anybody seen my gal? BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 30

I (C)- - - - III7 - - - - - VI (A7) - - - - - - - -> II7 (D7) - - - - V7 (G7) - I (C) - ½dim V7... BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 31

Harmony will make use of different chords where the melody or the ear requires: Five Foot Two: tonic is C major melody uses G# in second bar So harmony uses chords containing those notes including accidentals: often major chords Because they are major chords we get the pull home through successive dominant 7ths Barbershop 7ths; typical, hallmark, sound 32

Similar motion: notes move in same direction Contrary motion: notes move apart Oblique motion: one note stays the same and the others move toward it or away Similar Contrary Oblique 33

Start with two notes a tritone (dim5th/aug 4th) apart highly dissonant: F and B Move each a semitone in contrary motion End up with the consonant interval of a major 3 rd, or a minor 6 th : E & C 34

Adding the binding tone increases the sense of resolution (root of the 1 st chord, 5 th of the 2 nd chord). Adding the bass notes gives a very familiar and thoroughly consonant cadence. 35

The progression of chord roots going down a perfect 5th is the strongest Up a 5th also works: IV, to the left of tonic Sometimes found as a delaying tactic on the way home, the harmony backing up one step before resuming its course The most common example is returning home from the IV chord e.g. Wild Irish Rose or Shine On Me 36

F7 B F7 B E B F7 B F7 B C7 F7 B My Wild Irish Rose, the sweetest flower that grows. You may search everywhere but none can compare with my Wild Irish Rose. My Wild Irish Rose.. BABS Harmony College 2014 August 2014 37

BABS Harmony College August 2014 38

A root move of a tritone (3 full tones = diminished 5th = augmented 4th) is a valid and a valuable move. Not really a progression though: look at two chords that are a tritone apart, C and F# say. Starting chord 5th 5th semitone semitone C G F C# B F# C# B G F By starting on either of these chords we can go to the same set of other chords. C and F# are able to perform the same harmonic function as each other. They are "equivalent" and they are opposite each other on the circle. 39

VII7 (A) is opposite to IV (E ) on the circle 40

Chord roots can also move by semitones up or down A slightly jazzy effect is created when several semitone moves are made one after the other. Downward moves are stronger than upward moves. 41

A favourite of woodshedders who will turn a IVm6 into a VII7 in a flash. F F7 Fm6 B 7 C 43

Movement up a major 3rd to the tonic (i.e. IV to I), usually in the tag, is dramatic and acceptable. 44

Go forth and make harmonic progressions Look at Dave Stevens presentation to BHS Harmony College: What Are We Trying to Preserve? www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqta40448ik Message me for a copy of this presentation Delythk@aol.com 45