Techniques for Changing the Harmony...

[diijay]

Hi guys, let's say you have a melody, you know the key and everything.

And you wanna create 5 diferent harmonies for it.

What your approach to create harmonies for a melody?

[sammy24]

For starters, you need to decide how often the harmony is going to change. As an extreme, you can have every melody note have a new chord. More typically, the harmony changes like once per measure, or twice per measure. This complicates things, because more than one note is being harmonized with the same harmony. So you have to figure out which melody notes are the main notes you want to harmonize, and then make sure the harmony fits with all of the notes that it is being played over. (Understanding passing tones, neighbor tones is very helpful here.)

Once you've found the important tones, one technique you can use is to think of each melody note as the root, 3rd, or 5th of any triad. So for example, the note C is in 6 different major or minor triads-- C, Cmin, Ab, Amin, F, and Fmin. Working this way may lead to some undesirable results, because not all of those choices will be diatonic to the key you're working in. But that may sound great. Often, 2 or 3 of those choices will be in the key. So you can make your decision based on whether you want the chord to sound like it's diatonic, or to be out of the key.

So----If you have the following important tones, in the key of C: E, A, F, D, C. And let's say we're going to choose a different chord for each important tone. Here are some possibilities, off the top of my head:
1)C major (E is the 3rd), F major (A is the 3rd), Bb major (F is the 5th), G major (D is the 5th), C major (C is the root). Notice in this example that Bb is the only chord "out of the key". Won't sound too crazy, though.

2) Emin (E is the root), Dmin (A is the 5th), C (F is the 5th), G/B which is G major with B, the 3rd, in the bass (D is the 5th), and finally Amin (C is the 3rd. This example has a descending bass line from E down to A.

3)Amin (E is the 5th), Dmin (A is the 5th), Bbmin (F is the 5th), Gmin (D is the 5th), and Amin (C is the 3rd). The Bbmin and Gmin are not diatonic to C major or Amin. Those chords will make it sound Phrygian.


So obviously there are millions of other possibilities. Melody notes do not always have to be root, 3rd, or 5th. The harmony can be 4-part, 5-part, or up to 7-part chords. You can use sus4 chords, sus2 chords, add9, diminished, augmented (at your own risk ), modal chords. You can hold one chord over many melody notes, or you can switch harmony while you're holding a melody note. And obviously a lot has to do with the style you're playing in. Hope this helps a bit.

[UncleAge]

Great reply Sam, I'm going to put a little of that into practice.

To the OP: My usual approach is to play that melody (regardless of the instrument played) and hum (oooh, aaah, whatever feels right) the harmonies. If I think I've got a portion of it right then I record that vocal mess and layer another. Now, I've got a melody, and two badly sung drone harmonies in the background. By this point I've got a pretty good idea how to sketch out the rest and so I head over to the keyboard to work out the details. For some reason I'm better able to place tension where I think it should be doing it this way. And the obvious drifts in the poorly sung harmonies tend to force me into taking a clinical approach at finding a solution.

Simplistic approach I know, but it tends to work for me.

[diijay]

wow what a reply, thanks.

Can you tell me more about modal chords?

How to use them and some examples?

Thanks.

[jancivil]

do not assume that melody notes have to be any part of a certain chord. that's no way to proceed.

if you have a melody already and are thinking of chords, it's like you have a body that you can go putting nicely cut and colorful clothes on.

if you proceed according to a limitation such as 'the chords must all go under the tune so as to make a chord', you're fulfilling the requirements of a puzzle instead of thinking artistically/musically. Theory is using you in this case.

I persoally don't often seek chords... I work from a melodic basis and if I want more 'vertical' or 'harmonic' action than a melody over a drone or melody/rhythm I write more than one part, so what happens 'harmonically' is governed by melodic considerations and 'how fantastic do these combos of lines sound when they coincide'. It's one way to avoid being boxed in by an extraneous idea (eg., 'what chord tones does that melody generate?'). Put the horse before the cart and not the other way round.

Have a look at something such as Barber's Adagio for Strings and try to analyze it for chords... Fantastic harmonies, but 'what chord' isn't really it.

Not that you have to follow that... Just know that a lot of the time the melody doesn't 'land' on a chord but flows over it. Search terms: suspension, appogiatura, escape tones...
(NB: these are terms invented after analyses after the fact of some music that worked and not a how-to anything.)

[shaymon]

Great replies guys.

I'm trying to get out of the chord progressions and harmonies that generally come to me naturally and I think your above advice should help that out a bit too.

[jancivil]

wow what a reply, thanks.

Can you tell me more about modal chords?

How to use them and some examples?

Thanks.

I would advise to not get too distracted by that phrase. The mechanical approach that poster described is probably sound as a way to approach a trial-and-error from a basis of more information... but 'modal chords' is an oxymoron to begin with.

If you apply chords to modes, you will be doing the same thing in theory as fitting chords to any other set of tones, only less so in practice because you'll ruin the mode with some chords, they'll take it to the major mode on the same set. EG: G7 on D dorian, in general avoid it, *functions* to C major.
The tonic of any 'mode on D' = D, period/full stop.

A modal player such as Frank Zappa likes to stick to one or two chords, like a drone, in a solo. 'Modal jazz' came into being as a way to get away from 'tea for two' changes-based music.

Modal usage in actuality, in the world, perhaps since antiquity, predates chordal usage. But there are some otherwise astute people who'll say (simplistic eg): 'use d dorian over the ii chord in C', which is bullshit. You're still in C major.

IE: once you pretty much know what chords are useful in diatonic melodic contexts, you'll be more prepared to follow that.

[xoxos]

go for a bike ride or a walk, if it's rhythmic. or do something else for six months or a few years and let it bounce around.

[sammy24]

I was referring to voicings that define modes, so whatever words you use to describe it, it really means the same thing. I am not talking about building tertian chords off of the degrees of a mode, but rather building many kinds of voicings whose notes define a specific mode. These voicings are always built off of the tonic-- what makes them special is that the particular notes used actually define a specific mode, meaning they contain the color tones that are unique to each mode, and thereby define the entire scale without playing all 7 notes of the scale. For every mode, there are countless ways to actually voice these "chords". To me, the word chord just means more than two notes being played at the same time; it does not imply that the harmony is based upon the major/minor system. But I mean, this is just terminology. In some circles, these "chords" are notated as the scales that they actually are, but very often they are notated as chords, as in many fakebooks.(In other words, they are really trying to tell you that there is a certain mode in effect right now, but you need to know a whole lot of chord symbols to instantly interpret which mode they mean.) The fact that there is no consensus on what names to use seems to add a lot of confusion. (These voicings often look like slash chords, have all kinds of alterations, etc.)

This is an approach used very commonly in modern jazz, and I personally know some really outstanding musicians who play and write in this style.

In response to jancivil's reply to the OP-- your approach seems to be quite a sophisticated response to the question being asked. Often, a so-called trial and error approach can help people learn to hear and understand their harmonic choices, and eventually as they expand their musical horizons they will begin to perceive music as the different lines it is made up of, as you describe. But I doubt anyone would be able to apply such an approach simply by reading a paragraph about it; to be successful at that kind of approach, you might actually have to know what you are doing . Harmony is a very complex subject, so it's best to just start somewhere. Understanding all kind of auxiliary tones is defintely helpful, as you mention. I think for most people, thinking in terms of chords helps organize the music somewhat, and only later can they begin to appreciate the linearity of music more fully. I know that's how the progression has worked for me, at leasr, and it's still a work in progress.

[seacouch]

There are many approaches to harmonizing a melody, but I usually find it handy to think about scales rather than chords. As others have pointed out, your melody notes don't need to be chord tones, but it can be helpful to consider them as derived from a scale. The differences between scales can result in entirely different chords, cadences and progressions, or merely passing tones within otherwise static harmonies, etc.
You'll find a lot of various definitions for the term "modal chords", but what it usually means in practice is a kind of cadence that defines or emphasizes the characteristic sound of a scale or mode. For instance, the characteristic "Dorian mode" sound is a minor scale with a natural (Major) 6th and 2nd, as opposed to an "Aeolian mode" sound which has the flat 6, or "Phrygian", with flat 6 and flat 2, etc. So a Dorian modal sound would be a cadence with two or more chords that emphasize that minor w/natural six sound. An Aeolian modal cadence would emphasize the flat 6, and so on.

[sammy24]

I agree with the last post, but differ in one regard; it does not have to be a cadence with two or more chords defining each mode. It can just be one chord, and the voicing itself defines that scale. Often in modal jazz, every "chord" is a new scale. If you want a more obvious sound, you can stay on each mode for a while, and define it in a really clear manner, but this is not necessary. Often the inner voices are moving back and forth for the sake of movement, etc. Like the last post says, there are many many ways of harmonizing melodies. Start with diatonic; learn 3 and 4 part diatonic chords in major and minor, and from there you can slowly try to progress. It doesn't make sense to start out using wayne shorter-type harmony.

One thing I'd like to add-- music is definitely about the impressions and emotions. In order to be able to harmonize effectively within a harmonic style, you have to be aware of all your possibilities, and how they actually sound. Then you can just choose the harmony that your ear prefers in the context of the music. This is easier said than done, but my point is, that is the goal; therefore it makes sense to spend a lot of time trying to absorb the sounds of a specific harmonic style. No one can effectively harmonize a melody within a style before their ear really understands the choices it is making.

[seacouch]

I agree with the last post, but differ in one regard; it does not have to be a cadence with two or more chords defining each mode. It can just be one chord, and the voicing itself defines that scale. Often in modal jazz, every "chord" is a new scale. If you want a more obvious sound, you can stay on each mode for a while, and define it in a really clear manner, but this is not necessary.

Good points. Just to clarify; the reason I like to think of the modal thing as cadential (two or more chords), is because then the individual chords can be normal, modally ambiguous, multi-purpose triads and 7th chords, etc. So for example, cycling between Dmi and Emi, or Dmi7 to CMa7 would be D dorian cadences, Dmi to EbMa would be D Phrygian, Dmi to Emib5, or Dmi7 to C7 would be Aeolian, etc. Any of those chords can serve as "pivot chords" into other modes, scales, keys, or whatever.

[sammy24]

that is a good point as well Also, a lot depends on speed of the harmonic changes, i think, in that the longer each scale/chord is held, the more variation is necessary so it does not remain static. So the bass often plays an ostinato, and the inner tones on the piano move, etc. But at faster tempos and a fast harmonic rhythm, there's no time for that. Also, the longer these modal scales' sounds are in effect, the more the listener perceives them as a so-called modality (the characteristic "sound" of the particular mode) rather than a sonority, or the shape and effect of the voicing (since there isn't enough time to truly establish the mode). So any "cadence" would tend to have a more "obvious" effect in terms of establishing the mode, meaning it makes it a bit easier to hear and perceive the particular mode.

[sammy24]

One more point-- methods such as Berklee that discuss using D Dorian mode over a II chord in C do not mean to use the term Dorian in its modal sense (and they do make this clear in their texts). It is simply a quick way to understand and visualize the organization of tones in relation to the root. So certainly all of the notes will sound in relation to C, which is still the tonic. But by memorizing the "dorian" scale for II chords, you gain the ability to be aware of two things at once-- 1)the relationship of any note you play to the tonic C, as well as 2) the relationship of any note you play to the current chord.

So this way you'll know that G is the 11th of the II chord, while it remains a 5th above the real tonic of C. When dealing with harmony, voicings, etc. this is pretty important. And melodically it's also important. There's no doubt that G sounds different over a II chord than it does over a I chord. And a large part of that (or maybe all of it) is the fact that it's the 11th of the chord. If you only think C major, you're still faced with the same problem of relating any tones you play to the current chord. The note F will have great dissonance if held against the IIImin7 chord in C, or Emin7. This is because it is a minor 9th above the root. The same note will sound great over a IImin7, being the consonant minor 3rd of the chord and defining the chord as minor. Thinking modal scales in a tonal context helps these problems, and also helps you learn to visualize the scales quickly. Point is, take it or leave it, but if you are a good musician chances are you have found your own way of dealing with these "problems" that will lead to the same result.