Any good book/website about harmony?

[Nahuel]

I'm actually in the process of improving my music theory knowledge, I have all I need about scales and chords but I only found really basic stuff about harmony, I'd like to find a book/website that explain in details the laws of harmony (I know there's a lot) for classical music and jazz. any advice?

[Lrmusic]

Heinrech Schenker - Harmony
Mark Levine - Jazz Theory Book (if you are just starting to learn advanced music theory, this one alone will keep you busy for months).

[Nahuel]

looks like a good soft, I guess I could learn with it but it looks like something that does the job for you.

I'd rather find something (book/website/soft) that will explain the laws of harmony in a theoric way.

I got the basics, I know how to draw the circle of fifth, I know a few rules but I'm looking for something that goes really in depth about harmony.

The old school stuff but explained in a modern and clear way.

edit: thanks Lmusic

[phillysoulman]

Originally Posted by lpuma

looks like a good soft, I guess I could learn with it but it looks like something that does the job for you.

I'd rather find something (book/website/soft) that will explain the laws of harmony in a theoric way.

I got the basics, I know how to draw the circle of fifth, I know a few rules but I'm looking for something that goes really in depth about harmony.

The old school stuff but explained in a modern and clear way.

edit: thanks Lmusic

If you can draw a circle of fifths,then why cant you apply it in real time...in every key.
Its easy.

[Nahuel]

Originally Posted by phillysoulman

If you can draw a circle of fifths,then why cant you apply it in real time...in every key.
Its easy.

ok thanks, but yea, I can draw it cause I learned how to but

1 I dont know it by heart (I got to draw my circle, write my C's, my A's, then I know it's FCGDAEB)

2 I dont really know how to use it properlly, I mean I know I can switch to the next key (inside/outside/left/right) but there's much more to it I beleive.

plus there's a lot more laws from what I understood, like for example you got to avoid having all your tones going in the same direction for the next chord and lots of stuff like that... I also know that in fact you can do whatever but for now I want to study the classic rules for a lil while, personal pleasure.

I'll get that Jazz Theory Book, looks like a good one.

thanks anyway.

[phillysoulman]

Originally Posted by lpuma

ok thanks, but yea, I can draw it cause I learned how to but

1 I dont know it by heart (I got to draw my circle, write my C's, my A's, then I know it's FCGDAEB)

2 I dont really know how to use it properlly, I mean I know I can switch to the next key (inside/outside/left/right) but there's much more to it I beleive.

plus there's a lot more laws from what I understood, like for example you got to avoid having all your tones going in the same direction for the next chord and lots of stuff like that... I also know that in fact you can do whatever but for now I want to study the classic rules for a lil while, personal pleasure.

I'll get that Jazz Theory Book, looks like a good one.

thanks anyway.

Do you play keys of guitar?

[Lrmusic]

Originally Posted by lpuma

like for example you got to avoid having all your tones going in the same direction for the next chord and lots of stuff like that...

There's nothing wrong with this, you probably read (avoid parallel fifths and parallel octaves w/ traditional 4 part writing).

[Synthy08]

Originally Posted by Lrmusic

There's nothing wrong with this, you probably read (avoid parallel fifths and parallel octaves w/ traditional 4 part writing).

Wow i was in band and orchestra and i have no idea wat the f*ck u guys are talking about..... what genre are you creating for?

[Lrmusic]

Originally Posted by Synthy08

Wow i was in band and orchestra and i have no idea wat the f*ck u guys are talking about..... what genre are you creating for?

Idk, he just wants to sharpen up his music theory knowledge. However, IMO, music theory is a means of communicating music, not creating it. From personal experience, it doesn't automatically make you good at producing music...but makes a lot of things easier.

[Nahuel]

I know a lil bass guitar (my first instrument) but I'm focussing on keys actually.

Nah it's just that music theory seem a bit boring but once you try to go deeper than a couple of chord and scales you realise that stuff looks like super interesting in fact.

[ElMosca]

Originally Posted by lpuma

I'm actually in the process of improving my music theory knowledge, I have all I need about scales and chords but I only found really basic stuff about harmony, I'd like to find a book/website that explain in details the laws of harmony (I know there's a lot) for classical music and jazz. any advice?

My standard advice, is to get The Jazz Handbook, (a free download) from the Aebersold website and The Real Book (start with volume 1), from Hal Leonard, to practice on actual songs.

The theory will make much more sense when you see it applied to actual music.

Cheers,
++aldo

[Nahuel]

hey! thank you so much!

[Reggmail]

Originally Posted by lpuma

I'm actually in the process of improving my music theory knowledge, I have all I need about scales and chords but I only found really basic stuff about harmony, I'd like to find a book/website that explain in details the laws of harmony (I know there's a lot) for classical music and jazz. any advice?

Hello Brotha lpuma, here is a video series on harmony / music theory and keyboard, very good and free.
Also check out the related video's as well.
Good learning.

YouTube - bassicprincipal's Channel bassicprincipal's Channel








http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjH4SFqNKtk&feature=related Circle of Fifths

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg1YlV9Xhr4&feature=related Making Chords

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnvMxxgYlgo&feature=related 7 important piano chords

Hope this helps
& blessings.

[bebopxx]

Walter Pistons' Harmony is probably one of the best books on the basic fundamentals & advanced theories of harmony

Many well known music colleges use this book

[bigblessin]

the best way to learn harmony is to go on youtube and learn how to play popular songs. They have alot of guys that will show you the chords. You said you know about chords and scales already, so use that to apply your knowledge. Learning harmony through books only will help you a little. Just because you learn music theory does not mean you can apply it creativly.

[Nahuel]

Hey thanks for all that great stuff!

Yes Bigblessing but actually I spent years making music only by ear and wasnt even trying to use the few things I knew about music theory... I'm not in a quest for creativity, I'm really interested in learning the music math for the heck of it.

[Micah Tolentino]

i do 5 part harmony everyday as part of my living. Although Im not the main arranger I can tell you this. If you are looking for vocal harmony the best thing to is transcribe musical pieces that you like. Meaning follow each harmony one at a time until you get it all the parts. Disect it into sections. You said you know chords so after you've learned the parts, write down the chords they form You will then be able to see the "movement" of the harmony and counterpoint, etc. Theory -wise you can read the book all you want and it will help, but really the most important part is self study and applying it to the music that you like.

[Nahuel]

Originally Posted by Micah Tolentino

i do 5 part harmony everyday as part of my living. Although Im not the main arranger I can tell you this. If you are looking for vocal harmony the best thing to is transcribe musical pieces that you like. Meaning follow each harmony one at a time until you get it all the parts. Disect it into sections. You said you know chords so after you've learned the parts, write down the chords they form You will then be able to see the "movement" of the harmony and counterpoint, etc. Theory -wise you can read the book all you want and it will help, but really the most important part is self study and applying it to the music that you like.

I said "a few chords" lol, but yea, thanks for the exercise! for now I need a better understanding of the terminology/math, for example I dont know the exact meaning of counterpoint (even if I guess it's realated to counter melodies or have something to do with rhythm)... you see I have a long way to go.

Edit: been watching some of these vids: the first dude (Milton) is very interesting, the last dude is trying to sell his "reference manual" beware, lol.

[bgrotto]

Berklee College of Music here in Boston has some easy-to-read, well-written books on harmony that they use as texts for their classes. I'd see if you can't order some of them online.

In particular, you could check Boston Craigslist for used texts from students from the previous semester, though shipping overseas might negate the benefit of a cheaper book.

EDIT: I'd also recommend you track down a "Fake Book" (sometimes they're also called "Real Book"), which is a book of photocopied jazz charts that you can study and play to, which will help you train your ear as well as help you begin to notice harmonic patterns (ii V I turnarounds, for example).

[Nahuel]

thanks for the advice!

[Delacroix340]

Northern Sounds has a forum up where they released 24 lessons on composition.

Garritan Libraries-Principles of Orchestration On-line - northernsounds.com

lessons 11-18 are about Harmony

Its really all about Orchestral composition so its sub sectioned like woodwind or brass but you should be able to find some cool stuff out that you can use

[IM WHO YOU THINK]

Originally Posted by lpuma

I'm actually in the process of improving my music theory knowledge, I have all I need about scales and chords but I only found really basic stuff about harmony, I'd like to find a book/website that explain in details the laws of harmony (I know there's a lot) for classical music and jazz. any advice?

I learned about this book on GS and I swear everyone here should have it

The Pop Piano Book by Mark Harrison

[RyanC]

Originally Posted by Micah Tolentino

i do 5 part harmony everyday as part of my living. Although Im not the main arranger I can tell you this. If you are looking for vocal harmony the best thing to is transcribe musical pieces that you like. Meaning follow each harmony one at a time until you get it all the parts. Disect it into sections. You said you know chords so after you've learned the parts, write down the chords they form You will then be able to see the "movement" of the harmony and counterpoint, etc. Theory -wise you can read the book all you want and it will help, but really the most important part is self study and applying it to the music that you like.

+1000000000000000000000

There is no substitute for learning the language of music, and I don't mean the words in English to describe it, but the language itself.

[Nahuel]

Originally Posted by RyanC

There is no substitute for learning the language of music, and I don't mean the words in English to describe it, but the language itself.

I'm sorry but chords scales and harmony are not words but grammar, nothing wrong with reading books to improve your writing skills but I dont see how studying grammar can be considered a substitute...

Thanks Delacroix340 and IM WHO YOU THINK for the links.

[RyanC]

Hey you can see it how you want. To me the closest equivalent would be song=story, section=chapter, phrase=sentence, rhythm=cadence, chord/harmonic structure=word, and note=letter. Grammer would be like for jazz you would use it's typical idiomatic concepts; shifting key centers, repeated chorus, modal solo structure. For classical you would use those ones, Sonata form, mostly triadic structure, etc. Just like if you wanted to write like Shakespeare you would use the appropriate grammer for that, vs Langston Hughes. But you can see it however you want.

All I'm saying is I wouldn't expect to learn conversational Japanese from a book, without trying to actually converse in Japanese. . .But whatever works, I did plenty of the book route and wish I would have dropped out of music school sooner and spent more time learning by ear (which is what I practice now), but YMMV. . .

[Nahuel]

lol thing is I dropped from school like.... soon.

So yea you might be right about words and grammar but in my ignorance I classify shifting key centers or triadic structure with harmony or at least as being part of music theory and been aproaching those concepts my way in the last few days. So yea I dont see the interest in trying to analyse something lost in the dark attempting to guess the basic rules when I can have these explained before. I'm my own teacher, have goals and I'm making good progress fast, my way. This arguing is totally useless for me.

[D.L]

Can someone give examples of different harmonies?

Im kind of confused as to what we are talking about.

[RTR]

All I do is play the chord on my guitar and pick witch note out of the chord I want to use as the harmony...I must suck

[Nahuel]

Originally Posted by D.L

Can someone give examples of different harmonies?

Im kind of confused as to what we are talking about.

basicaly, from what I understood, harmony are the rules used to build chords and chord progressions, depending on the style/instruments you can have additional rules.

[RyanC]

Strictly speaking harmony is any two or more different notes playing simultaneously. These days people mostly mean vocal harmony but harmonic structure and chord progression are pretty much the same thing.

Hey I'm not trying to pick an argument here at all, and when he's talking about transcribing it, I don't personally think you need to write it down. I think it's better if you don't. The point of the exercise to me is to learn those sounds as sounds, instead of concepts (or worse. . . rules).

The book can definitely give you a head start, but it can also be just as much of a setback if it prevents someone from learning by experience (by ear for music). Imagine someone getting a book on the D game and thinking they are ready to run the block. I'm not saying anyone is going to do that, just that IMO anyone would do well to spend 50-100 times more time doing it by ear, then they spend reading about it.

But everyone has to find their own path. . .I've read most of the books here, and they are all good, just saying that there is no substitute for learning music as well, music. And after all the books I've read, I find myself going back and doing it that way anyway. That's just my experience though, not trying to pick a fight at all, just saying that I've been down both roads and IME it can work to have street smarts without book smarts but not so much the other way around (of course both is even better. . . ).