Tonal harmony

History

The tonal harmony is a technique of musical writing, born in the current of the 16th century with the assertion of the tonal feeling in the music. Previously, the music primarily modal and was based on the melody. Hitherto, the counterpoint, technique of writing being attached to this modal music gave the primacy to the melody lines and their superposition. Without integrating the concept of agreement, the rules of the counterpoint defined the acceptable harmonic intervals between the various parts two to two by holding account of their melody movements. It was about a harmony known as of intervals .

The tonal harmony, it, has the role to link these principles of horizontality (the melody) with the principles of verticality (the agreements). It takes again part of the rules of the counterpoint, and brings specific enrichments there to this verticality to three sounds and more. Counterpoint, as for him, with continued to evolve/move in parallel of the harmony.

Until 1720 - 1730, the equal temperament was generally not used (except by the hoop and string instruments for which it is almost necessary). Certain modulations were not practicable because of presence of the fifth of the wolf in the nonmoderate cycle of the fifths; its site being fixed (la♭ - mi♭), it prohibited the modulations making it be in an inappropriate position in the range. The appearance of the equal temperament deeply contributed to the evolution of the tonal harmony by allowing some the application to all the modulations. The kinds contrapuntic also profited from the equal temperament and the possibilities of the modulations which it offers.

Nowadays, counterpoint and tonal harmony continue to be taught in parallel, like two disciplines with whole share and complementary. This complementarity can be illustrated by this quotation of Olivier Messiaen: Knowing that the music is a language, we will initially seek to make “ speak ” the melody. The melody is the starting point. How it remains sovereign! And whatever the complexity of our rates/rhythms and our harmonies, they will not involve it in their wake, but, on the contrary, will obey to him like trusty servants; the harmony especially will remain always the “true one”, that which exists in a latent state in the melody, is resulting from it since toujours.

Prevalence of the tonal harmony in the Western music

The tonal harmony, since the first tests of polyphony which one locates between, until its ultimate improvements of the period baroque and its multiple enrichments of the periods romantic and symphonic, is indissociable history of the Western music. It constitutes of it at the same time the base and the discussion thread. Although several authors theorized before him, Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) is generally regarded as the first to have expressed in a coherent whole conventions, the rules and the uses of the tonal harmony. Branch wants to base the harmony on the “natural” laws, in which its demonstrations are based on a purely mathematical Cartesianism. Later, after having discovered work of Joseph Saver, it will particularly put forward the particular importance of the harmonic sounds (theory of the “sound body”, under the terms of which it considers that the harmony preexists to the melody and form the quintessence of the music. The searchs for Branch, founded on its own experiment and, partially, on its intuition and propensity of its time to seek “natural” explanations to any phenomenon then supported on the experiment, are consigned in a second treaty harmonic Génération in 1737. The approach of Branch, in its preoccupation with a systematization, is not free from errors, such as the concept of “lower harmonic”, or minor triad. This approach will receive an important theoretical complement, in particular in the plan of physiology, in work of Helmholtz. The Modern music as from the 20th century, took many freedoms but never really dissociated itself completely from the tonal harmony: many type-setters of this time conceived new musical systems being defined above all by their opposition to the tonal system. Only exception, the Concrete music which, not using any “note”, does not use any harmony inevitably.

However, Olivier Messiaen itself, inventor of the modes with transpositions limited founded on atonal ranges, will affirm throughout its profitable musical production that all the ways, however tortuous are, that one tried to borrow to move away from the harmony scholastic, remain dominated by the beauty and the superiority of the triad, and particularly of the major triad. The appearance of the serialism and the concrete music at the XXe century marks the end of the strict compliance with the rules of the tonal harmony and the traditional counterpoint, but paradoxically perenniality affirms some. Paul Dukas expresses it this way: Where do we go? All was done. For these twenty last years it has seemed that the extreme limits were reached. One cannot be more clever, more refined than Ravel, more daring than Stravinski. Which will be the new formula of art? It will be necessary to turn over to the same sources, with simplicity, to find something from truly nine. Counterpoint? There, undoubtedly, the future is.

The tonal harmony out of the framework of the “traditional” music

It is necessary to bring back to right proportions what the atonal Musique represents compared to the tonal one, in order to note that the use of the elementary tonal harmony represents, in particular in the current musical production (), one crushing majority. That it is about the Musique of varieties, of the Jazz, of the film musics, the credits of television programs, the Rock, the Techno, the Rap or the Hip hop, the essence of the Western music remains dominated by the elementary tonal harmony.

It is even symptomatic to note that the nonWestern musics (in particular the Japanese Musique and the Chinese Musique), with the influence of Internet, of universalization and the synthetizers which all are granted in equal temperament, finish in their turn by adopting features and characteristics suitable for the Western traditional harmony.

Introduction to the tonal harmony

Characteristics of the tonal harmony

The tonal harmony regards the agreement as an organized structure with whole share, a synthetic unit, with its own rules of provision and sequence. Consequently, one can say that the term of harmony - preferably, without capital letter - also means “ the whole of the rules allowing the provision and the sequence of the agreements. ”

These rules do not have anything arbitrary: they result from the observations made by generations of musicians who were based - certain, without the knowledge - on the laws of the acoustic , and mainly from the decomposition Harmonique of the sounds. Concerning these rules, it is necessary always to keep at the head that, which is simply acceptable must be banished, “ when it is possible to better find ,” and that what is prohibited must be regarded as possible, “ when one cannot make differently. ”

Concept of movement

The first difficulty of the harmony, is that an agreement is the result of the combination of melody movements (principle of horizontality ) and of harmonic movements (principle of verticality ). These two movements can be regarded as the “ raw material ” of the harmony.

The two principles of harmonic movements and melody movements were not always ambivalent. With the Rebirth, it is the verticality which preceded. The baroques knew to mix the two principles. The writing of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) abounds in this direction while being at the same time contrapuntic and harmonic It is for example the case of the final choral of the 140e Cantate of Bach.

At the time of the classicism Viennese whose Mozart and Haydn is the principal representatives, the melody line will return in the middle of the writing and will be been useful by a subjugated harmonic writing. One will be able to have an idea of this process by listening to the second movement of the concerto for Clarinette of Mozart.

The melody sets of movements within the harmony are governed by the rules of the counterpoint, which tend to avoid a certain presentation of interval.

Concept of agreement

Before studying the three big classes or families of agreement, it is advisable to establish a distinction enters, on the one hand, the vertical provision of the agreements (in other words, the agreements at rest), on the other hand the sequence of the agreements (i.e. the agreements moving).

Once established the general principles of provision and sequence, it is advisable to approach the study of the three big classes of agreements:

the class of the agreements of three notes (or agreements of three sounds ), of which the real notes (or constitutive notes ), are the Fondamentale , the third and the Quinte ;
the class of the agreements of four notes (or agreements of four sounds ), whose real notes are those of an agreement of three notes, plus a seventh ;
the class of the agreements of five notes (or agreements of five sounds ), whose real notes are those of an agreement of four notes, plus a ninth .

The harmony scholastic ignores the families of agreements of more than five notes. Agreements known as of eleventh or thirteenth tonic, whose names seem to suggest agreements of six and seven notes are respectively agreements of four and five notes placed on the tonic.

The present section is thus devoted to the classified agreements without foreign notes , i.e. so that one traditionally indicates under the term of natural harmony .

Concept of foreign note

One understands by foreign Note, a note which is added or replaces a real Note of an agreement (third Fondamentale, , fifth, seventh or ninth). Let us specify that such notes are foreign with this agreement, but not necessarily foreign with the Tonalité. Any foreign note modifies the color of the primitive agreement by bringing a tension , a Dissonance generally: it must thus be regarded as a gravitational note. Normally, the note which precedes it makes function of preparation (or preparatory note ) and notes it which succeeds to him brings the resolution (or resolvent note ).

According to their characteristics, one can gather the various foreign notes in three categories:

When the foreign note momentarily replaces the constitutive notes, one deals with agreement of eleventh or thirteenth tonic, delay, appoggiatura, embroidery, Passing note, anticipation or an escaped .
When the foreign note definitively replaces the constitutive notes, one deals with agreement with faded note.
Enfin, when the foreign note is added to the constitutive notes, one deals with pedal or Accord with added note.

When a whole of simultaneous sounds cannot be analyzed like a classified agreement (with or without foreign notes), it is advisable to indicate this one under the term of aggregate . The study of the aggregates leaves obviously the framework of the tonal harmony.

The study of the classified agreements modified by various foreign notes is traditionally called artificial dissonant harmony .

Elementary and objective recommendations

The purpose of the harmony taught in the music schools and the academies, called harmony scholastic , is to form the feather , of the pupil musician.

Hearing

For the musicians, the ear is a fundamental tool. That consists as much of the capacity of listening and analysis of real sounds that of the possibility of imagining the sounds, their superpositions, their sequences and their stamps. It is the capacity to internally hear musics which are not played, with the reading of a partition, or by calling upon the memory or imagination.

Certain professors consider that a developed ear (but being able to be relative) is a prérequis being studied of the tonal harmony. Others consider on the contrary that the tonal harmony is a means of developing the ear of the musician. Thus, according to Michel Baron, professor of harmony to the Conservatory of Saguenay, The politically correct postulate according to which the harmony would be a discipline being used to develop basic hearing is about as not very serious as to regard the studies of medicine as a precondition to assimilate the courses of biology of the secondaire. While according to the Conservatory of music of Geneva, the objective of the course of harmony comprises, inter alia: Development of hearing, the reading, imagination by a work of writing looked after, which must be carried out by an at the same time theoretical step and pratique.

Description

The harmony scholastic is made up of directives, instructions, of rules, in front of being scrupulously respected by the pupil, in the goal to seek, not the absolute tender with a certain number of abstract constraints, but rather, a fundamental scheduling having to facilitate the access to the Western in its three dimensions, rhythmic, melody and harmonic tonal music.

the harmony scholastic supposes acquired the knowledge of the Solfège (in particular the general theory of the interval), as that of the ultimate musical analysis (ranges, degrees, modes, Tonalité S, armours, Transposition, etc)

The following recommendations relate to especially the voice for which are written the duties of harmony . The latter are generally planned for the four parts of a mixed vocal quartet , but one can find sometimes a number of parts different. The necessary minimum is of three parts, and there is no theoretical maximum.

Designation, wide and notation of the various voices

The extreme voices are on the one hand, more serious (the low ), on the other hand, the upper part (the Soprano in a mixed Quatuor vocal). The intermediate parts are all the other parts (precisely, the Ténor and the viola in a mixed vocal quartet).

Lastly, the notation of piano (four votes on a system with two keys: treble clef 2nd and bass clef 4th ), more economic places from there, is sometimes used. It is the case of the examples of this series of articles.

Other recommendations

It is advisable to remain as much as possible in the medium voices, and not to use the extreme notes (very acute or very serious ) only in the difficult cases. When a voice passes above the voice immediately above, it is said that there is crossing - for example, if the tenor passes above the viola. - It is preferable, at least at the beginning, not to use a crossing. The parts which one perceives more are:

initially the higher voice ;
then, the low ;
finally only, intermediate left .

It results from this phenomenon that the extreme parts must be supervised with the most vigilance. The intermediate parts, on the contrary, often profit from many licenses.

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