ESSENTIAL 7: HARMONIZING MELODIES

MELODIZING HARMONIES

MELODY AND HARMONY

(MATCHING PRIMARY CHORDS WITH MELODY)

Now that we have covered both musical notation of pitch and rhythm, and labels for harmony, let’s talk about combining harmony and melody.

There are harmonic implications to every melody, and there are melodic options for every harmony. So we are going to talk about how to harmonize a melody, and then how to melodize a harmony. For this course, we are only going to use the three primary chords, as we sometimes call the 1,4 and 5 in a major key.

We can put this into the key of C in order to see it on a keyboard, or we can put it on a musical staff. But for our purposes, we will be using only numbers. So keep this in mind: when we talk about chord numbers, we use 1 4 or 5. When we talk about scale degree (pitch class) numbers, we put a carat over the top of the number. That’s hard to type, but easy to write by hand.

Here goes: In any given key, the 1 chord is made up of pitches 1,3,5. The 4 chord has 4,6,1. And the 5 chord has 5,7,2. Notice that the 1 chord shares scale degree 1 with 4, and shares scale degree 5 with chord 5. So the 1 chord has only scale degree 3 unique to itself, while the 4 and 5 chords have two notes uniquely theirs—the 4 chord has 4 and 6, and the 5 chord has 7 and 2.

Now if we re-order those pitches and chords so that we start with a pitch, we see that scale degree 1 could fit with a 1 chord or a 4 chord. 2 goes with a 5. 3 with only 1. 4 with 4. 5 with 1 or 5. 6 with 4. 7 with 5. And that’s all the scales degrees there are. So there is at least one option of a harmony for each melodic note.

Most of us write music intuitively, or try to find harmonies by trial and error. But this is where music theory becomes helpful, because you can actually predict what chord would go best with what tune pitches. I like to think of it as “informed creativity” rather than trial and error; or you might say we are now writing with “educated intuition”. Let’s try it out:

Let’s say that you heard the tune for “Jesus Loves Me” for the first time, and you were trying to accompany yourself. How would you harmonize that melody? The tune starts 5332355.6686655. 

Let’s think it out logically:

5 would work with a 1 chord or a 5 chord, right? It comes on a downbeat, right? Almost no songs beginning on a downbeat open with a 5 chord, so we’re leaning toward a 1 chord. But let’s see if there are any other clues to guide our harmonic choices. The next two pitches are 33. And all of the notes are relatively fast. So is there a single chord that would be the best choice for both pitch 5 and pitch 3? Of course! Just the 1. So in our first draft we are saying 533/1.

The next pitch is 2, which goes with a 5 chord. It sure goes by quickly, so we might want to just stay with a 1 chord. But for the sake of experimentation, let’s go ahead and be particular. 2/5.

Then we are right back to 355. Which implies that we are back to a 1 chord. So, again, maybe we just preserve a 1 chord through the whole gesture, and maybe we go ahead with the brief 5 chord.

Next gesture: 66866 seems fit only for a 4 chord, since they all fit that. And it finishes with 55. Which could be accompanied by either a 5 or a 1. Right now, we’re pretending that this is the whole song, so we will finished with a 1. Now let’s listen to our educated guess, and we’ll see that what works on paper also works in the ear. Amazing!

One more example: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (ABC), as Mozart set it.

1155665.4433221.

1….4..1..4..1….5….1

Now let’s reverse the process: We have a chord progression and need to create a melody that will be fitting and appropriate. We’ll say that the chords are 4 beats each, and we might write them like this:

1 . . . |4 . . . |5 . . . |1 . . . 

There are many more options, but I’ll just talk you through the logic of one of a nearly-infinite number: The most common melodic pattern is to start on 3. So using only chord tones, I’m going to choose quarter note values and say 3135. With the 4 chord I will choose 6.4. And then with the 5 I’ll use the same pattern as I used on the 1 chord, which would make it 7572. And we’ll go ahead and finish out with 1.

And for fun and understanding, we’ll try to write a different melody to the same chords:

1.1.1.35|4.4.4.68|7.7.2.5.|1.531..

There it is! The mystical interaction of melody and harmony. Using either as a starting point, we can predict what the other component might best sound like. Then, after have tried it out, we can add our own creative experiment that maybe doesn’t even make sense in theory. But first we learn the rules, then we learn how to break them.

The notes go 

Let’s take a look at four different melodies that we can use as examples:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (ABC), as Mozart set it.

Jesus Loves Me (5 pattern)

Joy to the World (8 pattern)

Mary Had a Little Lamb (3 pattern)

Amazing Grace or All Hail the Power (hypo 3 pattern)

Away in a Manger (hypo 5 pattern) or 12 days of christmas

The First Noel 

Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee (3 pattern)

The first pitch is ultimately a random choice. From there, you make value judgments. How long does the pitch last, what is the vertical context, what are dynamics and articulations, and especially, what pitch comes next? Three options: up, down, repeat. Just make a choice.

After that second pitch, you now have an additional choice. Now the choice becomes “new” “old” or “repeat.” If you decide “new” your choice is pretty much the same as before: up or down, long or short, etc. Don’t forget that “silence” is another option.

Now you have three notes in your tune. Again, your options change a bit again as you choose the next. Now you have enough material to repeat or to sequence, as well as the option to create new. The farther you get into your tune, the more it is imperative that you start to return to familiar material, and make your modifications from there.

Musical time moves forward with “new” and stays the same with “repeat.”

After you have followed your musical intuition to finish a phrase, now you are dealing with larger pieces of material, but making the same 3 choices: repeat, sequence or new. Now with two phrases you likely have a period, and you need to reach a stopping place to rest for a moment. Then you continue on, having reached something of a halfway point, and you finish it out with the same 3 choices.

At some point, some material needs to be repeated, or you feel lost in the forest rather than taking a safe hike through the park. Especially if you want people to sing along, then you must be predictable and do the things that are expected. But too much following the rules leads to a satisfying melody that “works,” but does not draw interest. So, every tune needs to have at least one “risk” in it, where you don’t follow the expected rules; that risk likely serves as your identifier, and possibly becomes your “hook” as well.