Harmonization Course

Lesson 1 • Reading and Writing Chord Symbols

Teaches lead-sheet and Roman-numeral notation systems side by side. Enables students to decode and produce harmonic notation in professional contexts.

Lesson 2 • Key Signatures and Scale Relationships

Maps major and minor key signatures to their diatonic scale collections. Grounds chord spelling in a key-based framework used throughout the course.

Lesson 3 • Intervals and Their Properties

Covers interval quality, size, and inversion within the chromatic scale. Establishes the perceptual and theoretical basis for all chord construction ahead.

Lesson 4 • Triads: Construction and Recognition

Introduces the four triad qualities built on scale degrees. Connects interval knowledge to chord spelling and aural identification.

Lesson 1 • Harmonic Function Categories

Defines tonic, subdominant, and dominant functions and their characteristic scale degrees. Provides the functional lens applied to every progression in later chapters.

Lesson 2 • Diatonic Progressions in Minor Keys

Adapts functional harmony to the three forms of minor and their mixed usage. Addresses the raised leading note and its effect on dominant function.

Lesson 3 • Harmonic Rhythm and Pacing

Examines how the rate of chord change shapes momentum and style. Students apply harmonic rhythm decisions to their own diatonic harmonisations.

Lesson 4 • Diatonic Progressions in Major Keys

Surveys common diatonic chord sequences and their directional logic in major. Builds a repertoire of foundational progressions students will harmonise and analyse.

Lesson 1 • Avoiding Parallel Fifths and Octaves

Explains why parallel perfect intervals undermine voice independence and how to correct them. Students diagnose and rewrite faulty progressions using approved alternatives.

Lesson 2 • Voice Leading Through Chord Inversions

Applies voice-leading principles to first- and second-inversion chords. Demonstrates how inversions enable smoother bass lines and reduce large leaps.

Lesson 3 • Four-Voice Texture Fundamentals

Establishes soprano, alto, tenor, and bass ranges and spacing conventions. Creates the structural framework for all voice-leading exercises in this chapter.

Lesson 4 • Resolving Tendency Tones

Focuses on the leading note and chordal seventh as tones requiring specific resolution. Connects tendency-tone resolution to the smooth voice leading expected in tonal writing.

Lesson 1 • Chord Selection Strategies

Presents criteria for choosing amongst chords that accommodate a given melody note. Balances functional logic, voice-leading economy, and stylistic appropriateness.

Lesson 2 • Editing and Refining a Harmonisation

Provides a systematic checklist for reviewing and improving a completed harmonisation. Reinforces all prior chapter skills through iterative self-correction practice.

Lesson 3 • Harmonising Leaps and Arpeggiation

Covers strategies for chords supporting disjunct melodic motion and arpeggiated figures. Connects leap harmonisation to inversion choice and doubling decisions.

Lesson 4 • Harmonising Stepwise Melodic Lines

Addresses the specific challenges of harmonising conjunct melodic motion smoothly. Students practise maintaining functional direction whilst avoiding parallel errors.

Lesson 1 • Modal Mixture and Borrowed Chords

Introduces chords borrowed from the parallel mode and their expressive darkening or brightening effect. Builds the chromatic vocabulary that underpins later secondary-function work.

Lesson 2 • Integrating Chromaticism Into Harmonisations

Applies borrowed and secondary chords to melody harmonisation tasks from Chapter 4. Students produce harmonisations that blend diatonic and chromatic resources coherently.

Lesson 3 • Secondary Dominant Chords

Explains how any major or minor diatonic chord can be temporarily tonicised with its own dominant. Students spell and resolve V/x chords in multiple keys.

Lesson 4 • Secondary Leading-Note Chords

Extends tonicisation to diminished seventh chords functioning as secondary leading-note harmonies. Addresses their enharmonic flexibility and resolution options.

Lesson 1 • Modulating to Closely Related Keys

Focuses on modulations to keys sharing most diatonic content, using pivot chords efficiently. Builds confidence before tackling distant-key modulations.

Lesson 2 • Modulating to Distant Keys

Addresses modulations requiring chromatic pivots or sequential motion to reach remote tonal centres. Expands students' tonal range for advanced harmonisation projects.

Lesson 3 • Types of Modulation

Surveys pivot-chord, direct, chromatic, and phrase modulation techniques and their expressive effects. Establishes a taxonomy students apply when analysing and composing key changes.

Lesson 4 • Analysing Modulations in Context

Trains students to locate and label modulations in score excerpts using analytical notation. Reinforces modulation theory through applied score study.

Lesson 1 • Altered Dominant Chords

Examines raised and lowered fifth and ninth alterations applied to the dominant seventh. Connects altered dominants to jazz and late-Romantic harmonic practice.

Lesson 2 • Augmented Sixth Chords

Covers Italian, French, and German augmented sixth chord types, their construction, and their drive to the dominant. Addresses the German sixth's enharmonic relationship to V7.

Lesson 3 • Common-Tone Diminished Seventh Chords

Explains the common-tone diminished seventh as a neighbour or passing chord embellishing a stable harmony. Distinguishes it from secondary leading-note function.

Lesson 4 • The Neapolitan Chord

Introduces the flat-II chord, its spelling, typical position, and resolution to the dominant. Expands the chromatic palette with a distinctive pre-dominant colour.

Lesson 1 • Harmonising Extended Musical Forms

Applies tonal planning and modulation skills to multi-section forms such as binary, ternary, and through-composed structures. Addresses large-scale harmonic coherence.

Lesson 2 • Style-Specific Harmonisation Approaches

Compares harmonic conventions across classical, jazz, pop, and choral styles. Students adapt their technique to match the idiomatic expectations of each style.

Lesson 3 • Reharmonisation Strategies

Teaches techniques for replacing original chords with richer or more surprising alternatives. Develops creative flexibility beyond rule-based harmonisation.

Lesson 4 • Notation, Formatting, and Submission Standards

Covers professional notation conventions for submitting harmonisation scores and lead sheets. Ensures students produce clean, readable deliverables meeting industry expectations.