Upp
Tp Copyright 1941 ;
Revised edition, copyright 1948, by W. W. Norton & Co, Inc
First published by Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1950
Reistued April, 1959
Musical Illustrations drawn by
MARIO GARMOSINO
LOWE AND BRYDONE (PRINTERS) LTD
CONTENTS
TNTRODUCTION
J 1. SCALES AND INTERVALS
J TRIaDs
\3. HARMONIC PROGRESSION
4.
21,
22,
eh
TONALITY AND MODALITY
HARMONIC RHYTHM
THE HARMONIC STRUCTURE OF THE PHRASE
HARMONIZATION OF A GIVEN PART
MODULATION
CHORDS OF THE SIXTH—THE FIGURED BASS
NONHARMONIC TONES
THE SIX-FOUR CHORD
CADENCES
THE DOMINANT SE’
SECONDARY DOMINANTS
IRREGULAR RESOLUTIONS
THE DIMINISHED SEVENTH CHORD
THE INCOMPLETE MAJOR NINTH
THE COMPLETE DOMINANT NINTH
THE SEQUENCE
NONDOMINANT HARMONY—SEVENTH CHORDS
NINTH, ELEVENTH, AND THIRTEENTH CHORDS
THE RAISED SUPERTONIC AND SUBMEDIANT
NTH CHORD
150
200
212
225
239
255 BY THE SAME AUTHOR:
COUNTERPOINT
«<4 most admirable book”—Eric Blom (Observer) #
A study of music in which every example comes from a fine score
and sends the reader to it. No wonder it has been hailed by those
wtho wish that such a book had been available in our young days.
May it be widely read" —The Music Teacher
ORCHESTRATION
“{ can say without the slightest doubt that the main part of the
book is very fine indeed and far and away better than anything T
hhave seen before” —Sir Adrian Boult
<
=
avoided
THE TRITONE
cites! of the augmented fourth is called the tritone, ice.,
three "© whole-tones. [t has a peculiar kind of sound and it was looked
a With disfavor in the contrapuntal era, when it was referred
88 diabolus in musica. The roughness of its effect was softened 26 HARMONY
or avoided with consistent skill. In the period of common harmonic
practice there seems to be but one form of the tritone thar was
hearly always shunned by composers. This is in the progression
V_IV in root position. The leading-tone in V and the bass of IV
are in relation of tritone, and here the term “cross-relation,” or
“false relation,” is used to express the relationship between two suc-
cessive tones which do not occur melodically in the same voice.
The false relation of the tritone is easily heard in V-IV when the
Jeading-tone is in the soprano voice, proceeding to the tonic, but is
constantly used when the leading-tone is in either alto or tenor.
EX. 47
=
o
2
{citone avoided —_aceepted
OVERLAPPING VOICES
When two voices move upwards in similar motion, the lower
voice is not usually allowed to move to a position higher than that
just left by the upper voice. This avoids ambiguity ro the ear, which
Inighe follow an apparent melodie progression between the two
voices. The corresponding rule holds for descending movement.
Ex. 48
In writing exercises in four parts, using two staves, the tenor
should be written on the lower staff with the bass, so that the four
Voices can be readily seen as lines. It is also an aid to clarity to adopt
the practice of pointing the stems of the soprano and tenor parts up,
and those of alto and bass down.
"At least two versions should be made of the exercises which call
for a considerable number of chords. The first version should fol-
low closely the steps outlined under the heading of voice leading,
even though the result is as poor melodically as in Ex. 33. This will
help to familiarize the student with the principles of connection of
HARMONIC PROGRESSION 27
triads and will then serve as a basis for the departures necessary to
obtain a better soprano line.
These departures need not be numerous or radical.
‘EX. 49
@ydd dit
a. Starting with the third in the soprano raises the voices to a
middle position in their range and gives them a little more space in
which to move.
b. The doubling of the third in III avoids the repetiti
petition of the
note A on Pe first beats of two successive measures. The three
upper voices then move down, treating the III-V] i
ore g the I progression as
. The chord VI has its third doubled, as always it
: LVI ys in the progres-
eet This gives a choice of repeating the common vone F
in either tenor or soprano, as well as offering an opportunity of
changing from close to open position. °
The pallowing isa third version of the same series of triads. The
a the basic procedure should be analyzed by the
EX. 50 d
d42d4|d4ddi dae],
EXERCISES.
1. Write, in four i
Ce parts, three different arrangements of
fp tlowing harmonic progressions: ° of each of 28 HARMONY
V-V1 in E minor
IV-V in D major
I-VI in F major
VI-V in C major
V-lin A minor
IL-V in E-flat minor
. VI-IV in B-flat major
I-V in F-sharp major
| TI-VI in C-sharp minor
V-VI in D-flat major / . | .
2. Write two versions of cach of the following series of wads
in root position, The first version should comply srictly ich he
stated rules for connecting triads, while the second shoul contain
departures from the first in order to obtain a good melodic sop
part.
<
ans me OTe
. C major: 1V, V, LV, Vi IV, I, V, V,1
b c Tninot: 1, VL, IV, IL, V, VL Iv, V,L, V, r
c. A major: I, V, I, VLIV,V.LV, Iv, WV : vil
@ Bminor: V,1,1V, Il, VIIV,VsVEIV.T
3. Add soprano, alto, and tenor parts to the following asses
using triads in root position. Make two versions of each bass
the preceding exercise.
CHAPTER FOUR
Pe
TONALITY AND MODALITY
natty is the organized relationship of tones in music. This
“telationship, as far as the common practice of composers in
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is concerned, im-
plies a central tone with all other tones supporting it or tending
toward it, in one way or another. Other organized relationships
exist, as for example the twelve-tone system of Arnold Schoenberg,
but they cannot be said to have been at any time in common prac-
tice. Earlier systems, based on the modes, antedate the period we
are studying.
Modality refers to the choice of the tones between which this
relationship exists. Tonality is synonymous with key, modality with
scale. Tn addition to the major, minor, and chromatic scales, an ex-
tremely large number of modes can be constructed in any given
tonality. As illustration a few are given here on the key-note C.
EX. $1
Bo =
Dorian Phrygian Lydian
=
= =
Mixolydian Aeolian Pentatonie
“Hungerien”
29
=
Whole-tone 30 HARMONY
‘These modes may be transposed into all tonalities, simply by
changing the pitch of the ronic note and preserving the interval
relationships.
EX, 52
G: Phrygian
Esborian
obo
Br Lydian FE Mixolydian
Many modes taken from folk songs and even oriental scales have
been used occasionally by composers. Artificial scales have been in-
vented, containing a distribution of intervals not known before.
But all of these must await investigation until the first task in the
seudy of harmony is accomplished, namely the clear and firm estab-
lishment of the norm of common practice by reference to which
these extraordinary resources are to be appreciated. We limit our-
selves, therefore, to the three modes or scales described in Chapter
‘One—major, minor, and chromatic, the last considered as a variant
of the other two.
‘The acknowledged superior authority of these two modes over
a period of some three hundred years has given rise to the expres-
sion “major-minor system” often applied to our music. We are so
imbued with this tradition that we tend to interpret music based on
‘other modes as being in either major or minor, usually with some-
what unsatisfactory results. How often it is that the ear accepts
the impression of C major at the opening of the second move-
ment of Brahms's Fourth Symphony, only to find soon afterward
that E is the tonal center.
Ex. 53. Brahms—Fourth Symphony
Andante moderato
f
TONALITY AND MODALITY
tape
3n
ac
5 SS
Tastances like the above, of use of modes other than major and
minor, are fairly numerous during the harmonic period but are by
no means Pe enough to be called common practice. Such
Fesources, drawn from earlier periods, we ial
ploited again until the twentieth century. we nos even pally ex
TONAL FUNCTIONS OF THE SCALE DEGREES
Tonality, Bon. is not merely a matter of using just the tones of
- c It is more a process of setting forth the organized
these tones to one among the hich is
tonal center. Each scal i min the scheme of baa
t . le degree has its part in i
eon part in the scheme of tonality,
Tt nd a place here to attempt to outline the acoustic and
Psychological origins of these tonal functions. Let it suffice to report
existence as evidenced in the usage of composers. ”
Dominant and subdominant seem to give an impression of bal-
a inan ive :
S Bppore of the tonic, like two equidistant weights on cither
m5
above could represent the scheme of harmon
ashore pee of mi the fine objective Bing the Sinan,
Wed by rerum to the tonic, and then introduction of the sub-
inant to make the last tonic more satisfying and final. Other
ar used ro amplify and decorate his design :
inant, and subdominant are called the to
they are the mainstay of the tonality. In a given vomaley ec
€5 remain the same for both modes. yes 32 HARMONY
EX. 55
Cmajor 1 IV V Cminor 1 WV
Mediant and submediant are called the modal degrees. They have
very little effect on the tonality but suggest the mode, since they
are different in major and minor.
EX. 56 =
Cmajor m VI Cminor mm VI
The supertonic is most often treated as dominant of the dominant.
257 =
avi
(vorv)
Harmonically, however, the supertonic often tends to become
absorbed into the subdominant chord, especially in certain posi-
tions, and is sometimes spoken of as a substitute for the subdominant.
EX. 58
r
=
ow)
The supertonic should, therefore, be included in the list of tonal
degrees, since it partakes of both dominant and subdominant char-
acteristics, but should be distinguished from I, IV, and V, as having
much less tonal strength.
The seventh degree, leading-tone, for all its importance as an
indicator of the tonic through its melodic tendency, has not been
treated as a basic structural factor in tonality. It remains a signif-
icant melodic tone, common to both modes. It is seldom regarded
as a generator of harmony, but is usually absorbed into the dominant
chord. The progression, leading-tone to tonic, may be described as
melodically VIF-I and harmonically V-I.
In terms of harmonic roots, overemphasis on the modal degrees
TONALITY AND MODALITY 3
tends to give the effect of a mode, and tonality, other than that in-
tended. The modal degrees, by their insistence, are accepted by the
‘ear as tonal degrees of another scale.
BX. 59
ad
Grim un mw auimy
(Yor Nw vwuowr. vy)
A:Aeolian
Tt follows that the tonal structure of music consists mainly of
harmonies with tonal degrees as roots (I, IV, V, and II), with the
modal degree chords (III and VI) used for variet 'y. It is interesting
to note how in a single tonic chord one third degree is sufficient
to “color” any number of doublings of the two tonal degrees and
to explain the mode. °
Ee f0 ead PBN gra
{ =
s s
DOMINANT HARMONY
__ The strongest tonal factor in music is the dominant effect. Stand-
ing alone, it determines the key much more decisively than the
tonic chord itself. This fact is perhaps not apparent with simple
friads but should be borne in mind throughout the study of har-
mony. The addition of dissonances and chromatic alterations creates
tendency tones which serve to augment the feeling of tonality in-
herent in the combination of leading-tone and dominant root.
hment of a key by means of one of the many forms of domi-
Mant harmony is an everyday occurrence.
