Harmony

[ LiB ]

Harmony

This is a vast subject that needs a complete book of its own. In fact there are several excellent books available. If you're into composing and arranging you must be if you bought this book I'm assuming that you already have a basic knowledge of the subject. However, I can supply a few guidelines.

Beginning composers working with Logic or similar sequencers often make the mistake of attempting to write a chord sequence and melody together. It doesn't usually work! Not many people can control all these elements at once, not least a beginner. The usual result of this way of writing is either a few measures of block chords following every single melody note with the bass playing only root notes or a few measures of repetitive chords and a boring melody line. Everything grinds to a halt pretty soon after. It's a very common mistake and simply the result of trying to think of two things (sometimes three if rhythm is included) at once.

It's far easier to get the melody down first. It's what people are going to remember after all. Craft the melody, make it interesting, and add chords afterwards. You will discover that a melody often suggests the harmony anyway.

It depends on the style of music of course, but when you add the harmony, avoid having the bass constantly following the chords in root position. One way to get a more interesting harmonic structure is through careful construction of the bass line. Make it distinctive . Give it a life of its own and where possible, and appropriate, have it move in the opposite direction to the melody. This will nearly always give a good result. This movement inevitably provides interesting inversions and passing notes.

  • Load exile /dullbass and play it through.

The guitar is playing this chord sequence:

 Dm /A7/Dm///Dm/A7/Dm///F/ Gm/Am///C/E7/Am/// 

The chords are OK, simple yes, but it's a rather plaintive melody and doesn't need complicated chords. Not quite right though, is it? How can we make it more harmonically interesting?

  • Switch to exile/exile (the previous song) and play the opening measures.

By having the bass move, for the most part, in the opposite direction to the melody we have created the following:

 Dm/A7/Dm7//Bbmaj7Dm/A7/Dm//Gm9   C#  C           AF/Gm7/Fmaj7///C/E7/Am/Am/  F                B   C 

That's better. The bass is now playing a kind of countermelody appropriate here because the drums have yet to enter and created several inversions, new chords and interesting passing notes along the way.

Modulation is another way to make the harmonic structure interesting. It's often best to write what the melody suggests and the modulation should be smooth and natural sounding. The listener will not consciously perceive these key changes but his subconscious will.

Exile is a simple enough song but helped along the way with several key changes. You can see them indicated in the Marker:

The verse is in D minor, the chorus in G minor and the bridge uses D flat major and A major. The bridge extension returns to D minor. These modulations are the direct result of the melody. Not the other way around.

NOTE

Modulation is the changing from one key to another within a composition.

[ LiB ]


Creative Projects with Logic Audio
Creative Projects with Logic Audio
ISBN: 1929685793
EAN: N/A
Year: 2003
Pages: 239

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